Well, here’s somewhere a bit different. “First built in 1873-74 as Clitheroe Public Hall, The Grand is a Grade II listed building. It was converted to the Grand cinema in 1921. The Lancaster Foundation, a Clitheroe based charitable organisation, purchased the building in 2005 before undertaking an ambitious redevelopment of the premises.” But did the music live up to the venue? Of course it did…
WARDEN HODGES
Quite simply the strangest gig ever.
Some kid next to me about 17 knowing every word but me finding out about every bnb being full (and saving me 35 to 60 quid) some scouse lads got me home after hearing my accent. 80pc were Liverpool fans but I weren’t complaining and 2 cans of John Smiths later. Happy Days. Nigels specs pretty cool too.
10 June 2017
ERic t’viking
Wonderful night at Clitheroe – thought the sound quality was excellent, as that’s the first time I’ve properly heard what JD Meatyard was singing. Also discovered that at HMHB gigs you don’t need to know where the venue actually is; just hang around in the general area until you spot a DPAK and follow it – unless of course they happen to be going to a cash machine… but they’ll still helpfully point you in the right direction.
Curious to know what the walk on music was. The delightful and ever-bouncy Phyliss Triggs beside me thought it was a bit Wagnerian, whereas I was guessing at Disney’s Fantasia theme..?
Hmm, the names of Dick Emery characters… That’s blowing the dust off old tv memories – didn’t Roy Kinnear play the skinhead denim-clad dad, as in “Daa-aad, I fink I’ve gorrit wrong agin” ..?
10 June 2017
WARDEN HODGES
Thanks to the guys who gave me a lift home in their minibus last night and gave us 2 cans of bitter and a singalong.( I went to a Wedding, Time flies by and White Man by The Clash). Cheers lads if you read this.
10 June 2017
Buck tarbrush
The walk-on music was the 1812 Overture by Tchaikovsky. It had just reached the bit where the Marseillaise was playing, indicating the advance of the French forces, when Nigel put on his guitar strap and said “This is a Kenny Loggins’ song…” and off they went.
Quite impressed by Nigel’s knowledge of the Preston-Clitheroe bus routes.
10 June 2017
Drawbridge
Does anyone know what the cover was they played at the end?
10 June 2017
JR Meatfree
Great gig, impressive venue. No mention of how the human satnav performed. Since it runs from Birkenhead through Clitheroe on it’s way to York the A59 is my favourite choice. Hell of a lot of traffic lights though.
Was the set list a post election comment? National Shite Day, Turned up, clocked in, laid off, Trumpton Riots, Bane of Constance(return of Vince Cable). All we were missing was a Hornbeam or TGV to Zurich, followed by Coroners Footnote.
10 June 2017
Helen Carr
Best inbetween song banter last night.
Ken: The first person in Wallasey to be an apprentice blacksmith.
” Have you ever shooed a horse?”
“No, but I’ve told a donkey to fuck off.”
10 June 2017
0902FriendS
Quiet here today…
Rushed to finish my own before going to bed, as I’ll likely disappear tomorrow, with more and more stuff to write… Hope the quality holds 🙂
https://0902friends2017ontheroad.wordpress.com/2017/06/10/the-last-gig/?preview_id=2179&preview_nonce=831f127a37
Too bad it’s my last one… At least in a few years’ time.
10 June 2017
hendrix-tattoo
God bless you Alice….
11 June 2017
Phyllis Triggs
@Drawbridge, cover was ‘A Song From Under The Floorboards’ by Magazine which in turn is a song version of a book by Dostoyevsky ‘Notes From Underground’. Great stuff: ‘I am angry, I am ill and I’m as ugly as sin. My irritability keeps me alive and kicking.’
11 June 2017
Brian and shirley
After a gap of 25 years plus, we were delighted to see HMHB again. Last time we had a lot of banter regards PNE v Tranmere and Elton Welsby. Glad Nigel hasn’t lost his quick wit and knowledge of the bus timetables! Fantastic venue for a close up gig. PS: what league are Tranmere in? 🙂
11 June 2017
Phyllis Triggs
Clitheroe, hitherto unvisited, remains unexplored. A quick dash straight from work meant I was unable to have a wander round town or sample any of the local hostelries. Rushing to the venue though, I felt I was in the town that time forgot (no bad thing): plenty of independent shops – ladies and gents outfitters, ironmongers; we pass a shop called A Little Bit Of Soul – a Northern Soul shop! No doubt the chain stores were lurking somewhere but they didn’t seem to have taken over these high streets. And I am told there is still a cracking (depending on your point of view) Fur And Feather Market on a Wednesday…
Was impressed to see bunting zigzagging the streets – who’s coming to town you say? Half Man Half Biscuit? Quick, the bunting!!
Being unfamiliar with our surroundings, and time being of the essence, we noticed a group wearing Dukla Prague/HMHB shirts and decided to follow them as they looked like they knew where they were going. Turned out they were heading purposefully to the cashpoint but were happy to give us directions (although one of the group was intent on sending us back up the hill – ha ha nice try mate!)
Contrary to my expectations the venue’s very modern – a bit night-clubby inside – all brushed steel and neon-lit waterfalls behind glass, a bar with no drinks visible… This doesn’t bode well for the evening’s refreshments.
Somewhat warily I ask “What beers have you got?”
“Pheasant Plucker and Hen Harrier”.
Phew! Despite appearances they have proper beer from the excellent Bowland Brewery and Hen Harrier’s one of my favourites! I get stuck in.
Tonight’s support is JD Meatyard – always good to hear. We are treated to several songs from the new album, ‘Collectivise’, a bit of political commentary (‘Theresa’ being repeatedly addressed in one of his songs) as well as the more familiar material (I almost said ‘old favourites’ then realised that term is entirely inappropriate suggesting as it does a certain cosiness. There is nothing cosy about JD Meatyard!) That said, he did seem less impassioned than in previous performances – perhaps he’d been up all night watching the results come in – and he needed to refuel mid-set, calling out, “Can someone get me a Guinness? I have the money!”
The venue is still filling up as the music changes to something classical (William Tell apparently, ta Buck Tarbrush!) and the band stroll on stage. At this crucial point the several beers which I had downed very quickly in order to make up for lost time began to work their magic so I cannot attempt a detailed description of the night’s performance, however, I’m sure other – better and more sober – minds will furnish us with setlists and the like. My recollections are as follows:
Nigel is wearing glasses! This prompts some heckling to which he replies “I can see you but I can’t hear you”. Someone shouts out “I got me hair cut”, Nigel peers at them, “Which one?”
A few songs in and the glasses disappear. “This one’s a true story – its all true apart from Dukla
Prague”. Nigel is wearing what looks like a Harrington jacket. I wonder if he bought it in Clitheroe’s Northern Soul shop?
Instead of the customary ‘What route did you take’ conversation there is an exchange about public transport and speculation as to which number buses would get you to Clitheroe. This leads naturally to a discussion on the brutalist architecture of Preston Bus Station.
Nigel has been up Pendle Hill and is familiar with the surrounding area. He knows about the Pendle Witches – “all tittle tattle, that’s how it starts, a woman living alone with a cat…” which leads into a story about someone who had a very clever cat, very clean, digs a hole, buries its own business, very clever that cat – but there’s nothing special about that, all cats do that.
What, with a shovel?
There are no crisps.
Ken is the first man in Wallasey to get a Blacksmiths apprenticeship which leads into the wonderful ‘Have you ever shoed a horse before? No, but I’ve told a donkey to fuck off’ joke.
The more (some might say ‘brutalist’) lyrics of the early Blackwell are changed: “Marilyn Monroe was just a slag” becomes “Marilyn Monroe was just a drag”.
I didn’t see any oven gloves.
There is a good turnout but the venue’s not packed so there’s plenty of room for dancing. I make the most of this although the majority of the crowd is more subdued. Falling short of critical capacity there is no moshing. Plenty of singing though, especially during Paintball which seemed to be particularly well-received with the entire audience joining in.
The band play Magazine’s ‘A Song From Under The Floorboards’. First time I’ve heard this track and instantly loved it – had to google it when I got home. Apparently its a song version of Dostoyevsky’s book Notes From Underground. Dostoyevsky the Musical! Roll over Lloyd Webber!
In all, an excellent evening. A gentle gig I thought – with the more energetic songs being scattered throughout the setlist rather than clumped together the potential for any peak-moshing extremism was avoided. As ever, I leave the gig feeling I’ve just taken part in something good and life-affirming. How Half Man Half Biscuit work this magic is still a bit of a mystery to me given the negative content of much of the lyrics – the constant tide of life’s irritations, the anger, the disappointments, the murders, mayhem and madness – well, y’know, I have days… I think, as expressed in the Magazine cover (ha!) there’s some sort of contrarian alchemy at work –
‘I am angry I am ill and I’m as ugly as sin
My irritability keeps me alive and kicking’
– and of course, laughing – that always helps!
Cheers guys, I think we all found a little bit of soul in Clitheroe on Friday night.
11 June 2017
Drawbridge
@PHYLLIS cheers. Never heard of it before, will look it up.
Clitheroe is the town that time forget and it is an excellent town because of that. Oh, apart from being a massive Tory stronghold.
11 June 2017
hendrix-tattoo
Excellent Review Phyllis sorry I couldn’t of been there.
But Ron was….
11 June 2017
WARDEN HODGES
Slightly off topic but you can see Clitheroe FC from the top of the castle and also that chippy down the side road, very nice.
11 June 2017
Phyllis Triggs
@H-T hope to see you back at gigs soon man. Have yet to meet Ron Seal, sorry I missed him on Friday.
12 June 2017
Phyllis Triggs
Oops, should read: 1812 Overture, dunno how I managed to translate that into William Tell!
12 June 2017
dr desperate
A mere 138 days from Oxford, here we are in Clitheroe. The previous night JD Meatyard had launched his new album ‘Collectivise’ in Fred’s Ale House, Levenshulme, where a five-pound ticket (there’s no such thing as a free launch) would have got you Tamsin A, local band Poppycock featuring founder Fall femme fatale Una Baines, and Uncle John in passionate pre-election result mood. Biscuiteer Jay was there, as was I.
First stop in Clitheroe was the Bowland Beer Hall, “tasting parlour” for the Bowland Brewery, which claims to have the longest continuous bar in Britain. Its 42 hand-pull pumps proved more than sufficient for a gathering of excited fans, most of whose names you can see above. We raised a glass to absent friend Postman Tony, from which his seal Ron took a sip.
The Grand was, as you might expect, pretty good: decent bars, good acoustics, slightly under-crowded. My bro Chris and I arrived just as JD was kicking off again, perhaps a wee bit less passionately than at Fred’s but with a consequently increased ability to get the words to the new songs (particularly instant classic ‘Ubu @ Eric’s’) in the right order.
Walk-on music was indeed famous Tchaikovsky’s famous ‘1812 Overture’, unfortunately cut short before the cannonfire. Nigel was sporting his new glasses (“I can’t see you, these are me readers”), and started proceedings with ‘Yahoo Chess’, improbably penned by Kenny ‘Soundtrack King’ Loggins.
As far as I recall the rest of the evening’s entertainment went pretty much as per setlist, (handwritten on United Carpets notepaper):
Fred Titmus
Petty Sessions
Joy In Leeuwarden
(Problem Chimp crossed out at this point)
Deep House
Evening Sun
Look Dad No Tunes (with Nigel using his reading glasses as a fretboard steel, à la Thurston Moore’s screwdriver)
Harry Quinn
DPAK
Bad Review
Bob Wilson
Bad Wools
Bane Of Constance
27 Yards Of Dental Floss
Teenage Bride
Chatteris
Vatican Broadside
Tommy Walsh
National Shite Day
JDOGs
Vitas Gerulaitis
Trumpton Riots (these last two reversed in order)
Trad Arr Tune
The Best Things In Life (Slippers verse only)
TLATEOTT (ITLOAOT)
For the encores ‘Evening Of Swing’ was, appropriately enough, cancelled, but replaced by a storming cover of Magazine’s ‘Song From Under The Floorboards’. It was followed by ‘Bob Todd’, which Nigel said they couldn’t not do. I assumed this was going to be a John Noakes reference, but then realised that it was a Jimmy Clitheroe one.
‘Everything’s AOR’ brought matters to a conclusion.
Plenty of topnotch banter, including the cat and donkey jokes mentioned above and mention of Dick Emery, whom the band had apparently been discussing earlier without being able to remember any of his character names. We were given two minutes to come up with them, but only managed Lampwick (we could have had Hettie, Gaylord, College and, of course, Mandy).
During the back and forth about Preston Bus Station I tried to remind Nigel that it was now a Grade II listed building, but though the stage-to-crowd sound was excellent, vice versa was not so (“I can see you talking but I can’t hear you. I can see you, obviously”). He did recall that Ranvir Singh started her career presenting from there.
In a discussion about whether Jegsy Dodd was in attendance he revealed that he had recently almost run him over with his bike (“That’s a change, a cyclist running over a taxi-driver”), and in response to a shout about haircuts we were informed that Nigel and Ken always have one before each gig, proving what a well-oiled machine the modern HMHB tour is.
It was lovely to see a sprightly-looking Geoff Davies chatting with other members of the bearded fraternity after the show.
After an emotional (hopefully temporary) farewell to Canadian-to-be Alice, after-match lagers were taken in The Swan – careful, now.
On to Sheffield!
12 June 2017
Bob Todd
Nice to meet Warren Hodges and avail him with a lift home to the metropolis that is Liverpool after finding him in a bus stop in Clitheroe. Glad you enjoyed the banter, the singing and the john smiths on the minibus home as that’s what it’s all about! A bit like the okey cokey. Always glad to help a bluenose now and again. Gig was boss by the way!
12 June 2017
CARRIE ANNE
Another epic review by the one and only Roger Green, swiped off Gez’s website – http://cobweb.businesscollaborator.com/hmhb/guest/index.htm
The Grand, Clitheroe, Fri 9th June 2017
Roger Green:
My second ever gig in Clitheroe. The first was in June 1985 (thirty-two years previously!?! My, how time flies!) when I was at a gig at the castle. Radio Lancashire was doing a live outside broadcast, featuring The Fall. Three o’clock on a Sunday afternoon. Not the time of day when you would normally expect to see that band, but from memory they were nevertheless on fine form. Top DJ Steve Barker was introducing the show. Well, he must be a top DJ if he has guests like that.
Thanks to Gomez for the note about a documentary on Channel 5 concerning Restless Legs Syndrome. But sadly the producers overlooked a very obvious choice for the soundtrack.
Karen and I were idling one Saturday afternoon when Liz Kershaw invited requests for songs with an age-related theme. Immediately we processed a “shout out” for Old Age Killed My Teenage Bride which she played. Another time, we were caught in the middle of a series of train cancellations at Leeds train station. There were problems with the line to Selby and passengers/customers were pointed towards a Rail Replacement Bus Service. But a few yards away, there was another sign lazily advertising a Bus Replacement Service. We assumed these people have never heard National Shite Day.
On completing Robert Wyatt’s biography, Different Every Time, I was pleased to see reference to a real-life Eno collaboration. And congratulations to Graham for taking part in Danny Baker’s Sausage Sandwich game on Five Live, choosing Dukla Prague as his team.
I took the opportunity to read Mark Whitby’s study of The Festive Fifty. I was a regular listener of this annual event when John Peel used to present it (somewhere about my house is a cassette of the Top Ten recorded on my parents’ stereo in 1978. I’ll find it again one day.) Since Peel’s departure, I have not followed it at all, although I am pleased to see that it remains a feature on the web on Dandelion Radio. There were some interesting references to HMHB in the book (shortest track ever to appear in a Festive Fifty – Vatican Broadside) and the author calculated the band as the tenth most successful band in its history, in terms of total appearances. And with a total of nineteen tracks, they are the sixth most successful act in its history. Only PJ Harvey, New Order, The Smiths, The Wedding Present and The Fall appear above them in that respect. The book only goes up to 2014, so there remains plenty of opportunity to climb further up the league. However the most pedantic among us would be disappointed by the number of spelling mistakes, typos and general errors that litter the book. One in particular is beyond acceptance. The name of HMHB’s guitarist is Ken Hancock, not Keith Hancock (see the section on longest uninterrupted runs). A complaint to the author is required. Formally. A good book otherwise, though.
The gig was carefully scheduled for the day after a General Election, so after a night of dipping in and out of the results we left Wakefield (Labour hold) for a relatively epic journey, changing at Leeds and Blackburn, arriving in Clitheroe (Ribble Valley, Conservatives hold) around the middle of the afternoon. The last leg took its time. We were told there were “trespassers on the line”. We were put in mind of The Coroner’s Footnote, proving yet again that life imitates art. Having arrived in Clitheroe, we had taken only a few paces from the train when Tony collared us. His equally unwieldy journey from Birmingham via Wigan and Bolton had taken him onto the same train as us. Just round the corner we bumped into John who had been doing some venue reconnaissance. We also went to make sure that we knew where we were going, and to be ready for any unusual start times. As it was, we were given some orthodox information. JD Meatyard at 8.00, HMHB at 9.00. More importantly, the guy working on the box office gave us a top tip when we asked him where we could get some food. He gave us a couple of suggestions, one of which we called at. Let me be clear about this. Stansfields is the business! I went for the ham, cheese and salad sandwich with a sausage roll chaser. Quality stuff. Karen was equally delighted with the hot roast lamb number. Oh yes, and the peanut chocolate square rounded it off well. Fat bastard? Me? Stansfields is noted for future reference, although it could be another thirty-two years before I am back.
The paper review begins and ends with the Clitheroe Advertiser And Times (“trusted news since 1868”). In amongst the stories about a country lane flasher and the Pendleton village duck race, there was a sizeable feature on the HMHB show. Often you just see “articles” which are cut and pasted from general promotional material. However, Tony Dewhurst put some effort in, with a lot of his piece coming seemingly from a conversation with Geoff. Nothing new about the accompanying photo though. It was the “dug out” shot of the 1980s band line-up. And just one howler to note, Tony. The band name “Half Man, Half Biscuit” does not contain a comma.
We were staying at The Old Post House, not far from the station and not far from the venue. In fact nothing in Clitheroe is very far from anywhere else. Tony was staying there too, so we liaised to meet him in reception and walk round to The Grand. Even with a relatively prompt getaway, we were beaten to the front of the queue by Sally. Jay was also there, and we had a chat with Gary from JD Meatyard. Matt turned up, after a heroic six-hour drive from Lancing. We discussed the aptness of Elected by Alice Cooper being a tip for HMHB’s cover version. Not even close, as it turned out. It ended up being an old Magazine favourite. Good to see Geoff at the show as he doesn’t get to all of them nowadays. We also saw Nigel and Jo who had driven over from Goole, Graham from Liverpool was also there, and Pete from Worksop stood beside me in the absence of Andrew who was in Russia. Any excuse to miss a gig. I shook hands with Hi Vis John just as JD Meatyard began, and Howie and Daz also turned up in time for HMHB. There was also an exchange of nods with Ian and Mariana. Get well soon, Postman Tony. Your space in the moshpit is being held for you.
When this gig was announced, I thought “The Grand” might be a mighty nineteenth-century theatre – framed, signed photos on the wall of Gielgud, Olivier etc., that kind of set up. Maybe it was like that back in the day, but in 2017 we have a modern set-up. Box Office at the front of the building, leading into the bar area, and the performance hall at the back. Reminded me a bit of The Apex at Bury St Edmunds, if you know that place, albeit on a smaller scale. Seats round the edge of the hall gave it a slightly skool disko feel, until the place started to fill up. They also had some roped-off Reserved Seating at the back for the VIPs. Not sure how much they would have been able to see though. Far better to be at the front, pressed up against the stage.
JD Meatyard tend to not go for dynamic stage entrances. The PA music was good stuff overall – bit of Joy Division, The Smiths and The The, for example. But John, Michael and Gary just seemed to barge in with their opening song, Green Flags And Holy Water. They followed up with most of the tracks from their new CD Collectivism, such as Here Come The Haters, Ubu At Erics and Those Were The Days. The set also included old favourites Lies, Lies And Government and Jesse James, along with their usual, mighty cover of Sweet Jane. John and the band remain as fiery as ever (“Bye, bye Theresa” was slipped in during Jesse James). John said that Gideon Coe had played one of the songs from the CD. You would hope that that helps to shift a few units. Hoping to see these again soon. I would expect them to be supporting at one or two of the HMHB shows between now and Christmas.
Almost without exception, Tony’s assistance is required when identifying HMHB’s walk-on music. He was pretty sure it was “the middle bit” from Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture. I really couldn’t argue either way. If you want to query this, he will be standing at the front at the gig at The Leadmill in August.
Nigel was wearing spectacles when the band arrived on stage. During the gig he said that he could read road signs without his glasses, but this was the first time for a while that he had been able to see the mixing desk. We also noticed Carl’s Fugazi-inspired 3743BMTS t-shirt. “This is an old Kenny Loggins number,” Nigel announced before opening up the set with Bad Losers On Yahoo Chess. At the end of that song there was a shout from the crowd, “Is that for Theresa May?”
Karen said that after Petty Sessions there was a shout of “Ooh you are awful,” to which Nigel replied that it was just like Dick Emery was in the room. He continued by saying that while a lot of people could remember the catchphrases from Emery’s show, not many could recall the names of the characters. Tony suggested “Lampwick” for one of them, but the lack of other suggestions, points towards Nigel being correct. He then said “This was written by Dick Emery” before they played Joy In Leeuwarden.
There was a discussion about walking the hills round and about Clitheroe, which led into the first joke of the evening. Nigel was telling his mate that he had the cleverest cat in the world. When it did its business it used to then bury it. His mate said that all cats do that. “Not with a fucking shovel!” was Nigel’s reply. Cue drum roll from Carl.
In answer to a question from the crowd, Nigel pointed out that both he and Ken get haircuts before a gig. “It’s a well-oiled machine.” As proved by the Rossi/Parfitt routine during A Lilac Harry Quinn. There was another question, about going to the castle. Nigel was disappointed to find that it closes at 4.30 even during the summer. “What would Prince Rupert have thought of closing the castle at 4.30?” he pondered. “That’s puritans for you,” replied Tony.
Bad Review included a line of “Ooh My Coocachoo”. Nigel obviously knew some of the people in the crowd. They said something about Jegsy Dodd. Nigel said Jegsy was “turning into Sid James” and was a poet first, and taxi driver second. He said he nearly ran into him on his bike the other day. He suggested that Taxi Driver Run Over By Cyclist would have made a good headline. There was also a complaint from one of these guys that their minibus had become more expensive than planned, because someone had not shown up. This gave Nigel the chance to tell them where they had gone wrong. They should have caught the X1 bus to Preston and then got the local services from there to Clitheroe. This brought him to the brutalist architecture of Preston bus station. Nigel said that everyone in Preston wants it to be knocked down, but those outside Preston are protesting about it. Must go one day.
During Bob Wilson Anchorman, Nigel looked to one side for “Kent” and to the other side for “Gwent”. He explained that all the stories in the songs are true, except for Dukla Prague. He said he actually used to have Striker. Neil chipped in to say that he used to have World Cup Striker.
Errors And Omissions section… For some time I’ve been saying that Ken and Neil have swapped instruments at certain points in these shows (for instance at this one, where the band played Bane Of Constance and Twenty-Seven Yards Of Dental Floss). At Clitheroe, I noticed that this isn’t quite true. Yes, they swap positions on the stage. And yes, Ken plays Neil’s bass. But I spotted that Neil actually has his own guitar, which he took back to his side of the stage afterwards. And when Ken came back, he picked up his guitar which he had left behind his monitor. Apologies for misleading reports to this effect in previous reviews.
Nigel said that Ken was the first man in Wallasey to get an apprenticeship at a blacksmith’s. “He’s the right build.” At the interview he was asked if he had ever shoed a horse. “No,” was the reply, “but I have told a donkey to fuck off.” (Another drum roll from Carl.)
Jordan’s repeated request for Our Tune resulted in the opening riff from Nigel. Tommy Walsh’s Eco House was “a song I wrote in Manningtree”. Mr Krzywicki made an appearance as the offender with the ski lodge in Vitas Gerulaitis. There was a brief extract from D’ Ye Ken Ted Moult at the beginning of the encore. Here is how the whole thing went…
Bad Losers On Yahoo Chess
Fuckin’ ‘Ell It’s Fred Titmus
Petty Sessions
Joy In Leeuwarden (We Are Ready)
Deep House Victims Mini Bus Appeal
When The Evening Sun Goes Down
Look Dad No Tunes
A Lilac Harry Quinn
All I Want For Christmas Is A Dukla Prague Away Kit
Bad Review
Bob Wilson Anchorman
Rock ‘N’ Roll Is Full Of Bad Wools
The Bane Of Constance
Twenty-Seven Yards Of Dental Floss
Old Age Killed My Teenage Bride
For What Is Chatteris?
Vatican Broadside
Tommy Walsh’s Eco House
National Shite Day
Joy Division Oven Gloves
Outbreak Of Vitas Gerulaitis
Trumpton Riots
We Built This Village On A Trad Arr Tune
The Best Things In Life (just the end bit)
Paintball’s Coming Home
The Light At The End Of The Tunnel Is The Light Of An Oncoming Train
And the encore was
99% Of Gargoyles Look Like Bob Todd
A Song From Under The Floorboards
Everything’s AOR
A couple of the pubs in town were a bit busy, so Karen, Tony and I opted for The Rose And Crown. We were competing against the back end of Fusion’s set, but we managed to nail down some of the bits that I hadn’t heard properly at the gig, as well as making out some of my substandard handwriting. Thanks to both of them. We expect to be doing much the same thing in Sheffield at the beginning of August.
13 June 2017
WARDEN HODGES
Cheers Bob- (and crew)- even though it was Fazackerley at 1am by the time I jumped a cab home! Sheffield clashes with the Toffees Europa game v (I reckon) Connahs Quay Nomads.
13 June 2017
Bobby svarc
Wonderful read as usual Roger Green, thank you. Collectivise.
14 June 2017
Jitsu_g
Dr D
Oxford was 18th March, Clitheroe 9th June. I reckon thats nearer 83 days rather than 138.
Otherwise can’t fault your review
14 June 2017
dr desperate
Good point, @_G. It was 138 days to the next gig (Sheffield) when I posted the Oxford gig review, but then Clitheroe was squeezed into a hectic tour schedule.
14 June 2017
Paul996
Short hop up the 59 for us almost a home fixture. Stood behind the sound desk Geoff gently prompting them to turn Ken’s guitar up. Pre-gig saw Neil or his doppelganger walking up Castle St whilst i was eating fish’n’chips in the churchyard. As at Holmfirth when I was outside the chippy when I saw Nigel, I was too starstruck to button hole him. King of Hi-Vis spotted applying the Jacket in the Beer Hall.
As per a great gig thought Nigel was perhaps suffering from a touch of laryngitis/throat malady and unfortunately Mrs 996’s encyclopedic knowledge of Ribble Valley public transport routes was not audible from the back. 280 from stand 13 Preston Bus station.
Heard somebody say the walk on was to Tchaikovsky and yes it was Magazine Song from under the floorboards which resonated with our last gig in Lincoln when they played shot by both sides. Assume Neil’s choice.
14 June 2017
hendrix-tattoo
Brilliant reviews Dr. Desperate and Roger.
Hope to make Sheffield.
14 June 2017
Mr ed
Managed to get a space at Bilston. Get on quick.
25 June 2017
NoRdic ski widoW
I am the said 17 year old who ‘Warden Hodges’ referred to. Was my first Half Man Half Biscuit gig and Neil kindly got everyone backstage to sign the setlist for me.
10 July 2017
WARDEN HODGES
Well done young man. Hopefully first of many.
10 July 2017