GIG NUMBER FIFTY-TWO
Who
We then moved forwards as HMHB came onstage to a snippet of classical music to commence their 2 hour set. Nigel for some reason introduced the band as the Black Rebel Motorcycle Club before launching into Sealclubbing; an unexpected but decent enough start. Things were then picked up somewhat for Monmore Hare's Running but it was the introduction of Fuckin' 'Ell It's Fred Titmus that made me scream and then throw myself into the moshpit for the first of many times. I went quite mad and thought I'd expended all my energy for the night already! WOW! The rest of the show involved me either standing on the edge of the small but intense moshpit or trying to throw myself into it, which was a pretty hard task. The Light At The End Of The Tunnel (Is The Light Of An Oncoming Train) got me going again, as did the excellent Bottleneck At Capel Curig, PRS Yearbook (Quick, The Drawbridge) and Running Order Squabble Fest! And let's not forget the perfect moshing song Look Dad No Tunes, and my achievement of breaking into the moshpit for Vatican Broadside within one second!! Used To Be In Evil Gazebo included the rugby reference "harping on about that drop kick", and Twenty Four Hour Garage People was as great a sing-along as ever! The heckle of "shit band no fans" during Emerging From Gorse was very animated, and Nigel even broke into a few seconds of Eleanor Rigby. And the setlist says they didn't play Turned Up Clocked On Laid Off but I'm sure I remember hearing it.
Things were approaching the curfew now and the band were playing C.A.M.R.A. Man - at the time I didn't like it at all, but have since warmed to it. Fortunately though this didn't stop them unleashing their best tune Everything's A.O.R. and unlike at the previous show I got to jump around to my hearts content! I thought things were surely over now but, in the best imaginable turn of events, the main set was closed with Paintball's Coming Home, featuring new verses, including "they didn't chose their cat, their cat chose them, and it's got its own website." Half Man Half Biscuit then left the stage before returning for their encore. Nigel told us he didn't realise that the time was now creeping up to 11:15pm so they simply closed with a cover version What Do I Get by The Buzzcocks. The lights were now up but, fortunately, the power wasn't pulled. Rock and roll! If it wasn't for the fact I'd so worn myself out during A.O.R. (and I had Blur to look forward to the next day) I'd probably had given myself one final fling in that moshpit, but I left feeling very happy, and I think everyone else did too!
Mark: 9.0/10
Half Man Half Biscuit
Support
Hovis Presley
Mark Silverman
Where
Manchester Academy
When
28th November 2003
Price
£12.50
Who with
Matt
Position
Towards the front, in the moshpit
Comments
So for the third consecutive year I had the pleasure of seeing the wonderful Half Man Half Biscuit playing Manchester. I hyped myself up beforehand with four pints and an incredibly loud blast through their records. Although this made me sad that they didn't play Time Flies By (When You're The Driver Of A Train), which I would had loved as I was singing it both before and afterwards, it was under the turbo-charged influence of Everything's A.O.R. that I set out. The band had moved up to the Academy and the crowd was surprisingly large. First up was a short slot from Mark Silverman: a brilliantly funny comedy singer armed with just a guitar. He opened with Don't Stick Your Dick In A Blender: potential best title ever? Although generally pretty juvenile stuff, the songs were catchy and it made everyone laugh very hard. We later had a song about killing the president... of Ecuador! The momentum was then somewhat destroyed when Hovis Presley ambled onstage a few minutes later. He was a large comedian/poet dude and got heckled throughout by some maniac down the front. There were isolated funny moments but it was mainly an indifferent performance. Best gag was: "I went to the doctors and said I had an ear infection. He said 'What are the symptoms?' I said they are an American TV cartoon family". I'd heard Frank Skinner doing the same gag a few nights previously, but have been very reliably informed that Hovis was the one who did it first. Shame on you Frank!
Setlist
Sealclubbing
Monmore Hare's Running
Fuckin' 'Ell It's Fred Titmus
Tending The Wrong Grave For 23 Years
The Light At The End Of The Tunnel (Is The Light Of An Oncoming Train)
Improv Workshop Mimeshow Gobshite
Uffington Wassail
Bad Review
I Went To A Wedding... [snippet]
Yipps (My Baby Got The) [snippet]
Lark Descending
Running Order Squabble Fest
If I Had Possession Over Pancake Day
Used To Be In Evil Gazebo
Bottleneck At Capel Curig
It Makes The Room Look Bigger
Twenty Four Hour Garage People
P.R.S. Yearbook (Quick, The Drawbridge)
Vatican Broadside
Emerging From Gorse
San Antonio Foam Party
Look Dad No Tunes
Doreen
Jarg Armani
Footprints
C.A.M.R.A. Man
Everything's A.O.R.
Paintball's Coming Home
What Do I Get
n.b. This might be in the correct order. Maybe.
