We’ve actually had a reference to Glasgow in song since the last visit (“Congolesi Unsworth: Glaswegian loons; the singer’s granddad writes all the tunes”) but I doubt the namechecked band were ever likely to be appearing as support at this gig. How was it for you though?
twistedkitemike
Well, Chaps; this is a poor old show. Not a single comment yet?
I managed to get back across Hadrian’s Wall without too much fuss and home eventually, so I can at least give you the set-list.
Incidentally, the “walk-on” music was ‘Marching There And Back’, which was the theme tune for the BBC classic ‘Screen Test’. Much amusement when somebody identified it incorrectly and Nigel put them right, as ever; enlightening us with further trivia. It was written by Syd Dale. Important emphasis on the fact that Syd was spelled with a ‘y’ and not an ‘i’. You know what he is like!
Anyway, enough of that piffle. Here is the menu du jour: –
Lilac HQ
Old Age
Bob Wilson
Evening Sun
Fred T
Restless Legs
Korfball
Left Lyrics
Vitas G
Hornbeam
Pancake Day
Look Dad
Chatteris
San Antonio
Vatican
NSD
DPAK
Christian Rock Concert
Bane
24 Hour GP
Trad Arr Tune
Trumpton
AOR
……………………………..
27 Yards
JDOG
Light Tunnel
I believe from a post-concert conversation that 24 Hour was a reaction to an insistent, recurring request from a young lady on the barrier. Someone with an “official” set-list may wish to assist and add appropriate comment?
Good venue (despite being 388 miles from my gaff) with decent sound and what looked like a more than reasonable attendance for a Friday night with a 10 p.m. curfew.
Roll on London Village in October.
Mike………………………………………
13 September 2015
jitsu_g
Sid was a victim of id theft at some point in the gig. Well done on the milage, we were only 240 miles away. Some sort of chart may be in order.
13 September 2015
S
Strangely quiet round here, yes. I should point out that ‘Glasgow Dreamer’ is absent from the setlist above even though referenced at the end.
That might be the first time I’ve seen them where there’s been no cover version in the encores (I was expecting a second wind but looks like the curfew put a stop to that, though we got a good 90 minutes plus time added on).
13 September 2015
Phyllis Triggs
Thanks Mike, I’ve been racking my brains trying to remember what they played on Friday. I got up to 22 tracks in no particular order but was running out of steam ..er..er..his ‘n’ hers towelling bathrobes… fondue set…cuddly toy…
13 September 2015
Art McGuinness
Good entertaining gig with excellent banter in between the songs. First time at the ABC O2 – decent venue apart from the sticky floors – had to keep moving incase a Trumpton riot broke out and we couldn’t move to escape. bigger crowd than I expected, then again it was my first HMHB gig despite having bought the Back In The DHSS album.
14 September 2015
Phyllis Triggs
I arrive at the Glasgow’s O2 ABC just in time to hear the last 3 songs from tonight’s support act Sonnenberg. I like these guys. It would have been good to hear more but, as ever, when you don’t know who the support act is, and you don’t know the rough time of kick off, its difficult to gauge when to turn up. Do you play it safe and go for an early start, then find yourself with an interminable wait in some dark cavern drinking something shit and overpriced, or do you chance it and spend some time in a nice pub drinking decent beer only to find you’ve missed out on seeing some cracking new band? It’s a tough call. Personally, as I strongly object to forking out £4 or more for a can of John Smiths Smooth (brand named for illustrative purposes only), I find the latter strategy works for me as the lesser of two evils.
Sonnenberg are a folk duo – guitar/vocals and drums (proper sitting cross-legged on the floor tabla drumming – non of your fancy stick twirling here). They play swirly, expansive hippy music. It’s beautiful and intense. I’m not sure it’s right as a precursor to HMHB. Be lovely to see them at a festival – sitting on the grass in the sunshine (or indeed, enjoying some sunshine grass…)
As Sonnenberg end their set the singer addresses the audience asking us to buy their CD. He acknowledges that we’re not like their usual audience which is more female, remarking that this is a typical HMHB audience – all blokes in their 40s – but please, buy our CD, give it to your wives and girlfriends – they’ll love it! Looking down across the crowd from my elevated position in front of the bar, the light glancing off rows of bowling-ball heads would appear to confirm his generalisation.
I know its not news that most HMHB fans are male but, as I make my way towards the stage, I get to pondering why this is so. Sure, the image is all very blokey – lots of sporting references and refrains that wouldn’t sound out of place on the terraces – but hell, I have absolutely no interest in football, or golf, or cycling – Lord knows how many of their sporting references sail over my pretty little head – but there’s so much more to them than that! The humour, the linguistic dexterity, the recognition and celebration of all that is bleak, joyful, mundane and absurd in our shared experience of existence. Not to mention some cracking tunes. C’mon girls get onboard! And if you’re really struggling – Nigel’s not half bad looking y’know!
An insanely catchy and familiar tune is played over the speakers as the band ambles onto stage. It’s the theme from some 1970’s children’s TV programme – but what? Mr Ben? Vision On? Bod? Thankfully, Nigel enlightens us – its the theme tune from Michael Rodd’s Screen Test. Screen Test! Of course it is, I remember that. Was never too keen on it meself, struck me as being one for the boys – clever boys at that, boys who wore glasses and would probably go on to get into prog rock…
Nigel tells us about the journey – Tebay Services are now officially over-hyped. Too many ducks. ‘It’s Southwaite for us from now on…’ Oh, and we’d never guess who they bumped into at the services… (Well, actually we do, as it’s Nigel’s old school friend… again).
Unusually, (unless I missed it) there are no firsts for Ken. However, Nigel does share a top tip with us: If you get a peanut stuck in your ear – pour in some melted chocolate: once it’s set – it comes out a treat.
There’s some cycling talk which flies over my head…
Initially, there were some problems with the sound. Nigel called for technical assistance saying the monitors had gone off or something. Things did improve somewhat, but it still wasn’t brilliant – could hardly make out the words during National Shite Day.
Thought this was going to be a bit of a restrained gig at first – the audience seemed a bit sparse and subdued – but things improved, I think, as more people came in, caught out by what had been a relatively early start. No moshing to speak of – the size and layout of the venue wasn’t conducive to such antics – but plenty of enthusiasm from what turned out to be a decent sized crowd. When the band launched into Bob Wilson Anchorman, 2 burly guys standing near me, unable to contain their joy just threw their arms around each other! Heartwarming!
No surprises in the set list but it was good to hear some tracks from Macintyre, Treadmore and Davitt – Christian Rock Concert, Vitas Gerulaitis, and especially A Lilac Harry Quinn all gratefully received, thank you. (AOR goes without saying…) The band seem to be playing fewer tracks from Urge For Offal than they were – now nearly a year on from its launch I guess this means the promotional period is over and UFO is placed on an equal footing alongside all the others in the back catalogue. Great to hear Teenage Bride, Hornbeam and Bane of Constance, but disappointed there was no Gwatkin – what with me wearing my Cresta teeshirt an’ all…
In Teenage Bride, ‘Did She ever have a scrap with a bear?
If she did, I wasn’t there’, became: ‘I wouldn’t know, I wasn’t there.’
I’ll leave it to better minds to recall the shopping list in 24 Hour Garage People – this appeared to be performed as the result of a request, with Nigel saying that he couldn’t remember it – so it would be off the top of his head.
All in all a great gig (could there ever be a bad one? I doubt it!) This band rank high on my list of Things That Are Good For The Soul – I reckon at least 2 HMHB gigs a year are a necessity for anyone’s mental well-being. Three days on and I’m still grinning and my workmates should be counting their lucky stars that I can’t whistle cos that Screen Test theme’s still stuck in my head. Thanks for that Nigel!
14 September 2015
EXXO
Great stuff, Phyl, and flippin’eck that’s two gigs running you’ve been treated to spontaneous responses to audience requests!
Sonnenberg do seem to be living proof of Nigel’s wise words re LIPA groups. Like the wallpaper industry in general they get smaller and smaller, and no less appropriate as a support band, but they just won’t die.
14 September 2015
EXXO
Less is more.
Well it should have been in that sentence anyway.
14 September 2015
Phyllis Triggs
Ha! Just read Roger Green’s review. Thought King of Hi Vis was conspicuous by his absence. Someone call The Daily Mail – it’s Health and Safety gone mad!
14 September 2015
uncle harry
What do you get if you cross Mr Logic, Meddlesome Ratbag and The Real Ale Twats?
14 September 2015
Dr Desperate
Excellent gig, sound fine at the front but not much moshing to be had until the last few songs, when a trio of cheerful drunks staggered down for ‘Trumpton Riots’. I was informed of the venue’s ‘No Hi-Vis’ regulation only as I walked in, but managed cunningly to circumvent it by removing the offending jacket, then putting it back on again when the lights went down. At least they had no objection to my triple-A laminate, nor yet to my Black Satin Tour Jacket With Detachable Sleeves.
The setlist was as above, corresponding closely to the hand-written version, though 24HGP was indeed a late addition, as was Ivor Cutler’s ‘Glasgow Dreamer’ (last heard at The Arches in 2009): “Glasgow, Glasgow, where are you? 223 from home”. Towards the end Nigel also sang the first two lines of a country-ish number, but no-one else joined in. My cry of “Neeext!” was acknowledged with “The Sensational Alex Harvey Band!” but not the song itself chiz.
Useful fact of the evening: the bloke at BT who switches the phone rates over in the evening doesn’t actually do it until 5 past 7 (although Nigel said 5 past 6, as well as “GPO”).
The ID theft gag was that his mate Sid had recently been a victim, so his name was now S.
There were a couple of lyrical deviations from standard, most notably Nigel having to take a second run-up at the actual phrase “Dukla Prague Away Kit”. At one point he and Neil both walked to the back of the stage to find out what they should be playing next, but had already forgotten by the time they got back to the mikes. Nigel’s monitor did keep cutting out, diagnosed as a dodgy transformer (to some groans from the front row) by m’ladyfriend.
We discovered in NSD that one in three people on the station concourse was wearing a lanyard.
In 24HGP that the first filled-in word in the Wordsearch was ‘Wordsearch’, followed by ‘Kawasaki’ and ‘BSA’. The sandwich menu included ham, cheese, tuna-sweetcorn, chicken-sweetcorn, and prawn mayonnaise (the last offered by Roger/Tony?) Lost Oliver was only one of the mates that Nigel had behind him in the queue, and his nickname was ironic (not “Ironic”). It was suggested that if you can’t get on with the public, you shouldn’t try to serve them, a principle which might equally be applied to the staff at the ABC, who hustled us out onto Sauchiehall St at 10.05pm (at which time, Jitsu_G pointed out, the previous week’s Sheffield gig had only just started). Still, plenty of time for after-match lagers in The Hengler’s Circus.
On to Kentish Town!
14 September 2015
flintlock
Nothing to add to these reviews, but has Nigel really got a grandson?
15 September 2015
bobby svarc
Hard to believe isn’t it?
15 September 2015
CARRIE ANNE
Great gig, as usual, despite the security personnel’s tireless approach to making sure the rules were stuck to. We we’re ticked off for standing in the wrong place (before we got into the venue), putting our cups of water down, coats on the barrier, and lingering too long (about 30 seconds) after the gig. The annoying patrolling through the pit even distracted Nigel, resulting in the poor bloke getting the full ‘Fred Titmus’ treatment from the front row. And don’t get me started on the subject of selling confectionery in toilets!
Anyway, Roger’s excellent travelog/report of the proceedings is here http://cobweb.businesscollaborator.com/hmhb/guest/index.htm
15 September 2015
EXXO
Great stuff from Mike, Phyllis, John, Roger & Carrie Anne: the next best thing to being there.
Was the show filmed? I’m putting 2 (the walk-on tune) and 2 (Mick’s cryptic pre-gig pronouncement) together and prolly making 5 but I’m curious.
15 September 2015
Bobby SVARC
Geoff was away on vacation unless he did a U-turn.
15 September 2015
Kennyp
Someone above said that all the cycling banter went over his head. Well here’s some more cycling triv from the gig (suspect only of interest to a small minority). The two movements Nigel was doing with his hand near the end of Lilac Harry Quinn were (I think) the way you change gear with Sturmey Archer and Campagnolo respectively.
22 September 2015
EXXO
She must despair 🙂
23 September 2015
Phyllis Triggs
Indeed, Exxo. I think this illustrates why there are relatively few females to be found at these gigs – and it has nothing to do with the music 😉 However, I think I may be just a teeny bit envious of the ability to recognise the hand movements required for the respective Sturmey Archer/Campagnolo gear changes… Magnificent Kennyp!
23 September 2015
BrumbiscUit
Well, I wasn’t there, but I’ll wade in anyway. The traditional gear change mechanism for Sturmey Archer hub gears was a thumb-operated trigger mounted on the handlebars by the right-hand brake lever. I’d be very impressed indeed if NB10 also did the required back-pedalling needed for a smooth change. Campagnolo gears of the era in question would be operated by a lever (or more likely levers) mounted two thirds of the way up the downtube – on braze-ons on a Harry Quinn. To change gear you’d need to move the lever backwards or forwards. We’re probably talking pre-indexed gearing as well, so it’s an instinctive tug on the lever for a cyclist in tune with one of Harry’s finest.
I’ll admit, and it’ll irk the purists, that my lilac Harry Quinn runs Shimano Exages, indexed on the rear.
23 September 2015
kennyp
Cheers Phyllis. Have to admit that I one of the many things I love about Biscuit gigs are that they’re the only ones where you can banter with the singer about who will win the Vuelta a Espana Tour de France etc. I remember a Glasgow gig a couple of years ago where Nigel asked the crowd not to shout who’d won that day’s Tour of Romandie stage as he was going to be watching the highlights after the gig. I wonder if Kraftwerk crowds do something similar.
23 September 2015
kennyp
Brumbiscuit. Didn’t notice the leg movement but he was doing the thumb operated Sturmey Archer movement. However for Campag it was more the modern shifters action ie pressing inwards with first and second fingers, similar to Shimano.
23 September 2015
kennyp
See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Llb1IxFZhGY about 4:56 in. He only does it once, as opposed to loads of times in Glasgow, and it’s hard to see, but pretty sure it’s the same thing.
23 September 2015
toastkid
I’m on Shimano Exages now, ain’t you heard…
24 September 2015
brumbiscuit
Yes.
http://www.halfmanhalfbiscuit.uk/harry-quinn/
24 September 2015
brumbiscuit
Having seen the grainy, bouncy footage, NB10 does make a hand gesture and, yes, it could well be the action you suggest, KennyP. The Harry Quinn might make it to Bilston, and I’ll hope the song’s played there. Fitting such modern shifters to a Harry Quinn would be somewhat sacrilegious though.
24 September 2015
kennyp
Enjoy Bilston and watch out for the hand gestures. Totally agree about putting modern kit on a HQ. Some things are just totally wrong. Have a hankering for one myself now but Mrs KennyP says I’m approaching D – 1 (as opposed to N + 1) as regards to bike numbers!!
24 September 2015
Brumbiscuit
The irony of my last post did not escape me, as I was writing as an irked purist. My stable stands at 9 and I’ve even tried to give away the jarg HQ to no avail. Time to make space soon, I think. Thorn Tandem, anybody?
25 September 2015
Lovely biscuit
Nothing to add but the following. I too requested 24 HGP on a couple of occasions and suggested to Nigel to get a move on as there was the derby against Chester the next day. He responded.
I was then thrown out by security for my own safety for being too pissed.
29 September 2015