The Other Place has been a more frequent haunt for the band over the years, but here’s a return to Oxford, with its dreaming spires and possibly bloody quads. How was the gig for you?
The Other Place has been a more frequent haunt for the band over the years, but here’s a return to Oxford, with its dreaming spires and possibly bloody quads. How was the gig for you?
Tony monopOly
WARNING – outbreak of Vitas Gerulaitis confirmed in a Oxford.
18 March 2017
Tony monopOly
(Don’t know where that “a” came from.)
18 March 2017
Ben W
Really good show as usual and from where I was (fairly near the front) it looked like a good-natured moshpit. I hope the lost glasses found their way back to their rightful owner.
Decent enough venue with good sound. I ended up in The Library nearby beforehand which had an excellent range of Siren bottled beers and was showing the rugby.
Titmus to start, Trumpton to end. Light At The End Of The Tunnel was left on the bench. Delighted to hear 27 Yards and Tommy Walsh’s Eco House. Didn’t know the cover but very much enjoyed it.
18 March 2017
Tony monopOly
Cover was “Whole Wide World” by Wreckless Eric.
18 March 2017
Twistedkitemike
A good evening. Chatty Nigel, decent sound and a good set. Early finish, so made it home for most of MotD. Can’t be bad.
Here’s the “a la carte”: –
Fred T
Korfball
Evening Sun
Old Age
Vitas G
Wrong Grave
Lilac HQ
27 Yards
Hi-Vis
Bane
Look Dad
DPAK
Bad Wools
Tommy W
Turned Up Clocked On
Vatican
Paintball
Hornbeam
Chatteris
NSD
Bob W
JDOG
Trad Arr Tune
AOR
……………………..
Dean Friedman
Cover – Whole Wide World (Wreckless Eric)
Trumpton
Save journey home, folks.
Mike……………….
19 March 2017
parsfan
Was it really originally Wreckless Eric? I’ve got versions by Die Tottenhosen and Meursault but always thought it had a more mainstream provenance, possibly even musical. I was thinking David Essex might have been involved.
If I had access the internet I could look it up for myself, I suppose. Maybe when I get home.
Great gig and another good night out, thanks guys.
19 March 2017
low drone
Was Reckless Eric, sadly was able to remember every word, one of my favorite unrequited love songs from my youth.
Great gig as always, Nigel seemed a bit tired by the end, not surprising with the double header n that.
Roll on Sheffield.
19 March 2017
bobbysvarc
Reckless Eric was the tribute band,
19 March 2017
parsfan
I’m glad to hear it, it never really sat right with me that I was liking David Essex cover versions.
I worked out my mistake, he had a song called Tahiti which was from the musical Mutiny On The Bounty.
Slightly disappointed, but not surprised, that there was no Blood On The Quad last night.
19 March 2017
Low drone
Saw Reckless Eric live on the stiff records heroes and cowards tour with, I think, Nick Lowe and Elvis Costello. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wreckless_Eric
19 March 2017
bobbysvarc
Pretty sure Wreckless Eric was down the play at Leicester Uni on the ’77 Stiffs tour but was a no show. I went to see Ian Dury and he blew it apart, one of the best gigs I ever saw.
19 March 2017
Idiots and pigeons
Very nice. Although, I wish they didn’t keep turning the air conditioning off. Glad I smuggled a lid in. Fantastic crowd, zero aggressors (apart from the man dancing on the chap who was crawling around searching for his lost glasses). Loud, clear sound ears still ringing when I got back to our bed in Birmingham.
Lovely.
19 March 2017
bobbysvarc
Did Exxo do the football?
19 March 2017
Mr ed
What a fantastic weekend, thoroughly enjoyable from start to end. August seems a very long way away right now.
19 March 2017
carrie anne
More from the hard working pencil of Roger Green, originally posted on Gez’s website http://cobweb.businesscollaborator.com/hmhb/guest/index.htm
O2 Academy Oxford, Sat 18th March 2017 (18/03/17)
Roger Green:
Errors and omissions. For the previous night’s show in Worthing, I had been under the impression that there had been no publicity whatsoever. However I had been unaware of the effort by Here And Now (“stuff that matters in Worthing”). Nice half-page feature including a photo insert of Nigel bellowing into a microphone. Although it was just a standard cut-and-paste job from a press release. It was the one that says “If Half Man Half Biscuit did not exist, it would be imperative to invent them… So grab your Joy Division Oven Gloves and don your Dukla Prague away kit…” Thanks nonetheless to Tony’s mate Dick for supplying this. Unless some other free supplement comes to light, there was also minimal exposure for tonight’s show. They just managed to squeeze HMHB into the What’s On page in the Oxford Mail.
Nigel must also have seen the reference in the Oxford Mail, as during the show he mentioned plenty of other goings-on from the paper’s Events guide. Just before Joy In Leeuwarden he said that on Monday at 6.30 there is a Beginners Korfball Session at Rye St Anthony School in Headington. Free for the first four sessions, apparently. He also picked up on a talk at Hailey Village Hall by Martin Green on The Wonders Of Westonbirt Arboretum. Nigel said he hoped that the prices would be mentioned, as they are definitely one of the wonders of the place. And there was also an event run by Bicester And Kidlington Ramblers. They were meeting at Annie’s Tea Shop in Thrupp, ahead of a three and a half mile walk through the Cherwell valley. Nigel wondered what would happen if the tea shop was closed. Nigel said it would be nice to think that someone at the gig actually went to one of these events. Not me or Karen sadly, as we would be heading back in a northerly direction.
We had stayed in Worthing after the previous night’s gig. We walked from our seafront hotel (without the sea view) back to the train station, from where we travelled to Southampton and then on to Oxford. Paul took the same journey and on arrival at Oxford we compared notes on the paucity of places to stay that were near the venue. We did our usual afternoon stroll to check out the location of the Academy and met Howie and Daz. Howie, understandably bearing in mind his favourite football team, was on the way to sample the offerings at The Chester pub on Chester Road.
We were ahead of schedule for the doors opening at 6.30. Nevertheless there was a queue. Jordan and Sally were at the front as usual, with Tony soon joining us. Once inside we caught up again with John, Jay and Matt to discuss the merits of the Worthing gig. Nigel and Jo came to say Hello, celebrating his 50th birthday. Howie and Daz were also in place in time for JD Meatyard’s appearance. On stage at 7.10. These things get earlier and earlier.
I’m not quite familiar with all the Meatyard song titles, but I reckon their set was as follows.
Green Flags
We Got Today
Caspar’s Ballroom
Blood Simple
Love That Girl
Olive Tree
Jesse James
Ubu At Eric’s
Sweet Jane
They had a fourth member of the group adding some bodhran on a couple of the songs. And John said something about a possible Probe Plus celebration event some time. No further information concerning places or dates at present, but it could be worth keeping an eye out for more details.
There was no walk on music for HMHB tonight. Nigel said that was supposed to have been Out Of Step by Minor Threat. He had to adjust the mike stand. “That’s because of Little John,” he observed. “That would have been a good thing to say at a gig in Nottingham.”
“This is another true story, so I’m told,” Nigel said, ahead of Tending The Wrong Grave. During the “nymph” section, he turned to Ken and said “I didn’t expect the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, worshipping at the altar of Delia Derbyshire.” A pod of dolphins also appeared. And Nigel wondered out loud if Victoria Derbyshire is a relative of Delia. (Our preliminary enquiries proved inconclusive).
Neil and Ken swapped instruments for Twenty-Seven Yards Of Dental Floss, King Of Hi Vis and Bane Of Constance. Nigel said he could hear someone singing Black Sabbath. The response was a shout of “Hail Satan”. Nigel’s reply was “I suppose that is better than raining cats and dogs.”
Nigel said that Ken had told him something about Wilfred Pickles which he didn’t believe. He left the story at that for a few songs, but then continued with Ken’s theory that Wilfred used to be on the books at Oxford United. This was rubbished by Tony, as in those days they would have been known as Headington United. Post-gig enquiries on this subject also proved inconclusive.
There was a shout for Old Tige, which met with a positive response. “Don’t know how far I’m going to get with this,” said Nigel. Not very far as it turned out. He got through the first verse before giving up. “Sad song is that,” he said. “About as sad as this,” he added before the band played Turned Up Clocked On Laid Off.
We got a bit of the Pointless theme. In Paintball’s Coming Home, during the line about knowing where things are at B And Q, Nigel nodded towards Neil. Nigel was asked what is the most commonly used swear word. There was no direct answer to this, but he did suggest that the most commonly used term in Britain is “Green man”, as in what parents say to their children when the image appears before crossing the road. “That’ll be on QI soon,” he added.
I tapped my foot along to the Wreckless Eric cover version in the encore.
Had a chat with Mike as the hall was being cleared at the end of the night. I also saw Graham who volunteered the information that he had been to see Rick Astley in Halifax the night before. We saw Ian and Mariana in the lengthy cloakroom queue, and had to turn down the offer from Nigel and Jo of a beer afterwards because Tony was giving us a lift. All complicated stuff.
HMHB played the following:
Fuckin’ ‘Ell It’s Fred Titmus
Joy In Leeuwarden
When The Evening Sun Goes Down
Old Age Killed My Teenage Bride
Outbreak Of Vitas Gerulaitis
Tending The Wrong Grave
A Lilac Harry Quinn
Twenty-Seven Yards Of Dental Floss
King Of Hi Vis
The Bane Of Constance
Look Dad No Tunes
All I Want For Christmas Is A Dukla Prague Away Kit
Rock ‘n’ Roll Is Full Of Bad Wools
Tommy Walsh’s Eco House
Turned Up Clocked On Laid Off
Vatican Broadside
Paintball’s Coming Home
Stuck Up A Hornbeam
For What Is Chatteris?
National Shite Day
Bob Wilson Anchorman
Joy Division Oven Gloves
We Built This Village On A Trad Arr Tune
Everything’s AOR
And three in the encore…
The Bastard Son Of Dean Friedman
Whole Wide World
The Trumpton Riots
On the Sunday morning we were back at Oxford station. We saw Matt who was making his way back to Lancing. We all agreed that of these two gigs, Oxford got our vote. Better sound, better venue. But of course it’s all good all round. It’s just a shame that it is nearly five months to the next show.
19 March 2017
0902FriendS
Same link as the one I posted under the Worthing review page, putting it up here just in case. Even though I doubt anyone would check one page without the other. Please feel free to take this down if it is indeed redundant!
https://0902friends2017ontheroad.wordpress.com/2017/03/18/the-double-gigs/
19 March 2017
Third Rate Les
That was a belter. Top Chinese restaurant next door too.
We had Jeff Dreadnought round our house to see the new conservatory, so were inventing new verses in the car. It’s surprisingly tough to do without sounding sour.
He wears a Weird Fish jumper round his waist
A Newquay Weird Fish jumper round his waist
Instead of using the cloakroom he keeps it round his waist
So he can get back in time for Match of the Day.
They went for underfloor heating in their bog
They got the underfloor heating in their bog
They warm their toes on the floor in the nice warm bog
And got a bath with the wrought iron feet
He turns his nose up at his neighbour’s Orange Range Rover Sport
Tells himself his neighbour’s “vulgar” for having an Orange Range Rover Sport
But secretly wouldn’t mind having an Orange Range Rover Sport
If only for when he drops the kids off at cricket
They go for extra virgin olive oil
They cook their chips in extra virgin olive oil
They even clean their kitchen with olive oil
Although deep down they think it tastes a bit funny
They’ve got a carbon-neutral woodburning stove
They got a smokeless, heatless woodburning stove
They’ve got a glass-fronted rotating woodburning stove
And get their logs from sustainable woods
They do the speedy boarding on Easyjet
They get the seats they want on Easyjet
They get to block the aisles first first on the Easyjet
And even pay for the bottle of wine
20 March 2017
Jeff dReadnought
He takes a break from the moshpit
Now and again
Stands back from the moshpit
Every now and then
Has a rest from moshing
Now and then
Because his back’s not really up to it these days
20 March 2017
BGCollector
I was the chap who lost their glasses during the very good natured moshing. Happy to say they were found (slightly bent) and I wasn’t trodden on whilst searching on my hands and knees. Thanks to those who provided mobile phone torches for light and of course the bloke that found them. Only downside was they jumped off my face during Bastard Son of Dean Friedman meaning I missed most of this favourite of mine!
20 March 2017
Jeff dReadnought
Further disconnected jottings:
There were mentions for both Colin Appleton and Michael Appleton. Like Victoria and Delia Derbyshire, they are unrelated.
Some confusion over dates: the change of name from Headington Utd to Oxford Utd came in 1960. 1962 was the year they joined the Football League
Lyrical embellishments:
There’s a sword dance every 27th June, apparently, in the village that was built on the trad. arr tune. And a nice incorporation of Ultravox’s Vienna into the chorus of Bane of Constance. People more observant than me/lucky enough to see the band more often than I do tell me this is nothing new.
Ken was on particularly sparkling form, I thought.
Cracking gig.
20 March 2017
The Singing Postman
Fantastic all round
20 March 2017
bobbysvarc
Colin Appleton, 3rd in the gang of four losing Leicester City FA Cup final captains. Plummer, Walsh, Appleton and Nish.
20 March 2017
Jeff dReadnought
If memory serves, he also had Colin Appleton starring opposite Stockard Channing in the dismal TVM in a kind of career swap with Wilfred Pickles.
20 March 2017
mr squires
Nigel also mispronounced the River Cherwell (and said he should have stuck with his intial idea of saying ‘Cheryl’ when corrected).
Really enjoyed my first HMHB gig, and was pleasantly suprised by the size of the crowd. The fact that Oxford were at home on Saturday meant a good number of Us fans were in attendance. My mate was struck by the visual similarily between Nigel and Michael Appleton.
Also enjoyed the good-natured moshing, though I didn’t enjoy the particularly humourless shove from the bloke standing behind it when I got bounced out in his general direction. Oh well.
I only wish they could have played more of my favourite songs! I guess I’ll have to find another live date I can attend, probably in a decade or so…
20 March 2017
hendrix-tattoo
Excellent review Alice …..
Dig this YT clip also.
https://youtu.be/7ayNCpXDEiU
20 March 2017
SoxanPance
First time I have seen HMHB in 25 years. The last time was at Oxford Ice Rink, where they remain amongst a small elite number of bands to have played the venue. T’Pau being the only others I can remember. That night was a disaster as the sound was not good & I think they gave up after about 5 songs.
Saturday was a wonderful night, with a great set and I was amazed at how busy it was, especially as the gig was downstairs. They sometimes use upstairs if the crowd is small. There were certainly people in attendance who were not familiar with much after Back Again in the DHSS, but hopefully they will now be trawling through the extended back catalogue.
I do hope its not 25 years until I see them again!
20 March 2017
dr desperate
Following a convoluted journey via Gatwick and Reading to Oxford, we found ourselves in a pub full of dirty great big Six Nations fans watching England fail to achieve consecutive grand slams. Invoking my emergency back-up nationality of Welsh also fell foul of a Francophile referee.
The Oxford O2 proved to be a much better venue than Worthing, with a bigger, slightly taller, more excited though otherwise identical crowd. A No Man’s Land lay between stage and barrier, over which I threw JD Meatyard a copy of Loudon Wainwright III’s latest CD. I like to think that this was what inspired him to play an even better set, though this may not be so. His bodhran player appeared to be wearing Carl’s Palestine footie shirt from the previous night.
At the end of ‘Ubu @ Eric’s’ he asked if anyone had been to the gig in 1981: I’d seen them on the same tour but at Manchester, so kept my counsel.
Roger already having posted the review of record, I can add little on the rest of the gig, but can confirm that:
(i) ‘Shite’ is indeed the most popular swearword in Britain, according to a Reevoo review of 500,000 online product reviews. I shared this with Nigel, omitting the interesting follow-up that the word was first used by James Joyce in ‘Ulysses’ in 1922.
(ii) In the Appleton discussion, Roger may have forgotten (even Homer nods) that Tony revealed he had been best man at the wedding of Colin of that ilk, though not whether it was the Ice King himself. Oxford coach Michael was beloved of the Preston (q v) during their 2000 promotion campaign.
(iii) Nigel mistakenly identified the Radiophonic Workshop doyenne Delia Derbyshire as BBC2 presenter Victoria Derbyshire, noted that he’d never noticed the link before and assigned us the task of checking whether they were related. They weren’t, but Victoria’s brother Nick played in an ODI for England in which he didn’t bat or ball, and she’s the partner of BBC editor Mark Sandell. (I always pronounce the one he left her for as Fig Lover, and you should too.)
(iv) Jitsu Graham mentioned his Rick-rolling because Nigel had announced that RA was appearing across town at the New Theatre the same night. I understand Mrs Astley wanted Rick to give her a certain Pixar DVD for her birthday, but it’s not looking very hopeful.
We saw no forehead pick-sticking or Sturmey-Archer gearchanging, but one of the new joys of JIL(WAR) was the addition of korf-scoring manoeuvres at the end. The drum intro to ALHQ was converted into ‘Rock and Roll (Part 2)’ by the crowd shouting ‘Hey!’ at appropriate moments, which Nigel allowed sounded “quite good, that”.
In DPAK the sports shop was owned by the protagonist’s father.
KoH-V was again played during the axeswap section, leading Graham to mutter “I’m getting fed up of them playing that fuck*ng song”.
Another brilliant cover, this time of Wreckless Eric’s ‘Whole Wide World’. Covered by the Monkees, it has one of the best closing verses in all recorded music.
‘Trumpton Riots’ again brought matters to a conclusion, whereupon we stumped back to The City Arms to moan that it would be 138 days to the next gig.
Canadian Alice will be back in Montreal by then, so she’s entrusted me to pass Ron back to Tony (you know who you are, both of you).
On to Sheffield!
21 March 2017
hendrix-tattoo
Brilliant review(s) as always Dr.Desperate.
I would be so happy for you and Liz to keep Ron, he should be added to your HMHB memorabilia.
Also Liz was the one who gave him his name. Gonna stick to shouting ‘Sealclubbing’ instead.
See that KoHV was also played again, 4 times in 44 days hey John.
21 March 2017
0902FriendS
I keep forgetting that I’d given my future location away…
About Ron though… I’d love to see him moving around quite a bit, if it’s possible. He’s extremely popular now so I’m thinking maybe we should take turns take him home and then to the next gig, pass him down to whoever that swear they’d bring him back at the next gig, maybe? Should also be fun to make a page on the Adventures of the Ron Seal if we’re doing that…?
21 March 2017
Malcolm of Arimathea
Good to hear “wrong grave”, 27 yards and KoHV – I think they were the only ones I’d not heard in the flesh before, and I thought the sound was fine apart from Nigel’s guitar being too low in the mix. (That said, I saw Goldfrapp at the same venue 2 days later and the sound was just incredible. Granted, it’s a different kind of mixing with mostly keyboards and some parts sequenced, but it was one of the best mixed gigs I’ve heard.)
Kudos to the couple in front of me waving their own JDOGs and holding hands in FWIC.
Pedantic point on the pronunciation of Cherwell – I’ve always pronounced it “Charwelle”, and that seems to be the original way – plus the river goes through a village called Charwelton, which I thought settled it. But some years back it was investigated by local radio and they concluded that “Churwell” was acceptable, particularly around Banbury. So that’s the important stuff settled.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/oxford/content/articles/2009/06/24/cherwell.shtml
22 March 2017