Another gig, another northerly trek from "Sarf of That London".
Despite the best efforts of the Highways Agency, the lyrics they had posted, (presumably to heighten the expectancy of the travelling biscuit fan), on their huge blue and white signs on the M11 were not quite accurate..."Keep apart two chevrons"..... it simply didn't scan!
So, to The Junction; and another belting performance from the boys, despite the lack of dry ice. (No dry ice? Where have we heard that before?)
I have to say that one of the highlights, for me, was the abridged version of "The Ballad of Climie Fisher", aborted after a couple of lines when absence-of-rehearsal abruptly overpowered well-intentioned-spontaneity!
The rest of the set was tight, bright and Shite (in one case), including another airing of the Shadows cover and "suffering endless Feltz" being replaced by "suffering (more topically) endless Kyle", which was a nice touch.
The new anthem for the "Save BBC6" campaign topped off the show, fuelling the "polite"-pogoing you might expect from a Cambridge crowd. This reporter would attest that the coach-load the Dinner Ladies brought down to Leamington were by far the more boisterous.
But what the heck?
Though being almost more confusing to exit than Wembley, the venue was pretty good on the whole and, on a personal note, I'd like to thank the fella who tried to help me get my camera to stop flashing after a 12-year-old steward had reprimanded me for flashing in the audience. Shame the technology proved to be too much for the pair of us. The old "finger-in-front-of-the-flash" trick seemed effective though.
That just left the return journey, made all the more interesting by random road closures, phantom road-works and crap weather. Onto the driveway at 2 am then set the alarm for 6.
Some day, one day, there'll be an HMHB gig within easy striking distance of home. Til then, I guess it's prepare for Wolverhampton and do it all again.
Can't wait!