A fantastic night for everyone, even after the less-than-inspiring Frigid Vinegar, who looked far too earnest in their two-men-and-a-sampler routine, and capped it all by subjecting us to the Shift Disco single, Dogmonaut 2000, twice. Ta lads, but I, Ludicrous are far more convincing.
No such problems for HMHB of course, who swiftly overcome a muddy sound at the start (I guess it helps to have a soundcheck) to deliver another monster set. Highlights had to be the ever-growing Country Practice, now a ten-minute masterpiece, and With Goth On Our Side, a brilliant re-write of the Dylan song. Hope there were plenty of Manics fans in the audience.
The set was similar to previous recent outings, but played to the bouncing crowd at the end with a medley of the '80s favourites, Trumpton, Dukla Prague, Time Flies By, Fred Titmus, and capped the night with a thundering Transmission to end. Oxford went home very, very happy.
Photos from the gig are here.