5 Reasons To Go See - Half Man Half Biscuit

1 Gigs by the band are a rarity. Their peccadilloes famously led to them turning down 80s TV show The Tube (and a helicopter ride there) because it clashed with a Tranmere Rovers match. Other means of transport are no more popular – the Renfrew Ferry was rejected as a Glasgow venue owing to it being a (kind of) boat. Long tours are out thanks to singer Nigel Blackwell’s ‘own bed, own bog’ maxim.

2 Their love of obscure or failed football teams. A thing that means they have much in common with their large Scottish following (see ‘I Was a Teenage Armchair Honved Fan’, ‘Dukla Prague Away Kit’.)

3 They’re adored by journalists since any piece can simply consist of a string of song titles: ‘Paintball’s Coming Home’, ‘The Bastard Son of Dean Freidman’, ‘Twenty Four Hour Garage People’.

4 Take the chance to see what they look like as no proper publicity shot exists after 1986 (perhaps due to Blackwell’s likeness to Dutch defender Jap Stam).

5 Aside from their fabled cutting lyrics they have a real knack for singalong anthems and their songs have inspired ringing endorsements from fans ranging from Tracy Emin to Jarvis Cocker, while the late John Peel described the band as ‘a national treasure’.

Half Man Half Biscuit play Liquid Room, Edinburgh, Wed 1 Oct.

More: Music, Previews (Music), 5 Reasons To Go See, Half Man Half Biscuit

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