We turned up a little early in the rain of Manchester. It's been five years since I saw HMHB live, so I was more than a little excited.
Cue surprise that they were playing the Academy and not Academy 2 or 3. I was more surprised that we were second in the queue (Hi to the guy in front of us, we should have talked more) and got an impromptu preview of The Light at the End of the Tunnel. Less surprised that it hadn't sold out - although from the size of the crowd, I think it might have come close.
Nigel and the gang attacked the gig with usual aplomb. Plenty of favourites old and new - highlights being Fred Titmus, 24 Hour Garage People, Vatican Broadside, The Light at the End of the Tunnel, Four Skinny Indie Kids, Shit Arm Bad Tattoo, Bob Wilson - Anchorman, Turned Up Clocked On Laid Off, Bad Review and of course, Joy Division Oven Gloves. Writing this down makes me realise how much they crammed into that 100 minutes or so... A new song, Blue Badge Abuser (I'm looking forward to hearing that again) and a HMHB gig wouldn't be a HMHB gig without Paintball's Coming Home, with obligitory extra verses :
They didn't choose their cat, the cat chose them
They didn't choose their cat, the cat chose them
They didn't choose their cat, the cat chose them
And now it's got its own website.
It's impossible to fit in all the great songs into one set. Mostly because everyone thinks this should consist of different songs but still, I'd've loved to have heard 27 Yards of Dental Floss, When the Evening Sun Goes Down and more from Back in the DHSS (the calls were strong for God Gave Us Life and were sadly ignored but Them's The Vagaries)...
Acutally, one of the highlights for me wasn't the concert, it was the Security guy stood in front of us at the front of the stage. He'd probably never seen the like before... Before the encore some of his mates turned up behind us, called him over and asked, "Well?!?"
"They were GREAT."
"Told you so."