The much-loved Half Man Half Biscuit returned to the Junction J1 for another sell-out show, once again supported by Cambridge stalwarts Model Village, whose early set time caught out many of the audience (including me!).

Half Man Half Biscuit arrived on stage to the Portsmouth Sinfonia’s dissonant version of the 2001 theme. When the band opened with anti-tribute ‘Bob Wilson – Anchorman’ quickly followed by new bat-themed audience favourite ‘Renfield’s Afoot’ and death-ode ‘When The Evening Sun Goes Down’ it was clear this could be a vintage show with leader Nigel Blackwell full of dry asides and an excellent sound mix at the Junction.

They have a huge back catalogue, virtually any of the tracks can make a surprise reappearance in their lengthy sets but tonight there were plenty from their newest LP, including the bittersweet poetry of ‘Terminus’ ‘…time creeps up unseen, and it puts me back at the front of the bus…. hands I once held no longer there….grey falls on the green..as I try and get used to ‘me’ and not ‘us’….’

As always the superfans in the audience know every word, but the band continues to draw in new converts to the cause as they play infrequent shows across the UK.
The surreal imagery of the lyrics is much documented and bizarre juxtapositions give life to the low-level celebrities and imaginary characters that populate the songs ‘….sour-faced she picked out the gherkins, saw Christ in Dorothy Perkins…’. The Cambridge audience is attentive to every nuance but let go for the sheer celebration of ‘Joy Division Oven Gloves’ and ‘The Light At The End Of The Tunnel (Is The Light Of An Upcoming Train)’, as well as uplifting gems like ‘Swerving The Checktrade’.
The traditional cover version encore tonight was Pink Floyd’s ‘Bike’, given the closeness of the venue to composer Syd Barrett’s house. Another local reference and one of their best ‘For What Is Chatteris’ followed and finally the brooding semi-spoken ‘Every Time a Bell Rings’ was a strong finale.

The more you listen to this band the more the lyrics lodge in the consciousness and as many fans will say they begin to overlay your view of some of the obscurities and references of life and culture…

All together now, ‘…Is this your sanderling?…’

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A welcome return to Cambridge Junction J1 for the much-loved Half Man Half Biscuit. I saw them last year, reviewed here…

http://www.cambridgemusicreviews.net/2015/06/14/half-man-half-biscuit-the-apex-bury-st-edmunds-12-june-2015/

…and it was just as good this time around. Perhaps there was more of an emphasis on the rockier songs, but many of my favourites songs were still in place; the locally lovelorn lyric of ‘For What Is Chatteris’, the musings of mortality of ‘When The Evening Sun Goes Down’ and their tour de force of music and words, ‘The Light At The End Of The Tunnel (Is The Light Of An Oncoming Train)’.

Songs assuring the extended cultural longevity of B-List celebrities were also featured; ‘Bob Wilson – Anchorman’, ‘The Bastard Son of Dean Friedman’, ‘Dickie Davies Eyes’, the nightmarish ‘Gubba Look-a-Likes’ and the sad moments of ‘Tommy Walsh’s Eco House’.

A blasting cover of The Damned song ‘New Rose’ was part of their encore, a super example of how good their band sound actually is, underpinning their unique lyrics…

All together now,

‘I said “Would you like to go the zoo?”, she said “Yeah, but not with you”
Twenty-seven yards of dental floss, but she still won’t give me a smile…‘