Having thought the Edinburgh gig was less than fantastic, I was a little sceptical about another big-city show. But, faith is restored! Fuelled by a top curry just down the road, and a couple of beers in the Bull And Gate next door to the venue, me and my mate Kath took up places on the periphery of what turned out to be a lively but friendly (just how it should be) mosh pit. There was even a spot of crowd surfing to behold, just to keep the attention of security. Kath had turned down the chance to see Oasis in order to be at the Forum. A wise choice, I'm sure you'll agree. And it was interesting to see that HMHB's continuing popularity led to the presence of touts outside. Not sure what the going rate was, but I have no doubts that it was worth every penny. Just like the All Day Breakfast at £5.50 and the miniature Big Ben at £1.49 (obligatory to do the tourist tat thing), but how do they cope with parking at 40p for 6 whole minutes? Glad I took the train.
The greatest thing about this band is the unwillingness to become a museum piece. So the airing of "new stuff" is always refreshing. Seven songs from the new album tonight. And the cover version was a pleasant surprise. Gives me a good excuse to test my spelling of Orchestral Manoeuvres. That is right, isn't it? 80s electro is not dead.
Restless Legs
Fuckin' 'Ell It's Fred Titmus
Took Problem Chimp
Lock Up Your Mountain Bikes
Four Skinny Indie Kids
Petty Sessions
Shit Arm Bad Tattoo
Bob Wilson Anchor Man
Look Dad No Tunes
The Best Things In Life
Dukla Prague Away Kit
Used To Be In Evil Gazebo
Ode To Joyce
Tending The Wrong Grave
Bad Losers On Yahoo Chess
The Trumpton Riots
Vatican Broadside (preceded by a fair portion of Song To The Siren)
Blue Badge Abuser
We Built This Village On A Trad Arr Tune
Give Us Bubblewrap
A Country Practice
Everything's AOR
Twenty-Four Hour Garage People
National Shite Day
and then
For What Is Chatteris?
Electricity
Joy Division Oven Gloves
Another grand night all round. Kath very kindly pointed me in the right direction on the Tube. Otherwise I'd have probably ended up in somewhere like Norwich. Maybe not such a bad idea after all.