The Liquid Room was sold out - very satisfying when you consider that Jenny Eclair was also in town. We thought we might get You're Hard, but it wasn't to be. However, a good blast of Improv Workshop Mimeshow Gobshite helped relieve some of the anguish we'd suffered dodging the unicyclists on the Royal Mile, and we all felt a lot better afterwards. The set list was a great mix, with Harry Quinn taking us all by surprise and most of the crowd belting out the "Sturmey Archer Campagnolo" at the end - a sublime noise if ever I heard one.
Some idiot was throwing beer at the band, but Nigel's "Sorry, but if you do that again you're fucking dead" seemed to do the trick, and there was a better atmosphere after that, with Ken's amusing novelty hat helping to dispel any tension. "Shite!" made a brief appearance, though Nigel seemed to give up after "Stapely Water Gardens" - wrong end of the M6, I suppose. Good to hear Munro Baggers get it in the neck (can't remember in what context), too. Can't remember how the E-Sure advert came up, either, but the Michael Winner impression got a big cheer. (It got even better in Newcastle).
Lark Descending was magnificent, with "eponymous" replacing "rhetorical," much to our amusement. Four Skinny Indie Kids prompted much excitement, with Mike telling me he thought it was "stellar." Rather embarrassingly I said "oh yes, please." (Forgive me Mike, you had been more than generous at the bar as it was! We all concluded afterwards that had we been sober we would never have let you get a round in anyway. So we owe you a few...)
A top night all round. Five hundred people singing, "egg sandwiches on coach trips in June," can't be wrong. Staggered out into the Edinburgh night with time for a few more drinks before the Glasgow bus.
Perfect!