Half Man Half Biscuit

"Hailing from a place called Birkhead" is just the kind of line that, I feel, would make Nigel Blackwell smile.

I've been a fan of these four lads who shook the Wirral since the 80's, but only saw them live for the first time last night - Friday 8th June 2018 in Kentish Town, North London. Despite being ostensibly a comedy act their live performance is well honed, presumably from their decades of experience being participators in and mockers of their profession. They are good musicians.

It was interesting to try to spot among the crowd the common characteristics (aside from the obvious middle-age spread and CAMRA-man vibe) that HMHB fans share. But an appreciation for Nigel Blackwell's unique wit, gallows humour and eye for the humorous minutiae of life is not necessarily something you can see. It was also interesting to ponder on the tribalism of an event like this and the way in which, after walking away at the end of the gig, the concentration of HMHB fans rapidly thins to (very low) background levels within a couple of tube stops. Within minutes you're back among normal humanity again with only trace quantities of HMHB lovers, detectable only using specialist equipment.

Anyway, as these things generally tend to go, they started by warming us up with a number from the early days which all self-respecting fans should know by heart and be able to sing along with - "F**king 'ell, it's Fred Titmus!" (we all did), before embarking on a pleasant mixture of classics from their huge back-catalogue and new songs from the recently released album entitled "No-one Cares About Your Creative Hub So Get Your F**kin' Hedge Cut"- the familiar HMHB theme of mockery of all things deemed arty farty or pretentious is still there.

It was a great evening among like-minded oddballs, happily shouting out largely unfulfilled requests for favourite songs purely for the joy of stating their fantastic names. My favourite song name from the new album: "Man of Constant Sorrow with a Garage in Constant Use". Brilliant.

Half Man Half Biscuit, despite their awful band name are quite intriguing as a band. They’re sort of a punk rock band with such a gritty guitar driven sound. They have been a band since 1984, hailing from a place called Birkhead. I found myself going along to watch one of their recent gigs in London, where they performed to one of the most rowdy audiences I’d ever seen, and also quite possibly one of the most intoxicated it seems.

They perform some of their biggest hits to this day keeping the audience engaged and happy. One of the biggest yet is a song called “Joy Division Oven Gloves” which really creates a buzz in this room. “Trumpeton Riots” also received a great reaction too. Each song sort of blends into the next, but in fairness with this sort of brand of punk rock there’s not an awful lot that you can do with it in fairness and to be fair, no one here cares!

As always HMHB did a great job - ferocious at times.

It is easy to make too much of the satire and deconstructionism, which is of course a major part of their appeal. That would though, be to overlook the fact that they are a very, very good rock band IE great musicians with great (if off kilter) tunes. On this occasion, having seen them many times before, that is what I enjoyed most of all: a great band playing good tunes, very well.

IvanM

Banging haven't seen the SWX so full.Great mixture of music banter backed with the lyrically genius humour of HMHB. Would recommend to anyone. The road trip and service station reports wasn't as long as usual. Some knobs in the crowd that are old enough to know how to respective other gig goers. Get them everywhere these days. Trip home was a nightmare, motorway closed every other junction

Support band needs a mention they lyrically follow in the tradition of HMHB. Themselves coming on to a Welsh classic set the mood perfectly. Good banter and varied set of old and newer tunes. Great finish with The Trumpton Riots. Encore included a great tribute to Pete Shelley. Top night

Great band. Know their fan base, deliver a great set. New and old stuff. If you don't know songs like Joy division oven gloves, Paintball's coming home or All I want for Christmas is a Dukla Prague away kit. You should as soon as possible

Just brilliant! They sound the same as they did in 1987. I love their lyrics and what I can only describe as, their folk-punk style. Will definitely go and see them again.