Shit weather, bad drive through.... It was OK when I set off from home, but by the time I got to Scotland the mist, the drizzle and the night sky had drawn in. Got stuck behind a lorry blah blah blah... But I had had the foresight to pack the car with Festive Fifty tapes. "Turn A Blind Eye" came on just as I arrived in Edinburgh. And of course it all reminded me of how much I miss Peely. Don't we all?
Quick turnaround at the B and B (yet again I found myself with a landlady who had never heard of HMHB), onto the bus and next thing I knew I was tucking into chicken and chips (with haggis, of course) on the Royal Mile. This was my first visit to the city outside of Festival time, and it was interesting to see what the place is really like. On a wet night in November it sure is quiet...
Even allowing for the early start (HMHB were on stage at around 8.15) I still had time for a swift ale on Grassmarket before heading for the Liquid Rooms. There's been a bit of redesigning going on in this place recently. Some genius has moved the Gents from the ideal spot at the side of the main room. Highly inconsiderate. And something has to be said about the drinks policy. A lot of the taps at the bar were out of order, leaving a stark choice between Guinness and Tennents. Pah!
I must have missed the first band, and when I arrived The Hussys were on stage making a pleasant noise. There were some nice songs in there - in particular the splendidly-titled I Love You Even Though You're Not Jesus and the one with the line that went something like "Please don't call me at home / Because Mum and Dad are living in the sixties".
HMHB dropped in a couple of blasts from the past, and produced a cover which I've never heard them do before. My writing is shockingly bad at the best of times. At one point I must have scribbled something which is simply impossible to read (possibly an observation about Uncle Arthur Ellis?), but I'm pretty sure I've got the whole set here.
Vatican Broadside
Hedley Verityesque
The Light At The End Of The Tunnel
Shit Arm Bad Tattoo
CORGI Registered Friends
Fred Titmus
Sponsoring The Moshpits
Joy Division Oven Gloves
Outbreak Of Vitas Geralitis
Bad Review
For What Is Chatteris
Mathematically Safe
Look Dad No Tunes
Twenty-Four Hour Garage People
Turned Up Clocked On Laid Off
Trumpton Riots
Malayan Julatong
Running Order Squabble Fest
Restless Legs
Albert Hammond Bootleg
Them's The Vagaries
Everything's AOR
The Best Things In Life (the band very kindly went quiet and let the audience finish this one off)
And then they came back to do these
Paintball's Coming Home
Mrs Robinson
We Built This Village On A Trad Arr Tune
99% Of Gargoyles
Finally got to meet fellow reviewer Mike, exchanged waves with David who was leading the moshing, and ended up in the Bow Bar with Paul and Gillian, who compensated for my wholly inadequate knowledge of them mobile phone things. Just a bit of namedropping there. Didn't see anybody famous, though. Last time I was in Edinburgh I saw Eddie Izzard. But there's always next time. And so it was back to base.