There have been some press build-ups during the years, but nothing comes close to Metro's line about the arrival in Glasgow of "the ever eccentric Birkenhead indie oddballs". That must have taken some thinking up. The venue seemed more suited to someone like The Sisters Of Mercy and to be honest this was not HMHB at their best, as they were struggling with the sound for most of the set. Although the comment about Ellen McArthur always being associated with the term "Landlocked Derbyshire" came through loud and clear. And it did lead to some high quality semaphore signalling from Gareth on the sound desk. At various points he seemed to be inviting the band to exit stage right, or maybe he was just communicating odds in some secretive tick-tack code. Yes, that probably explains it.
Sorry to have only caught the very end of the last song by the support, who looked good for those fifteen seconds or so. HMHB went as follows.
Fred Titmus (nice touch, this being Fred's 73rd birthday)
The Light At The End Of The Tunnel
CORGI Registered Friends
Monmore / Hare's Running
Bad Review
99% Of Gargoyles
Paintball's Coming Home
For What Is Chatteris?
Evil Gazebo
Restless Legs
Look Dad No Tunes
Tending The Wrong Grave
Slipknot
27 Yards Of Dental Floss
Dukla Prague Away Kit
Bottleneck At Capil Curig
Running Order Squabble Fest
San Antonio Foam Party
Twenty Four Hour Garage People
We Built This Village
Love Song
Shit Arm Bad Tattoo
Trumpton Riots
Two more at the end:
Joy Division Oven Gloves
Everything's AOR
And on to Preston, as long as the ticket turns up...