Who
Half Man Half Biscuit
Support
Vincent Whyte
Where
Castleton Peak Cavern (The Devil's Arse)
When
25th July 2025
Price
£30.00
Who with
No-one
Position
Towards the front
Comments
Half Man Half Biscuit continue to storm ahead with the record for my most seen band ever, now on 21 viewings, and with three more future concerts already booked in Glasgow, Wolverhampton and Manchester (2026). I'm not one of these people who travel just for shows, for me it should be combined with a good look around the place where I'm visiting, and in that spirit I immediately booked two nights at Castleton and one day off work to make a long weekend of it. I then got my ticket the moment it went onsale, and it had sold out by the time I convinced a mate that it was worth joining me. But you snooze you lose, and this is why I planned ahead and purchased immediately. Unusually it meant that I'd be seeing the band at four consecutive concerts, meaning that I've quietly elevated them to the level of Kraftwerk in travelling around to watch them wherever they may be. The difference is that I only endeavour to see Kraftwerk once a year, and that Half Man Half Biscuit pretty much only play the UK so aren't as difficult to follow, but both bands are worth seeing unlimited times for me, as one day they will stop touring and I'll never have the opportunity again. Another huge difference is that every Kraftwerk concert is a refinement or a subset of the same performance, whereas each Half Man Half Biscuit show is a unique and different experience, but I'm comfortable that I made the right choice to travel for this one. Glasgow in particular is a long slog for a show but much like seeing HMHB in Edinburgh, I had plans to go there, and all I had to do was to combine the holiday with the concert date. I hit the jackpot when The Beta Band announced Manchester for the exact night that I was on my return journey two weeks later (planning to stop around Preston that night), and I also look forward to the Manchester 2026 show as I hope I can finally visit the Manchester Museum and photograph it properly after several failed attempts.

I got the new album All Asimov And No Fresh Air online the moment I could, happily paying the full price. Half Man Half Biscuit are unusually honest in charging £30ish for concert tickets and £20 for t-shirts, so paying north of £10 for a CD seems fair as it feels like the money will go pretty much directly to the band. The album was very nice, with a lovely line about Badly Drawn Boy in a badly parked car, and the tune Record Store Day was a particular belter. At last Nigel had found a way to include "I do like to re-release my b-sides" on a record, as it's something that I heard about them doing at a show many, many years ago, and the amusement of this always stuck in my mind. I got a nice physical ticket which arrived promptly in the post, and I also messaged the hotel near the time as the confirmation email from them was the vaguest one I've ever received, although they never replied and once I then saw that they'd quietly taken the balance of the payment I assumed things must be all ok. This was after just four days back home from Milan, which was a wonderful destination but plagued by mosquitos which took a shine to my skin and bit me hundreds of times. It was fortunate that I'd planned to skip swimming the following week anyway, as it took a good few days to start to recover, and even now 13 days after coming back and 8 days after the show I still haven't fully recovered. I made the wise move of postponing all sightseeing until the Saturday after the show, despite the weather forecast being much worse for then. I chilled on the Friday morning to write up some gig review notes and catch up on some odd jobs such as sorting more 2024 photos, before packing quickly and heading out to try and ensure a comfortable early evening arrival in time for some food.

The M6 was chaotic and there were roadworks everywhere, so I took a more direct path via Leek and Buxton, both of which I'd quite comprehensively visited before so I was quite comfortable to drive through them without any stops. There were some nice views and pretty hills and the great weather on the drive teased me a bit as it felt wrong to not make more of the day. The final approach to Castleton was down a steep valley, and the stupidly slow vehicles in front of me tested my brakes severely, and they pretty much failed at the end. Thankfully I was driving cautiously enough to avoid any problems, and the next day everything worked ok, so it looks that they just overheated. I checked in and was happy with my choice of Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese Inn, as it was the prettiest pub in town and also the food was lovely. I had no issues parking opposite besides initially driving past it, and also despite there being a few fans and HMHB t-shirts on display it was just about quiet enough for me to eat. The first drink was a generic English beer and I also had to queue for the bar, quietly having to explain to someone there that we don't queue for bars in England and doing my best to break this inappropriate system by just approaching the bar anyway. I was staying in room 1 which was small and had cute but treacherous downward steps from the bedroom into the toilet area. It was functional with free parking, free internet, easy walking access to the venue and a full English breakfast included, so I couldn't have asked for more. I ate rump steak with chunky chips, onion rings and mushrooms then enjoyed a chocolate brownie with ice cream and a much better pint of Madri, before powdering my nose and changing into my yellow Half Man Half Biscuit top, which interestingly seemed to no longer be on sale in that colour at the merch stand later. The pub also played This Is The Day by The The, making a sweet coincidence after seeing them "supporting" Kraftwerk in Milton Keynes, and it was possibly the only time I've ever heard the studio version of the original song in fact. Despite the slow service and busy bar, time was still on my side.

The doors had opened at 7pm (if they can be called doors at a cave?), and the show was advertised to start at 7.45pm, although this information was quite wrong as the support band started earlier and HMHB took to the stage at 8pm. This had long been an interesting night as Pulp were playing Tramlines Festival in Sheffield, Supergrass were playing Ludlow Castle and Kraftwerk were playing a very cool-looking amphitheatre in the middle of Italy. I'm sure that there were one or two other interesting events on too, but it was ridiculous that one night had so many clashing events all announced many months beforehand, although I made up for this by finding other opportunities to see those three other bands anyway thankfully. Although Will Smith playing Wolverhampton the same night as Pet Shop Boys playing Warwick Castle feels like a sick joke, and I'm doubtful that I'll get another chance to see him live as I'd already made my choice. The Peak Cavern was easily found by following a little stream to a cliff, and the sign said "Welcome to the Peak Cavern - The Devil's Arse!" Google has an interesting habit of just taking you to Peak Cavern when you search for The Devil's Arse, so this historic name has been hidden a bit thanks to the internet. The portaloos outside were not pretty and spoiled the view a bit, but for logistical purposes I guess that they were necessary, and it was better that they be outside than in the depths of the cave. I had no issues waving my ticket and heading inside the cave entrance, enjoying the view as it was all lit up in purple. This is the largest cave entrance in the UK, but the downside of it being so wide is that the band were playing very near the entrance, and technically outside the cave itself. I'd taken the effort to research the cave and had read that it was 9 degrees inside and so I'd need a coat, so I was a little miffed to find that the venue was outside the physical cave, and that my research had worked against me.

I had a quick look at the merch stand and the good prices made me feel that I should get something, but I resisted this time. I also went to the nice-looking bar but on closer inspection I saw that behind its craft beer facade was an incredibly generic selection of beers which would be served in nasty plastic cups, which was of no interest to me. The venue was already filling up and I later spotted the King Of Hi Vis, but the most interesting feature was that it was split onto levels pretty much straight down the middle of the stage. I tested both views and felt that the high view on the right was no good, and that I'd have a better time in the slightly larger lower view where I'd be looking up to the band and have a more conventional view. I think that I was fully vindicated in this decision, although my section seemed to also serve as the primary moshpit, albeit only a handful of fans pushed past to get into it, and I upheld my moshpit retirement successfully. I was alarmed by a few drips from the ceiling then realised that by looking at how wet the floor was that I could try to avoid them, although in the crowd I wasn't entirely successful in avoiding this. I could look backwards and see the light outside, and not soon after I'd found my orientation did support act Vincent Whyte take to the stage. He wore a baseball cap and white t-shirt and sported a beard, but was largely just one guy with a guitar. The stage was already set up for Half Man Half Biscuit and it did make me wonder why I'd not seen The Humdrum Express supporting them for a while. Vincent Whyte gave a shout out to HMHB, the fans and this lovely venue and dedicated one song to Ozzy. I think that he did a few amusing tunes too, but I seem to have neglected to make any notes as the gap before Half Man Half Biscuit appeared was so small, so unfortunately I can't add anything more. He passed the time reasonably for sure, and Neil was later wandering around to check that everything was set up.

OK I tell a lie, I have noted that one song Vincent Whyte did was basically just saying "thank you for saving my life" in multiple languages and it getting faster and faster. So he was definitely alright at least, and I should have made more notes. There were a few Dukla Prague away kits on display and I was deep enough in the cave entrance to have no internet reception whatsoever. There was some "public wifi" but it was locked and I found no clues as to what the password was. Sit Down by James was played but with the leaking ceiling that clearly was not a great idea, and the "Alton Towers theme" music In The Hall Of The Mountain King was also playing, possibly as the walk-on music. I was extra aware of this after learning that Norway's most famous composer Edvard Grieg had composed this. Half Man Half Biscuit appeared very promptly at 8pm and Nigel commented that the cave would be lovely when it was finished! They opened with newbie Rawlplugs Of Yesteryear before launching into The Light At The End Of The Tunnel (Is The Light Of An Oncoming Train). I shot a video here which was initially blurry and captured poor sound, perhaps due to the cave echo. Nigel was wearing a typical chequered shirt, Carl was in a green top and still sporting a beard, and the band were playing a white tent-like structure set up at the back of the cave entrance. It was awesome to think that after 24 years of my seeing HMHB live that three out of the four members were unchanged, and also that they seem to have barely aged either. Perhaps it's a false perception as I've grown older with them, but they've always looked middle-aged to me, albeit in a good way. I recorded Irk The Purists from before the drum solo to the ending, and Nigel did a good job looking annoyed and checking his watch before Carl launched into his solo. There seems to have been sound problems, with Neil and Nigel asking several times for the monitors to be adjusted.

It all sounded ok to me, but the cave seemed to produce an unusual echo and made it hard to judge whether the sound quality was bad or if it was just how it was supposed to sound. For unknown reasons Nigel borrowed one of Karl's guitars and in his classic manner he forgot to plug it in at one point, and I can't say I agree with the guide who told me the next day that the acoustics in the cave are amazing. It's a fascinating venue and interesting, but the echo is not really a strength, being more of a novelty than anything else. I recorded Horror Clowns Are Dickheads from very near the start, amid blue lights. Neil provided strong backing vocals on the chorus and it's definitely a great opener to the new album. I always love Shit Arm, Bad Tattoo, but this was overshadowed by an incredibly rare play of Dickie Davies Eyes! I think I've only heard it once before - in Bilston back in 2009 - but don't quite have the energy to check all of my reviews to confirm this for sure. I recorded most of it and it's fascinating how it is such a beloved song despite being mid tempo and quite ponderous in pace. Nigel was looking to the air and seemingly plucking the lyrics out of there, but got a bit mixed up on the Cadbury Flake lyric and then gave a good scream of "she's got Dickie Davies eyes" near the end. It's an interesting one, and I can't quite define why it's so good, as on paper it's not. Yet it's just wonderful somehow. Nigel asked if anyone was from Pickering, then clarifying that he was just wondering what it was like as he's never been there. I could have regaled him with my experience of half a day and a train ride from there, but without checking my pics I can't remember much besides a nice castle and nice church. I'd be happy if HMHB announce a show there so Nigel can find out for himself if it's any good, and I'd then have reason to revisit too. He introduced Blue Badge Abuser as being a song about his Dad, and I shot a video of much of the glorious Record Store Day.

It's definitely my favourite from the new album, but I shot my video too long as I thought I'd record to the end but then I lost patience with the repetition of the outro chant. But it was a delight to finally hear and also to record the b-sides bit. Despite it being the first half of the set the band gave end of set energy levels, with Rock And Roll Is Full Of Bad Wools unleashed unusually early. At one point was the briefest of snippets of D'Ye Ken Ted Moult on guitar, which remains one of the never-heard tunes that I still pray that Half Man Half Biscuit will one day play. Rod Hull Is Alive - Why?, Sponsoring The Moshpits, Four Skinny Indie Kids, Styx Gig (Seen By My Mates Coming Out Of A), 4AD3DCD, Breaking News, David Wainwright's Feet, The Referee's Alphabet and Lord Hereford's Knob are the other notable ones that spring to mind, and the one infuriating thing is that I keep coming back for more but Half Man Half Biscuit never seem to ever cross any of these big hitters off my list. Now much like so many other bands such as Pulp and Supergrass, HMHB focus so strongly on their very earliest tunes that much of their stronger mid period numbers are overlooked altogether, and that's a shame. It's a delight to hear some of the oldest classics more often for sure, but I'd love to have some more surprises. Nigel spotted Jess Ennis and Jodie Comer in the audience and made imaginary banter with them, and also told a story of a checkout worker being able to identify if male customers are single by what they purchase, before clarifying that her trick is that she knew he was single because he's an ugly bastard. It wasn't a good joke really, the humour mostly coming from the anti-climax of the build-up to the punchline. The shout at the end of All I Want For Christmas Is A Dukla Prague Away Kit was done properly, and Nigel said that in ten minutes time it would echo round from the back of the cave and surprise us all.

I recorded Dukla from near the intro, but it was a bit shaky when I zoomed in, shooting up until the £3.10 moment, with Nigel again clarifying that this was a lot of money back then. And yes, this overload of the very oldest classics is what I was talking about, as next up was God Gave Us Life! I usually don't record too much at HMHB shows but this time I couldn't help myself, and a few other fans were quietly and considerately recording at moments also. I was so impressed by this one that when I rewatched it I felt it had to go on Facebook, even though it was a week late and I removed it after 24 hours due to my ignorant friends failing to like it. Nigel attacked the vocals brilliantly and Neil and Karl backed him up on the "God gave us life" chant. He also substituted "driven to the woods" for "driven to the cave" and I could see a few fans happily moshing away. Nigel drew our attention to a fly that had been happily resting on his hand throughout the song, and also referenced VAR and Andrew Tate as other horrible things that God has given us. This insanely strong segment continued with Everything's A.O.R., as my video recorded flashing purple lights from near the outset and the moment I realised what they were playing. A few fans pushed past into the moshpit, and I'm quite satisfied that I'd made the right decision to be on the lower and larger left hand side and I enjoyed a much better view as a result. We Built This Village On A Trad. Arr. Tune was the first of a consecutive trilogy of videos I shot on my phone, and the sound was boomier and the picture was arguably better. The lights were still purple and the joggers out moshing line always raises a smile. After Birmos In The Cowshed was National Shite Day, which I recorded from the middle before accidentally zooming out and back in, which created a nasty little pause in my footage. It isn't a good design of my Samsung phone, but I anticipated that it would not look good so I shot another video, this time successfully shooting up until the chorus as Nigel heralded "fucking National Shite Day". I shot a short video of Jack's Been To The National which I stopped once I realised that I barely knew it. The set quickly returned to peak form with Every Time A Bell Rings, as my video captured red lights and a nice opening guitar solo before the ground control line. I recorded up until the chorus, which came in slightly early while Nigel was stumbling a little with the lyrics of the verse.

We were now in the home straight and a cute snippet of Busy Little Market Town very quickly led into an energised version of The Trumpton Riots. My video captured cool orange searchlights kicking in after a few seconds, some great moshing and a wonderful opening scream from Nigel. I recorded right up until "there's going to be a riot down in Trumpton tonight", and the main set then finished with Oblong Of Dreams. It's a song which took me a while to register but now it's firmly established as a favourite, and in fact it heralded the end of the main set as the guys departed the stage. Apparently when they returned someone threw some rawlplugs onto the stage, and Nigel seemed fascinated by them, before admitting that he'd never use them. But it was a good throwback to the opening number for sure. I complain about a lack of unexpected hits but sometimes the joy comes from hearing new classics, and that was very much the case with this show. McCalliog And His Hens was perhaps the biggest surprise and delight as Nigel by now had given up on his guitar and was prowling the stage with his mic. There were great backing vocals and the band really seemed to enjoy playing this one. My memory had been that Nigel had abandoned his guitar for much of the show, but my camera footage indicates that it was only at a few moments such as this. The token cover version was I'm Waiting For The Man by The Velvet Underground. I shot a video of the long intro while I wondered what they were playing and as Nigel delayed his opening line. There were cool orange lights and as I anticipated Vatican Broadside I recorded a very long video of the outro, zooming in on Karl and Nigel rocking out on guitar. Sadly however they never launched into it, marking the first time ever that Half Man Half Biscuit have failed to play Vatican Broadside for me. Apparently they'd also omitted it at their previous Ulverston show, and I've got to say that I'm very sad that they've broken the only steadfast rule of their setlists after 24 years. It's such a short song, I almost wonder if they left it out by mistake?

The set still finished strongly with the wonderful Joy Division Oven Gloves, where Nigel seemed to just drop his guitar altogether amid the chaos and moshing of the crowd. I shot a nice video of them rocking out amid red searchlights, which captured a fan waving their own homemade oven gloves in appropriate time with the chorus. I recorded from near the start and it's just such a great way to finish. HMHB seem to have cast Vatican Broadside aside along with Twenty Four Hour Garage People and For What Is Chatteris..., and it's a real shame. If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next by the Manics was playing once the band left the stage, and I'm not sure if it was chosen by the venue or if it was a joke by the band harking back to their referencing the band in the excellent Lock Up Your Mountain Bikes. The time stamp on my photos suggests that the band finished at 9.30pm, which is a surprise as I'd have guessed 10pm. But it was slightly light outside still, and I'm guessing that some of the fans had a long journey back home. Also the band had started early and had played a lot, albeit not as many songs as they sometimes do. I shot some lovely pics of the cave all lit up, waiting around as the venue emptied so I could shoot even better pictures. I saw that there were some seats on the far right and highest level of the cave floor too, and I resolved to come back the next day for a proper look around the cave after noting I'd barely seen any of it properly besides the entrance area. I had a brief chat with a guy on the walk back as he tried to list the new songs that had been played, and he mentioned that he'd first seen Richard Hawley here many years ago, and back then that the stage had faced the opposite way. Of course my parents had been frantically trying to call me while I'd been in a cave and totally out of contact, and my ears were whistling quite a lot too. I wrote some notes on my phone to make sure that I didn't forget everything, but was happy to get back to my room and call it a night.

The next day was a great one, taking in the local church and Peveril Castle before a proper tour of the Peak Cavern. I then drove a little to visit Tideswell church, which is rather grandly known as the "Cathedral of the Peaks" despite having no such claim despite its large and impressive size. It had been on my radar for a while though after I spotted a road sign for it many years beforehand. I also visited Treak Cliff Cavern, which contrasted with the fully guided tour of the Peak Cavern by offering a fully self-led tour, and a very different cave vibe. There was plenty more I could have done too but I was running out of time and could only do so much, so I headed back to Castleton. I spent a solid £25 on five unexpected German beers at the store opposite the hotel, which was quite unplanned as it is so rare to find genuinely unknown continental beers of such quality. Apparently a delivery had come in just the day before. I would have eaten at my hotel restaurant again but the delicious looking crispy chicken with rice special had sold out and I knew that the beer there had been awful, so I wandered around for a while, eventually finding a pub. There was more drama in losing my table while I waited for ages at the bar and having to redirect my food order (which naturally was not done as I'd asked for until I shouted for them to bring it to my new table), but the food was nice, although as I'd had a cheeky ice cream first I didn't have any real room left for more beers, so decided to call it a night and chill out and sort my photos in my room. It felt wrong to award HMHB their customary 8.5/10 after giving my last few shows 9/10, so I've elevated the score below accordingly. Despite the omission of Vatican Broadside and the continued lack of old unheard classics, I still thoroughly enjoy watching Half Man Half Biscuit, and if anything think I should pick up the pace and do it even more often. The week after I recorded a four part HMHB compilation to replace my two part one and to bring the excellent new songs into the fray. Most of my time was spent equalising the volumes, but I'm happy with the results, and I have no regrets about my plans to see them another three times over the next six months.
Setlist
Rawlplugs Of Yesteryear
The Light At The End Of The Tunnel (Is The Light Of An Oncoming Train)
Irk The Purists
False Grit
Horror Clowns Are Dickheads
Shit Arm, Bad Tattoo
Dickie Davies Eyes
Blue Badge Abuser
Terminus
Record Store Day
Rock And Roll Is Full Of Bad Wools
All I Want For Christmas Is A Dukla Prague Away Kit
God Gave Us Life
Everything's A.O.R.
We Built This Village On A Trad. Arr. Tune
Birmos In The Cowshed
National Shite Day
Jack’s Been To The National
Every Time A Bell Rings
The Trumpton Riots
Oblong Of Dreams
McCalliog And His Hens
I'm Waiting For The Man
Joy Division Oven Gloves

Mark: 9.0/10