GIG NUMBER ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FOUR
Who
When I arrived at Spoons I decided to go with the half chicken with peri-peri sauce rather than my usual meatier option, which was nice but not quite as large as I'd envisaged half a chicken would be. Disappointingly Wetherspoons seem to have stopped selling Budvar bottles, and as I was growing weary of how Erdinger fizzes up so badly I decided to go on a magical mystery tour of the bottled beers I was only half-familiar with. I tried Efes, which I was disappointed with before yet enjoyed it slightly more this time around, Baltika 7 from Russia, which was utterly disgusting, and also Samuel Adams Boston Lager, which is one of those rare examples that proves Americans can brew decent stuff themselves from time to time, although I'd be quite happy to just stick with the holy trinity of beer-producing countries forever. And yes, that's Belgium, Germany and the Czech Republic, obviously. I passed the time by playing some Sudoku but was blown away by someone's hoodie, noting that it was a homemade effort with the eyes of the person circled. As he was wearing a Dukla Prague away kit I correctly surmised I was looking into the eyes of Dickie Davies, which led to a brief conversation before I decided I needed some obscure HMHB-themed attire of my own. A quick play on Amazon came back with a black t-shirt with "Got Nagasaki?" on the front, and I couldn't quite believe how costly the Dukla Prague away kit actually is, retailing for around £30-£35.
This whim left me as soon as the night was over though, as on a practical level I'm rather well stocked for t-shirts already and nothing hysterically funny caught my eye. The doors to the venue had opened at 7:30pm and I ambled down a little after that, feeling drunker than expected. I was advised beforehand that the venue is called The Robin 2 because in fact there used to be a larger Robin 1, which I found interesting, yet somehow Google knows nothing about this! I checked out the merch stand which featured HMHB custom lighters and more vinyl than anticipated, but noting I had all the tracks and that I've yet to get round to playing some vinyl I purchased 18 months beforehand it was easy to resist. One thing I couldn't resist though was the temptation of the bar, initially being drawn in by the unnecessarily excellent choice of food on offer before settling on a pint of Old Speckled Hen on tap. It was a beer I'd loved a couple of times which has never tasted the same since, either due to the quality on offer or more likely due to my increasingly high beer standards. As this one was served in a flimsy plastic cup it was never going to blow my mind, and frankly it was disgusting! I guess it made me appear more sociable though as a couple started talking to me, firstly about my Achtung Bono t-shirt before showing me the garments they'd splashed out on today from the store. I think I recognised them from previous Bilston performances but they lamented the fact they'd missed the time when Dean Friedman turned up, and I was able to shed some reliable light on which songs the band likely would and wouldn't be playing tonight. Also we spoke about the The Greyhound And Punchbowl pub which I'd ventured into last time, agreeing with me that it was horrible but with tremendous potential.
I may in fact have heard exactly the same sentiment from the Dukla Prague/Dickie Davies man earlier, but I'd drunk just about enough to not be quite sure! After a smallish interval The Humdrum Express took to the stage by himself, wearing his trademark cap and joking about feeling posh whenever he comes to Bilston. Apparently this is the third time I'd seen him and his style is sinking in a bit. However, the brilliance of the main act and the fact I don't know Humdrum's musings in advance made him much harder to enjoy. Apparently he's from Kidderminster, which is almost-local, and he also reminisced about the time that Dean Friedman showed up, which in a fairer world would be up there with the moon landing, Heaton Park and the Lost season 3 finale as one of the greatest moments in human history. For me and a good few others here tonight, it will never be forgotten. He cheekily suggested that Climie Fisher were backstage this time, and I took several photos throughout his and HMHB's set, lamenting that my phone doesn't seem capable of taking a good shot unless outside and in perfect sunlight. Maybe one day Samsung will put a bit of thought into getting the focus on their models to work rather than obsessing over increasing the number of megabytes? Probably the trauma of that Old Speckled Hen accompanied by the volume of beers earlier wiped my memory of any further details, but I do recall that he received a reasonably warm welcome and, not much time after, HMHB took to the stage with no fuss or fanfare whatsoever. I spotted Neil first and assumed that they were just taking a relaxed attitude to soundchecking, but when Nigel appeared I knew they meant business and I would have to make do without that much-needed loo break after all.
The couple I were with had remarked about hearing some of the soundcheck earlier, in particular that the band were practicing Rhinestone Cowboy of all songs! Also time was getting on a bit and the simple set-up for The Humdrum Express meant that very little prep was needed for the main act. Although not everything was pre-planned perfectly, as Nigel had left his guitar unplugged, leading to a guffaw from the crowd followed by a glorious shout of Judas when he plugged it back in! He also made his usual mistake of starting in a thick sweatshirt, which was junked a couple of songs in with less fanfare than usual. Whether these are genuine recurring errors or deliberate in-jokes for the hardcore punter to pick up on they remain very welcome indeed! Slightly less appreciated was the choice of opener - Asparagus Next Left - which is alright but then puts too much pressure on a momentum being built up, which unfortunately didn't quite happen. Next up was Ordinary To Enschede, which as a b-side to Let's Not from 1990 was too obscure for most. I kinda recognised it, as I had a radio session version, and it is a great song, but I ended up scratching my head trying to place the song rather than loving it. Nevertheless, a rarity is a rarity and helps to showcase the depth of the HMHB catalogue, and I'm now developing quite an affection for it. By the time Joy In Leeuwarden (We Are Ready) came along I noticed that the band were louder than usual, even more so on Surging Out Of Convalescence. And this is the point where I do a bit of research and realise that, barring Leeuwarden which had been the opener last time, I'd never heard the band play any of these songs before. That's so strange as they came across as over-familiar and I was even planning to tick the guys off for repeating themselves!
So on one hand I could criticise them for focusing on mid-quality late era songs but then I think back and am struggling to remember them playing Surging Out Of Convalescence at all, which is a great tune, suggesting maybe I wasn't paying the guys sufficient attention! One song that is over-played though is When The Evening Sun Goes Down, which despite its delightful live introduction has found its way into the set more often than it should have done. Similarly I didn't enjoy Left Lyrics In Practice Room at the time, but now observe I've never heard them playing it before. Turned Up Clocked On Laid Off always goes down a storm, as does Evening Of Swing (Has Been Cancelled), and I'm surprised to note that I'd heard Totnes Bickering Fair played live twice before this. One delight was hearing Tending The Wrong Grave For 23 Years for the first time since 2007, and although it was funny at that time I now barely remember its reference to Dorothy Perkins. I think this was the place Nigel found himself in, and he may have dismissed it as being horrible. The band were keen to share their day with us, letting us know they'd been to Hailes Abbey and had had a great afternoon, and retold a story of Neil being turned away from a club for not wearing a tie, then going back to get a jump lead from his car and tying it round his neck. At this point I suspect this was not a true story as the bouncer then let him in, but with an explicit warning not to be starting anything! Neil also remarked that he couldn't hear Ken in his monitors, with Nigel querying why he hadn't mentioned something a bit earlier in the set. Another surprise was to hear Footprints for which Ken and Neil swapped places onstage, Nigel saying it helped them to mix it up a bit, it was a nice day out for those two and that Neil was still the designated HMHB van driver.
As usual I glanced around the auditorium looking for familiar faces, who were all present and correct. The fleece guy as usual was down the front facing away from the stage, but must have been really hot as the fleece eventually came off! Also I saw the usual guy bouncing around energetically towards the front and the main omission was the geeky guy, but I did spot him on the Metro back afterwards! It is always a delight to hear Bob Wilson - Anchorman but National Shite Day is an ever-present that just takes up too much set time for my liking, being played every time I've seen the guys from 2009 onwards. One ever-present number which would be missed is Joy Division Oven Gloves, and although not as energised as it has been in the past and with no sign of any oven gloves, it was especially enjoyable to all get to shake our hands in the air, and this may have been the point where a bit of a slam pit started up. Other banter included a debate on how to pronounce scones, praising one guy as having the best accent ever, and also a teasing snippet of Albert Hammond Bootleg. Don't tease guys, just go ahead and play it, I haven't heard it live since 2001! No surprises with the excellence of For What Is Chatteris... or The Light At The End Of The Tunnel (Is The Light Of An Oncoming Train) though, apart from a nod to an earlier debate on the difference between Matlock and Matlock Bath, in fact the last HMHB show had been a month before in Matlock Bath, so I guess that conversation started with Nigel spotting a guy from that show down the front. Then followed the most earth-shattering moment of the evening, but somehow I never noticed. It was only after getting home and doing the research that my mind was blown.
Yes, that's right, after ten gigs and probably 250 songs I FINALLY got to hear Half Man Half Biscuit singing a song from Some Call It Godcore, their criminally ignored fifth album. And yes, Fear My Wraith is a reasonable song, but it's one of the few I couldn't place as being on Godcore, and I'd had been much more excited to hear Even Men With Steel Hearts, Sponsoring The Moshpits or Styx Gig (Seen By My Mates Coming Out Of A). Hmmm well here I am writing this review and listening to the song again and thinking I must have been tired or not on the ball, as Fear My Wraith sounds like a belter now! One criticism I won't withdraw though is the momentum-shredding over-use of "finale" songs in the middle of the set, and playing We Built This Village On A Trad. Arr. Tune immediately followed by Rock And Roll Is Full Of Bad Wools did not help matters. It's deeply confusing and obscures the fact I was enjoying a near-30 song mega setlist. The home straight though was a trilogy of old favourites, and Vatican Broadside continued its reign as the only ever-present song and worked admirably as a stand-alone rather than being bolted onto a cover version. Irk The Purists is the weak link for me but it's a favourite for everyone else and the drum solo in the middle is Carl's moment to shine! The main set then finished as it probably should with Everything's A.O.R. as I stood on the periphery, not quite willing to make that push forwards into the heat of the moshpit. The band left the stage but were quickly back with Fix It So She Dreams Of Me, the one about the Gok Wan acolytes which had been a pleasant surprise last time, but a bit out of place when we were looking for our heads to be blown off with a massive surprise or hit.
As I'd been advised it would happen in advance, the novelty of hearing Rhinestone Cowboy was lost a bit, and when they finished with Monmore, Hare's Running I thought okay, but that's not the right way to end the night. We cheered for more but had little hope that the band would be back, but I had reasonable time to catch my last train and was delighted when they bounded back onstage for a second encore. So far Everything's A.O.R. and Ordinary To Enschede had been the oldest tunes on offer so a dive into the vaults was much-appreciated, but do we really want to hear All I Want For Christmas Is A Dukla Prague Away Kit in May? I wasn't convinced, but looked like I was in a minority. This very swiftly segued into The Trumpton Riots and it was clear that this was to be the finale, but as great a tune as it is this was a little predictable, why not surprise us with Rod Hull Is Alive - Why?, The Referee's Alphabet or Sponsoring The Moshpits, songs I'd never heard live before? Maybe this says more about me being a bit tired/off on the day - not that I really felt too bad at the time - and the inevitability is that when you see a band eleven times it gets harder and harder for them to amaze you. After that much delayed loo visit I picked up a ticket again on the way out - in fact a low ticket number quite close to the one I'd had on arrival - then made my way to the trams. I took a slight risk as I saw I had a few minutes to check out the bus station so I could try and use my pass, but buses back to Wolves looked rather thin on the ground and I had no wish to gamble and end up needing to catch a taxi. In fact I'd end up going out on the Friday night then working a monster 13 hour day on the Saturday, so this preparation was not ideal!
By now I was feeling really tired and could barely bring myself to scribble some notes down, and fear I've omitted a good bit of the interesting banter, and still the detail of the Dorothy Perkins reference escapes me! Although I've gone into the stats already quite a bit I am intrigued to see how the set broke down, and in fact all albums were represented except ACD and Four Lads Who Shook The Wirral, which isn't too bad. Also there were five songs I'd never heard live before - Fear My Wraith, Asparagus Next Left, Left Lyrics In Practice Room, Surging Out Of Convalescence and Ordinary To Enschede - plus Rhinestone Cowboy if that can be counted - with Fear My Wraith being the closest we had to a wow moment. When I compare that to Dean Friedman joining them onstage, or the excitement of hearing Time Flies By (When You're The Driver Of A Train), 99% Of Gargoyles Look Like Bob Todd, Venus In Flares, God Gave Us Life, or, hell, even I Love You (Because You Look Like Jim Reeves), for the first time, this was a mild stand-out moment to say the least. There's something inherently exciting and nostalgic about hearing something from the debut album - especially the reaction it gets from the old school fans - but I've always stressed that HMHB's brilliance lies in their unfailing consistency. Digging a little deeper, perhaps the problem was that the five songs played from the first four albums were all ones we'd heard a good few times before, albums five to eight were represented by just three songs, only Fear My Wraith being a surprise, and the balance of the set was skewed far too heavily towards a whopping 15 songs from their four most recent albums. I almost feel tortured checking out the setlists from their two earlier shows in 2013, wanting to cry after seeing Sponsoring The Moshpits has been played and I wasn't there to see it, and generally that the balance then was a bit better. I have to give this the lowest HMHB gig rating yet of 7.5/10 as a result, but that's still respectable, and I hope this slight lull will make the surprises even more wonderful the next time I see them!
Mark: 7.5/10
Half Man Half Biscuit
Support
The Humdrum Express
Where
Bilston The Robin 2
When
23rd May 2013
Price
£18.00
Who with
No-one
Position
Towards the front
Comments
Two months precisely since my last gig I returned to The Robin 2 for the sixth time to see Half Man Half Biscuit, in fact my 11th time overall. I'd enjoyed a good few weeks, in particular some excellent weather for excursions to Wales and Southport, plus had also seen Derren Brown in Birmingham and Reginald D Hunter in Stoke-on-Trent the weekend before. Reginald had been tragically forgettable and, although Derren put on a reasonable-enough show, it didn't seem as good as the times before and I always come away from a stage show feeling I haven't had enough entertainment to justify the expense. I had no such doubts about Half Man Half Biscuit and got tickets many months in advance as usual, wasting my breath trying to persuade others to join me, but to no avail. Even when I found out I'd be working an extended day on the Saturday - and this late night was hardly the best preparation for it - the thought of missing out was almost offensive. I saw their live in Manchester 2001 video yet again and heard all the albums, not hearing all the rarities though which at the time of writing over a week later I'm still working my way through. I knew I was good for time but stayed later at work than expected, although fortunately a colleague was kind enough to give me a lift there after I left my stuff in the office and changed into my customary Achtung Bono t-shirt. As this show was later in the year than is HMHB-tradition the sun was still up so I could see Bilston in all its glory, but as I didn't fancy an extensive wander and wasn't tempted by any of the curry houses I made my way towards the local Wetherspoons for food and beer.
Setlist
Asparagus Next Left
Ordinary To Enschede
Joy In Leeuwarden (We Are Ready)
Surging Out Of Convalescence
When The Evening Sun Goes Down
Left Lyrics In Practice Room
Turned Up Clocked On Laid Off
Evening Of Swing (Has Been Cancelled)
Totnes Bickering Fair
Tending The Wrong Grave For 23 Years
San Antonio Foam Party
Footprints
Bob Wilson: Anchorman
National Shite Day
Joy Division Oven Gloves
For What Is Chatteris...
The Light At The End Of The Tunnel (Is The Light Of An Oncoming Train)
Fear My Wraith
We Built This Village On A Trad. Arr. Tune
Rock And Roll Is Full Of Bad Wools
Vatican Broadside
Irk The Purists
Everything's A.O.R.
Fix It So She Dreams Of Me
Rhinestone Cowboy
Monmore, Hare's Running
All I Want For Christmas Is A Dukla Prague Away Kit
The Trumpton Riots
