Who
Half Man Half Biscuit
Support
Shanghai Treason
Where
Wolverhampton KK's Steel Mill
When
7th November 2025
Price
£25.00
Who with
Barry
Position
Towards the back
Comments
After falling hopelessly behind with my gig reviews due to my Scottish holiday, I've tried to turn things around by writing this up less than 24 hours after the show. I purchased my ticket 12 months in advance, and by the time I deleted my email after downloading the PDF it was my last remaining event which I'd purchased for in 2024. I'd confused myself a little and thought that this was at the Wulfrun Hall, but fortunately I double checked and realised that it was in fact at the unknown venue of KK's Steel Mill. It was just seven weeks after seeing them at Glasgow O2 Academy, and the third of fourth consecutive HMHB shows that I'd be attending. I see that they tend to play Friday nights and I had heard that they planned concerts around Tranmere away fixtures, although checking I don't think that's actually the case? Astonishingly I actually had agreed to go with people, although one of them pulled out to look after pets thanks to the twats setting off fireworks. Surely they should just ban private displays and be done with it, as only the cretins who like to literally burn their money will be upset, and there are plenty of proper firework shows to attend which are safer and better for everyone? I'd had a really busy work day and it was raining a bit as we headed into town, as Barry kindly gave me a lift and we parked up in my usual super secret parking spot. We agreed to visit the Istanbul Turkish restaurant and struggled to finish the mixed grill, partly due to filling up on the complimentary bread and dips which defy all science and are actually delicious, unlike normal bread.

After this we walked to the venue, appreciating that St John's Church was beautifully lit up even though nobody really goes that way to see it. Strange to invest in the lights that only a handful of homeless people will ever see but that it is never open to visit? I really didn't know this side of town well, and we walked to the venue while I said that I'd probably seen the guys 25 times, although my true total is 23 HMHB concerts, but Manchester then Nottingham in 2026 will take me up to my quarter century. We took no wrong turns and joined the short queue for the venue, after a fan gently berated our caution in crossing the road to the venue. Doors had opened at 7pm and I'd found the stage times online just beforehand, so we'd tried to enjoy a decent meal but I'd correctly anticipated that Turkish food would be nice, generous and also pretty fast. I got in after a search with no argument about my new camera, and I was keen to test its quality, especially with video footage. I was amused that the internet told me that this was a grade eleven listed venue, although I'm sure they meant Grade II but nothing can keep me away from my joke. I also spotted a record fair in December and may well revisit, although now bootleg CDs no longer seem to be part of the experience, they do seem rather pointless. I enjoyed two pints of the venues own brand beer but both were fairly yucky - one dark and one pale. We checked out the merchandise stand and I was bewitched by the quality of the support bands t-shirts, coming back to check them out again after their slot, although I foolishly decided to leave it for now and after the show all the good ones had been snapped up, which I suspect is due to the awesome quality of artwork rather than a deep love of their performance. It's the first time when the quality of the t-shirt made me want to buy it rather than out of an appreciation of the band.

Paintings of the two grumpy old guys from The Muppets were above the doors into the main arena, and I'm not quite sure if the capacity was 2000 or 1000, as half of the venue was taken up by the bar, merch stand and facilities, with the stage area itself accessed by two openings to the left and the right. But tonight had sold out, and it did feel more like 2000 people than 1000, which would put HMHB nicely between the Wulfrun and the Civic in terms of capacity. At the bar we debated if the support act Shanghai Treason could possibly live up to the quality of their t-shirts, and ended up just catching the last two songs of their set, which had commenced at 7.20pm. There was a TV screen backdrop containing the band logo and also their slogan of "Yorkshire banjo punk" and they seemed to really be going for it, with the singer even jumping into the crowd to sing from there. It was all rather over the top but I guess that's their style and the crowd seemed pretty appreciative. Also the band explained that it was their largest gig for a good while, and the four members even posed for a group photo onstage before departing. We left for the second beer, loo break and another ponder of the merch stand before heading back in and securing a position a bit to the left, staying behind the obstructive columns but just far enough forwards that they weren't blocking our view. Given that we could see all four members of the band and were comfortably clear of the moshpit it worked out well, although the venue could have done with a convenient slope so that when The Tallest Person In The World decided to stand in front of me I'd have been less frustrated.

It was lovely to have someone to share the experience with and the time before Half Man Half Biscuit appeared onstage at 8.30pm passed much quicker as a result. They came on in a classy manner to Nimrod by Elgar, and I'd correctly stated that the band would likely focus heavily on their first album as well as the newest stuff. HMHB didn't undermine this statement by opening unexpectedly with I Hate Nerys Hughes! I shot my first video on my new camera and it was fantastic sound quality, although after the show I realised that I'd left it in an obscure file format which buries the footage in a weird folder on my memory card, so would have to switch it over to MP4 and test it all over again at my next concert. I'm still too traumatised to relay the story of how I'd lost my last camera, but as it's outside the scope of this gig review for once I'll take advantage of that and resist going into it. Nigel wasn't wearing glasses and I explained that he'd likely be squinting at his setlist as usual, and the band were understated in fairly low key t-shirts. Amusingly though, the video screen was activated moments before they launched into Nerys Hughes, and a decidedly 90s picture of Patricia Routledge from Keeping Up Appearances was projected onto the screen. It was surreal and earned a huge laugh, and Nigel later explained that the venue had said that they could have anything they wanted projected behind them, so he'd given a list of names and this no doubt was a little tribute to her recent passing as well as a surreal touch. They even had two side screens carrying the same projection, but they likely are geared up more for dance shows. Next up was She's In Broadstairs and Goodbye Sam, Hello Samaritans, and although I recorded more than most fans, I somehow resisted doing so here.

Nigel struggled to screw the cap back onto his water bottle and berated their terrible quality, before being passed a much nicer bottle of Harrogate water in a less flimsy plastic material, although Nigel pointed out that the cap was still equally rubbish. He said that normally rock bands play here and they'd be drinking from a straw, although that doesn't sound particularly rock 'n' roll! The face onscreen behind them rotated once or twice for each song, with a shocked face wore by Blanche Hunt from Coronation Street being particularly noteworthy. Nigel commented that he had got a Tesco Clubcard in his pocket, before picking on someone in the audience and saying that maybe he's just pleased to see them. After this was an ASDA backdrop, and a mention of going to the Greggs on the Cannock Road was met with cheers and that later formed a backdrop too. At some point Nigel's list of names ran out and the projectionist went rogue with a variety of TV stars from the 1980s, settling into that rhythm after a few quirks in the first half. Bob Wilson: Anchorman was great, and a fan helpfully pointed out when Nigel dropped £5, which he commented were getting hard to find and started a debate about which few cash machines actually give you fivers. He has found one in Birkenhead and was assured Lloyds Bank in Wolverhampton does the same, and unsurprisingly a £5 note formed the video backdrop for the next song Record Store Day. I recorded the glorious b-sides bit again, and there was even a brief backdrop on the screen about the mortgage line, but from this point onwards the footage settled down and stopped trying to mirror the songs, at least until the cover version in the encore.

Barry took a break so had missed this great song and also The Bastard Son Of Dean Friedman, which is a strong contender for my highlight of the set. The pacing for it was a bit slow and unusual, and a few fans were recording but not too many. A football manager posing in a stadium was the backdrop here and I recorded much of the first verse, capturing a few fans moshing along too. Barry returned with a parrot t-shirt from the support band, making me more determined to get one myself afterwards, and I really wish I had just gone for it now. Also Barry had heard Dean Friedman from the merch stand so hadn't entirely missed out, and it was a nice touch as I'd recited it as a shining example of their best lyrical prowess in the car getting here. The ACD album segment continued and concluded with the slippers part of The Best Things In Life, and Nigel spotted Denise Lewis in the crowd and asked her how she was getting on with her new air fryer. After Birmos In The Cowshed was Sealclubbing, and the jumping between their earliest and newest material was exactly as I'd promised, and Barry was also doing very well in knowing quite a few of their tunes, especially the early ones and some of their other song titles. By this point Nigel had removed his jacket, and I'm Getting Buried In The Morning was introduced as a cheery song about being on death row. Poly Styrene was on screen, and Nigel said that he'd requested her, as by this point the projectionist was freestyling. The Light At The End Of The Tunnel (Is The Light Of An Oncoming Train) featured excellent backing vocals from Karl and Neil, and Every Time A Bell Rings also gave them a great chance to participate, although they should repeat the refrain a bit more at the end as it had gone down a storm when they'd done that in Bilston.

Nigel was about to tell his joke about the conspiracy theorist but hesitated as he realised he'd told it before, before adding that it was in Glasgow so he was comfortable repeating it. This felt nice, although I suspect quite a few fans probably had been at both shows and had heard it already. Basically the conspiracy theorist died and asked God who killed JFK and God said it was "Lee Harvey Oswald and he acted alone" and the conspiracy theorist said "wow, it really goes this high up!" Anyway, it amused me. There'd been the usual sprinkling of Dukla Prague away kits in the crowd and also a fan waving their scarf during the song, and by this point the backdrop was Victor Meldrew segueing into Stirling Moss, neither of which Nigel had asked for. After the lovely singing back of the ending, Nigel explained that he had never seen One Foot In The Grave, presumably because it clashed with something else, although he couldn't think what. And it's a real shocker, as One Foot feels like a show that Nigel would love, and it was bizarre that a man famed for an encyclopedic knowledge of daytime TV had never seen what I would happily say is the greatest sitcom of all time. Perhaps it just isn't wilfully obscure enough to appeal to him, but it does seem strange to learn that Nigel's taste in TV is so different to mine. Everything's A.O.R. was as glorious as ever and a few fans were moshing up front, and Nigel told a few of his favourite lightbulb jokes also. He asked how many folk singers it takes to change a lightbulb. Answer is 100 - one to change it and the other 99 to sing about how good the old bulb was! And then he asked how many A&R people does it take to change a lightbulb. Answer was "can I get back to you on that?" Pretty sure he's told these jokes before, but both are amusing and think that there was a valid reason he'd stumbled into the topic too.

I spotted someone dressed as a chicken by the bar and couldn't work out why, but I now suspect that it was an indirect reference to the glorious McCalliog And His Hens. It is rapidly becoming one of my all-time favourite songs and I hope it remains a mainstay in future Biscuit sets. By this point Frank Butcher was the video backdrop, and Nigel put down his guitar to embrace the vocals, and the backing alternating vocals of "his hens" was just perfect. I don't quite know how they could help to solve crimes, but I'd be delighted to watch the proposed TV series and find out for myself. Monmore, Hare's Running was introduced as a local song and the backdrop of Ronnie Corbett didn't quite match its energy. But it was worth it for the joke of him always wearing two pairs of trousers when playing golf... Just in case he gets a hole in one! I recorded the bits about shit sellotape and the bouncy castle and was doing my best to escape the shadow of The Tallest Man In The World in front of me. I didn't see the King Of Hi-Vis surprisingly, but I suspect that he was knocking around somewhere. After The Bliss Of The Hereafter and Terminus was a little tease which I anticipated would morph into Vatican Broadside, so I started recording from the start and my prediction was right. Around this point an 'Allo 'Allo! pic changed to a Dad's Army one, and Nigel shockingly admitted to never having watched 'Allo 'Allo! either. His reasoning was that he couldn't trust someone who spelled Gordon as Gorden, which was a strange logic and I suspect that it being too mainstream or clashing with something else was the real reason. Also in a coincidence I was watching an amateur stage adaption of 'Allo 'Allo! the following afternoon in Stafford, so it kept the weekend very much on theme. I'd even seen three of the cast doing the Listen Very Carefully podcast in Shrewsbury just four weeks earlier and had just finished rewatching the series, so it was very much a key theme of my 2025.

I just about recognised The Unfortunate Gwatkin - which had a Jim Bowen Bullseye backdrop - and Nigel had his guitar behind his back to focus on the wordy vocals here. Although HMHB are freakishly consistent, its parent album Urge For Offal is arguably their weakest, although perhaps the sheer quality of No-One Cares About Your Creative Hub So Get Your Fuckin' Hedge Cut and All Asimov And No Fresh Air has created a standard so high that few other recent efforts can live up to them? I still confuse the intro of The Trumpton Riots with that of Time Flies By (When You're The Driver Of A Train), although in my defence I don't believe that the band used to do it as faithfully as they do it now. I shot a long video with the Fawlty Towers cast as the backdrop before it switched to Cilla Black, and this probably was the peak of the moshpit up front. I also never realised that the intro shout was "elevate!", I'd assumed it was "animite!", but the new blue Back In The D.H.S.S t-shirt had the correct phrase plastered over the album cover, so I guess I learn something new every time. I definitely feel that the more I see Half Man Half Biscuit the more I appreciate them, and the fact that each show is a special one-off event definitely helps. It's the exact opposite of Kraftwerk who are obsessed with consistency and perfection, although of course both approaches have a lot to recommend them. We Built This Village On A Trad. Arr. Tune remains a set mainstay, but we were approaching the 10.30pm advertised finish time and I'd doubted we'd get to hear National Shite Day, so had no complaints when they launched into it. I recorded the intro and first minute and the focus and sound quality of my new camera was proving absolutely brilliant, even catching Nigel fluffing the bus replacement service line by singing about a public replacement service instead. Sometimes I've felt that this song is over-played, but I'm loving it now and short of having the opportunity to drop it and throw in two never-played classics in place of its long duration, I'd rather it remain in the set forever.

The set then finished with the expected Joy Division Oven Gloves, although I was a little perturbed that HMHB had casually waltzed past the 10.30pm finish time and not yet left the stage. Joy Division Oven Gloves is the obvious finale and I assumed that logistically they'd just decided to keep playing rather than leaving for a few minutes. The band rocked out and there was at least one pair of oven gloves to the left and fans doing the hand gestures too, and the video screen by now was rapidly rotating through the many, many faces we'd seen throughout the evening. Other video backdrops included Ken Dodd, Mrs Doubtfire, Ronnie Barker as Albert Arkwright and George Best, but there were plenty more besides. I really thought that was it, but the lack of an encore and no token cover version was unexpected, so I wasn't entirely surprised when the band quickly came back onstage to launch into an encore, ultimately taking them up to an insane 31 song setlist. I'd been joking with Barry about knowing what to say if Fred Titmus shows up, and he wisely pointed out that it would be a surprise considering he is now dead. But I'd been a little disappointed that the song wasn't played, and was really surprised that it opened the encore rather than forming an excellent warm-up moment two or three songs into the main set. To make it even more exciting, Nigel unleashed the caravan guitar, although he said that it was a nightmare to play and he may leave it in a layby on the way home and he quickly switched back afterwards. I recorded the first and the second chants and the Dad's Army backdrop was revisited here, and for the first time in the show I zoomed in on Nigel, although my camera lost its focus a little when I tried that. This naturally led to talk of their driving routes, and the Wrexham connection was probably responsible for a namedrop of the A483 receiving a particularly venomous boo from one or two fans.

Jack's Been To The National was played as usual, and although I don't mind it too much I've yet to be convinced that it deserves such a prominent place in the set. Time will tell if it is retired once one or two more albums are released, as I struggle to see it becoming a mainstay. Sometimes maybe I'm a little bit dismissive of the cover version, but it's a typical part of the set and often it is truly excellent. And this was one of the best ever, as HMHB followed a semi-impromptu take of Brimful Of Asha two years ago in Wolves with a similarly local song - Mama Weer All Crazee Now by Slade! Nigel again put down the guitar and really attacked the vocals, and the band made the song their own and it encouraged a great singalong and plenty of others recording it. In a by now rare moment where the video screen related to the action, Noddy Holder was projected behind them, and I wonder if the guys will be brave enough to tackle Spaceman by Babylon Zoo next time they're in town? Also You Trip Me Up had been played in Glasgow, so possibly they are leaning towards tunes with a local connection now. It was closer to 11pm by the time the set finished, and finally the band ended the show with Oblong Of Dreams. I must admit I'd forgotten about it, but the guitars are great and it well deserves its place in the set. Although HMHB do have a tendency to have "too many" obvious closing numbers in their set - I counted eight - and that does lead to a feeling of the set nearing its end even when it isn't. But now they've dropped Rock And Roll Is Full Of Bad Wools, all of these songs are just so good that it's difficult to imagine the set without them. I recorded from near the intro and Ozzy was projected onto the screen, and Nigel departed with his usual request of hoping that we'd enjoy our weekends, weatherwise and otherwise. It seems to have become his usual parting shot, and I guess that after a show full of wit that turning the final address to the crowd into a joke would be too far and take away from the sincerity of the statement.

Given that I wasn't driving myself and it wasn't too far I didn't rush for the exit, instead joining the crowd at the merch store to purchase the aforementioned blue Back In The D.H.S.S t-shirt. At this point I saw that the best of the Shanghai Treason tops had all sold out, although writing this up has reminded me to recheck their Bandcamp merch page and treat myself to the parrot top which had come back into stock online. I seemed to be standing at the wrong part of the stall though as the staff were studiously ignoring me despite the efforts of a fellow kind punter to get me served. But it's pretty much bar rules, and the concept of a queue should not be appropriate in this situation. A man pointed to my yellow HMHB top as an example of what it looked like but his lady friend was very forthright in saying that she didn't like the colour, backtracking slightly so it didn't come across as a personal insult. I disagree though, I think non-black t-shirts are better as they are colourful and more interesting. If I'd been thinking on my feet I'd have made a Coldplay Yellow joke here, but alas my brain isn't that fast except where puns are concerned. After this wait we got back in good time, and Barry providing a lift was very helpful and greatly appreciated. I made a few notes on my PC but was keen to get to bed, somehow forcing myself to wake up for my morning swim as usual despite the late night. Despite such a stonking set, HMHB still didn't play so many classics. I see that they played 7/1/6/9 songs respectively from each of my 20 track compilations, with the 1 track from their second quarter of their career - Monmore, Hare's Running - really demonstrating that the band are focusing so heavily on their earliest and latest material, with the four albums from 1993 to 1998 persistently underrepresented. Over time I've heard a few of those tunes live, yes, but perhaps the real point here is that HMHB are too brilliant for their own good and unless they drop a lot of the mainstays it is exceptionally difficult for them to make room for these lesser played classics. Brilliant as usual, pushing 9/10, and can't wait to catch up with the guys in Manchester in January at the Ritz.
Setlist
I Hate Nerys Hughes
She's In Broadstairs
Goodbye Sam, Hello Samaritans
Bob Wilson: Anchorman
Awkward Sean
Record Store Day
The Bastard Son Of Dean Friedman
The Best Things In Life
Birmos In The Cowshed
Sealclubbing
I'm Getting Buried In The Morning
The Light At The End Of The Tunnel (Is The Light Of An Oncoming Train)
Every Time A Bell Rings
The Bane Of Constance
All I Want For Christmas Is A Dukla Prague Away Kit
Everything's A.O.R.
McCalliog And His Hens
Monmore, Hare's Running
The Bliss Of The Hereafter
Terminus
Vatican Broadside
The Unfortunate Gwatkin
The Trumpton Riots
Possible Side Effects
We Built This Village On A Trad. Arr. Tune
National Shite Day
Joy Division Oven Gloves
Fuckin' 'Ell It's Fred Titmus
Jack’s Been To The National
Mama Weer All Crazee Now
Oblong Of Dreams

Mark: 8.5/10