Mid-Life Crisis Songs #111: Keep Taking The Biscuit

Last week, I bemoaned the fact that I came away from my recent Billy Bragg gig feeling ever so slightly short-changed, for which I blamed myself more than Billy. Afterwards, I was reminded of a Lloyd Cole lyric...

The Young Idealists
Careering through the markets to the Mall
Venturing that we could have it all
Still supposing we could make a difference
And then the markets fall
And the heavens open
And there's no synergy at all
The synergy is broken
So maybe now I'd take that wholesale revolution
We were talking about
Maybe now I'd take a future we can breathe in

...and once again, I felt like I was getting too old for all this shit: gigging, nightlife, being out in the world.

So when it came time for my second gig in less than a week, Half Man Half Biscuit at the same venue where Billy had left me wanting more, I found myself having another little existential crisis. It didn't help that I'd been out the night before to see Sam performing in a choir concert at Huddersfield Town Hall, and that I had to get up early the following morning for a football tournament that took up most of Saturday. Did I really want to spend my Friday evening standing on my own among a crowd of middle-aged men wearing T-shirts Mark Radcliffe would not approve of? Much as I love the Biscuit, I had serious second thoughts.

Half Man Half Biscuit - We Built This Village on a Trad. Arr. Tune

But I forced myself to go, and I'm glad I did. Because while I found it hard to connect with Billy's idealistic devotion this time round, Nigel Blackwell's cheeky Birkenhead cynicism was enough to banish the mid-life crisis for a couple of hours. As soon as he and his gang walked on stage to a singalong of Rhinestone Cowboy... it felt like I belonged.

Glen Campbell - Rhinestone Cowboy

Like Billy, Nigel is as entertaining between the tunes as when he's actually singing... unlike Billy, I never felt like I was failing to live up the expectations of the man on stage. Instead, he left me much to ponder...

Have you ever seen Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen and Dave Grohl in the same room?

Was that really Jodie Comer in the corner?

What do they call the sliding tray device used in overnight garages to pass things through to the cashier (or vice versa)? 

The answer to that last one is a Chuckle Brother, in case it was going to keep you awake tonight.

Half Man Half Biscuit - Every Time a Bell Rings

I came away with a T-shirt, a smile, and a temporary abatement of the existential dread. That's about all I can ask for these days...