HALF MAN HALF BISCUIT

O2 Academy, Bristol | 18 January

Half Man Half Biscuit are one of the few bands that can tear every muso over the age of 40 within a 40 mile radius away from their Cambridge Audio stereo stacks and copies of Wire magazine and have them all pogoing and singing along to, frankly, silly refrains about the stigma of owning a Volvo, ITV reality shows and existential ennui. 

Bristol’s O2 Academy is awash with receding hairlines and Lowe alpine clobber tonight, the kids are at home hoping that daddy will be back by nine to read them a story. Daddy won’t be home, he’s knee deep in some of the best, most overlooked pop music of its era. We stand at the back, afraid to approach the fray, afraid that someone might spot that we don’t know all the lyrics, and we sip our pints of bitter as we muse on the crowd. If this is what 47 looks like, why are we wasting our time with our 20s?

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Words: Billy Black