The blurb in one of the many brochures on display round the city had this down as "Half Man Half Biscuit's annual visit to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe". Not sure if two appearances makes it an annual occurrence, and it's doubtful if Nigel would want to come back all that often if it means getting beer chucked at him at regular intervals, as happened tonight. Best check with Geoff on that one...
First up were The Hector Collectors, a very tidy band featuring a masterful one-finger keyboard contribution. Don't quite know why, but at times they took me back in the vague direction of Marc Riley And The Creepers. Good stuff and would be worth checking out again.
HMHB opened up with "Harry Quinn" ("six weeks to live but at least I'm not Dido") and went through a set of familiar stuff. One or two set-lists were grabbed at various points and you'll have to look elsewhere for the details. There weren't too many new tunes on offer - one about being a Bogus Official, and "Shite" - a slight variation on Lulu's "Shout". Last year there was a song being developed about people who emerge from shops without looking, but that seems to have been shelved for the time being. But "Paintball" gets better with the add-ons. The cat with its own website remains, and we now have people who paint their faces with the cross of St George ("he's forty-two years old") as well as others who make really good mates on Henman Hill. Other highlights? Well, Ken played one song with a souvenir shop ginger hair/tartan cap/wig that was thrown on stage. Very fetching, going particularly well with his red and blue shirt. And Mr Galbraith's competition onions have now become "pathetic". Serves him right for a bad holiday choice. Not much else to report, really.