GIG NUMBER ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-ONE
Who
It was surprising that HMHB had succumbed to having conventional support and Bushart were a fairly typical guitar effort who drifted past with little to review about them. They thanked Probe Plus for being the one true independent record left and after a while I wandered off to the bar. I had one hugely expensive and mediocre pint, and wished I could remember if they had cheaper prices on offer for the student-only events. It was astonishing to think I'd got drunk here on numerous occasions on such mediocre fare! I also checked out the record store which had its usual great selection of music and t-shirts but I was trying to save some cash and also wasn't too keen on carrying anything around with me. As for the audience, there was a notable younger presence, many of whom I presume to be students, suggesting that the band continue to convert the cream of Manchester's music fans each year. I then moved in much closer to the stage for Calvin Party, who were a better prospect, with a tune called Northern Song and an intelligent looking singer (thanks to those glasses) backed with a couple of girls and guys. There was a random improv bit in the middle that may have been just to cover for technical problems but it was the most interesting part of their show. Much of their set was ruined by some complete tosser standing in front of me who kept shouting "Joy Division" at the band. Firstly, this wasn't remotely funny, secondly, they didn't sound like Joy Division and, thirdly, as this wasn't funny the first time it definitely wasn't amusing for the one hundredth time! Someone in the crowd rightfully told him to shut the hell up, something he barely managed, and the band were professional enough to block him out altogether. I wonder if this is the same moron who's famous for chanting "what did God give us Neil?" at HMHB? Either way, I hope he fucks off and I never have to stand in the same room as him again! Calvin Party paid tribute to HMHB, rightly pointing out that Nigel is a superior wit to Jarvis Cocker then, in an astonishingly rare act of relevant DJing, Common People was played as the band exited the stage!
My only complaint about Calvin Party was that they had overran, digging into Half Man Half Biscuit's precious stage time. The band actually had their own roadies, something not normally required as they usually don't have a proper support, and all the group except Nigel hung around the stage, with Carl ticking off a junior roadie for presumably shoddy work - reprimanding on-tour drum technicians indeed! The room was getting busier and I let myself get pushed back. Increasingly I find I can't be bothered with the moshpit and don't try to overcome this negative attitude, figuring it's for the best that I grow old gracefully! I do sometimes feel bad for being boring but I do leave with more memories of the show and, since the post-Reading 2006 rush of new talent, I notice my choice of gigs seems to have become less cutting edge. I figure that 2008 was a genuinely poor year for new bands and the music press have been particularly unimpressive, somehow completely ignoring Gogol Bordello, who sound a thousand times more exciting than anything that has ever reached the charts! But anyway, Half Man Half Biscuit took to the stage amid the usual fog, Nigel set to work unravelling the tangled wires and plastic packaging of his drinking water and they launched into Took Problem Chimp To Ideal Home Show, my favourite tune from CSI: Ambleside and a great, forward-thinking choice. This was followed by When The Evening Sun Goes Down which made me think about their back catalogue. It's a perfectly reasonable song that's good enough for a live set, but hardly at the expense of the dozens of better songs that were omitted! First moshpit of the evening was for Bad Losers On Yahoo Chess before we were treated to the stunning Turned Up Clocked On Laid Off, which was particularly fitting as my job had finished on the day of the show and HMHB are the perfect soundtrack to unemployment amongst other things! The Light At The End Of The Tunnel (Is The Light Of An Oncoming Train) always goes down a storm but it sounds a bit over-familiar to me, almost as if it's so good I can't absorb that the band wrote it themselves!
This song unveiled the worst aspects of the crowd, as people started pushing past, blocking my view with their over-sized heads and giving me a bad neck in the process. An embarrassing scene of pushing and shoving! I also had to deal with a guy in front who was standing unnecessarily close and spending most of the show talking to his friend, little realising just how close he came to a slap on the head from me! Indeed, there may have been quite a high twat quotient but most people seemed to know the songs, making me wonder how many owned all the albums. Is it even possible to obtain a decent HMHB collection from free downloading? Any rendition of the ending of Yipps (My Baby Got The) will always remain a set highlight for me, whereas Petty Sessions was the strangest of beasts, a short but sweet cover of The Okie Cokie that doesn't quite hit the spot in the same way as the awesome Lock Up Your Mountain Bikes or Paintball's Coming Home. Indeed, the main flaw with the show was that the band played too much newer material, almost ignoring their early career. It's a difficult balance to strike with eleven albums to choose from but, as I'll detail later, there were more criminal omissions than ever before! Nevertheless, Achtung Bono could well be the bands best ever album and Restless Legs and We Built This Village On A Trad. Arr. Tune were highly welcome, especially such simple lyrical changes as "it fills me with joy to see joggers out moshing". The whole show after the flashy entrance was the usual barrage of songs delivered with little fuss but there was a better lightshow than usual, and the band looked healthier and sounded more concise than ever. I wished my phone wasn't dying so I could have got some pics to document the evening with though! Gubba Look-A-Likes has never been one of my favourites but was a welcome addition to the set and a change of style, featuring a guest trumpet player. This was followed by a barrage of top-drawer hits detailed on the setlist below, building up to an incendiary Trumpton Riots, which some seemed to recognise despite its reworked intro, and the ever-wonderful Everything's A.O.R., which was somewhat easier to spot as the group made a false start.
Next up, the price of the Pringles in Twenty Four Hour Garage People was hit by the credit crunch before the lovely For What Is Chatteris... was greeted by a big cheer and the main set was closed out with Joy Division Oven Gloves. There was next to no regard for the curfew as the band returned at a leisurely pace for Eno Collaboration, before a random yet effective cover version of The Air That I Breathe by The Hollies. I correctly predicted that they'd finish it with a burst of Vatican Broadside, which is always the best way of bringing the pace back up. Broadside is one of only three songs that HMHB had played every time I'd seen them, the others being Everything’s A.O.R. and Look Dad No Tunes. Proceedings then drew to a close with National Shite Day featuring a sensible level of improv, the only surprise being their audacity in playing it so long after the curfew had been and gone! I could have imagined it but it sure looked like Peter Beardsley who was standing stage-right and on that surreal note the show drew to a close. I walked back to my hotel after seeing the final seal of popularity for the band - dodgy t-shirts on sale outside! It had been a good show, the main disappointment being just a few too many omissions. Lock Up Your Mountain Bikes, Paintball's Coming Home, Fuckin' 'Ell It's Fred Titmus and Running Order Squabble Fest are usually played and I'd regard as utterly essential, whereas I have yet to hear the band perform The Referee's Alphabet, Sponsoring The Moshpits, God Gave Us Life, Time Flies By (When You're The Driver Of A Train), The Bastard Son Of Dean Friedman or Rod Hull Is Alive - Why? Read on to find out how much HMHB restored the balance at the Bilston show!
Mark: 8.5/10
Half Man Half Biscuit
Support
Calvin Party
Bushart
Where
Manchester Academy
When
30th January 2009
Price
£15.00
Who with
No-one
Position
Towards the front
Comments
I'd already purchased tickets for a March show in Bilston but, after listening over the records a few more times, I impulsively decided to travel up to Manchester to watch Half Man Half Biscuit for the sixth time. After the Bilston show I'll have seen them seven times, equalling the second place of The Flaming Lips and rightfully so. As far as English music is concerned, three bands tower over the rest of the competition - Half Man Half Biscuit, Blur and The Beatles. The Beatles are an obvious choice and my opinion of them is higher than ever after Macca's wonder show, whereas Blur's reformation in the summer of 2009 reaffirmed my love for them too. Nevertheless, I'd still argue that Half Man Half Biscuit are better than both in some ways, particularly due to the sheer quantity of classic songs they've made over the years. I went to some efforts to learn CSI: Ambleside in more depth and booked a hotel in the city centre. I travelled straight from work, checked in and headed out towards the Academy, this being my first show at the place since The Complete Stone Roses back in November 2005. I have returned to Manchester every year since, but had somehow avoided its most important venue. It was an exceedingly cold day and I was pleased to see the show hadn't been relegated to the Students Union and was surprised to see ticket touts hanging outside. It was satisfying to see how popular The Biscuit remain in Manchester, no doubt due to good taste, an affinity with their northern wit and word of mouth from their regular shows in the city. It's weird that the band have affiliated themselves so strongly with Manchester rather than Liverpool, but I'm sure there are good reasons for this, probably football related! I arrived a bit after 8pm and walked through the cool new frontage of the Academy. They'd even done up the toilets too, but it was obvious that the people of Manchester remained appallingly toilet trained! It seemed pretty busy but most of the crowd were bunching at the back so I walked towards first support band Bushart.
Setlist
Took Problem Chimp To Ideal Home Show
When The Evening Sun Goes Down
Bad Losers On Yahoo Chess
Turned Up Clocked On Laid Off
I Went To A Wedding... [snippet]
The Light At The End Of The Tunnel (Is The Light Of An Oncoming Train)
Yipps (My Baby Got The) [snippet]
Petty Sessions
Restless Legs
Totnes Bickering Fair
We Built This Village On A Trad. Arr. Tune
Blue Badge Abuser
Gubba Look-A-Likes
Them's The Vagaries
Look Dad No Tunes
Bob Wilson: Anchorman
Evening Of Swing (Has Been Cancelled)
The Trumpton Riots
Everything's A.O.R.
Twenty Four Hour Garage People
For What Is Chatteris...
Joy Division Oven Gloves
Eno Collaboration
The Air That I Breathe/Vatican Broadside
National Shite Day
