Half Man Half Biscuit

Thursday 13th October 2005, Live at the Liverpool Carling Academy

Set List: The Light At The End Of The Tunnel (Is The Light Of An Oncoming Train), Fuckin’ ‘Ell It’s Fred Titmus, CORGI Registered Friends, Running Order Squabble Fest, If I Had Possession Over Pancake Day, Restless Legs, Turned Up Clocked On Laid Off, For What Is Chatteris, Monmore Hare's Running, Them's the Vagaries, 99% Of Gargoyles Look Like Bob Todd, - Hallelujah/Vatican Broadside, C.A.M.R.A. Man, Shit Arm, Bad Tattoo, P.R.S. Yearbook, Quick The Drawbridge, Paintball's Coming Home, Tending the wrong Grave for 23 Years , All I Want For Christmas Is A Dukla Prague Away Kit , Them’s The Vagaries , Letters Sent , The Len Ganley Stance , Footprints, Look Dad No Tunes , I Think We're Alone Now , We Built this City on a Trad. Arr. Tune, Everything's A.O.R., Twenty-Four Hour Garage People, A Country Practice. Encores: Venus in Flares, Joy Division Oven Gloves, The Trumpton Riots.

Has it really been seven years since the four lads that shook the Wirral ventured through the Birkenhead tunnel to perform in Liverpool?

The band would baulk at the use of the word career to describe what they do. They would no doubt be as shocked by that statistic as would they by the fact that they are now in the third decade of their existence as a functioning band.

Tonight was certainly a good night to reflect on what had gone before given that tonight was the culmination of day of celebration for the life of the late great John Peel who passed away last year.

Today up and down the country events were taking place to celebrate the life of the DJ that had enjoyed the music of Half Man Half Biscuit and had afforded the band numerous Peel sessions. In attendance tonight was Peel’s wife Sheila and family.

Tonight’s set covered all points of the bands career as well as including a number from the latest album ‘Achtung Bono’. Highlight were my personal favourites from the new album ‘Shit Arm, Bad Tattoo’ and ‘We Built this City on a Trad. Arr. Tune’.

The set also included the now traditional cover version – to some bands the selection would seem slightly ironic but for Half Man Half Biscuit there covers are always played in all seriousness. Tonight’s chosen tune was 80s pop starlet Tiffany’s hit – I Think We’re Alone Now’ – And to think I thought the fact they did Status Quo’s Caroline all them years back was strange.

All the ‘Twenty-Four Hour Garage People’ and ‘99% Of Gargoyles Look Like Bob Todd’ were wheeled out and sung word-for-word by the majority of the audience.

‘All I Want For Christmas Is A Dukla Prague Away Kit’ was greeted with cheers especially by those resplendent in afore mentioned football kit. The band finished with ‘The Trumpton Riots’ and it is hard to feel disappointed by any song omissions from the set list. It certainly felt like a greatest hits set tonight

Here’s to the next Liverpool gig let’s hope we don’t have another seven years before we wait to see them cross the Mersey.