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The Mangledwurzels

supporting Half Man Half Biscuit
at the Cheese and Grain, Frome (28 February 2007)

review | pics | thanks

The Mangledwurzels managed to wangle a support slot at legendary cult band Half Man Half Biscuit gig at the Cheese & Grain in Frome. HMHB don't gig too often, so it was a privilege to provide the support for them in Frome. And we got to see them perform for free - and had a long chat with the band after the gig. How cool is that!

This was organised very much at the last minute and was only confirmed two days before the gig. As a result the HMHB fans (who seemed to have descended from across the country) had no warning as to what the support was until we hit the stage. Playing support to a post-punk band whose fans are brought up on a diet of NME journalism was rather challenging. Still, we crammed the best known Wurzels songs and our most accessible Mangled songs into a short set and hoped for the best... Here are their comments, as reviewed on the HMHB website:

...Had a quick pint in bar downstairs, portion of chips over the road, then got to the Cheese and Grain for 8pm, which is essentially a well equipped large barn-like hall, and eagerly awaited the support, a Wurzels tribute band called the Mangled Wurzels....The Mangled Wurzels were vaguely amusing for about half a song before the joke ran thin, and the locals didn't seem too enthralled by their presence either. [Gav Gotti]

Spoken like a true music journo. Bored after half a song (about 90 seconds!) - speaks volumes... We're just not cool enough for you, are we Gav? Ah well, can't win 'em all!

...I also popped in to The Crown and The Blue Boar before heading for the venue in time for the Mangled Wurzels. They did an OK job, but as with all covers bands I wonder how much mileage there is in what they do. [Roger Green]

'An OK job'? Well 'OK' is good enough for us. How much mileage? Several thousand miles a year, since you ask, Roger.

I don’t often refer to the support, but ‘The Mangled Wurzels’ deserve a mention...I am proud/ashamed to confess that I knew the four Wurzels tracks when they chimed in, but the novelty came with the three bastardized uber-tribute songs. With apologies to the Sting, we had a version of ‘Walking on the Moon’ that became ‘Walkin’ ‘Cross The Yard’. The Stones would need to be stoned to fully appreciate ‘Hey, Hey, You, You, Get Orf’a My Land’. Finally, the Postman Pat harmony was used for a pop at 'Scrumpy Jack', which is a load of cack. Draw your own conclusions. [Mike Cresswell]

The set was designed to entertain and amuse a crowd who came to hear something completely different; and Mike's comment showed that we got though to some of the HMHB fans - I don't think we could ask for a more positive review!

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The Mangledwurzels on action on stage
The Mangledwurzels on action on stage
Hedge Cutter in action on stage
Hedge Cutter and Seth Pitt in action on stage
Jethro Tool	Seth Pitt
Hedge Cutter and Jethro Tool in action on stage	Hedge Cutter
Rosie Russett happily manning the Mangled Shop all night (we only sold two badges!)	HMHB fans totally bemused by The Mangledwurzels performance!

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Thanks to the promoter (whose name eludes me for the moment) for giving us the slot, Geoff Davies at Probe Plus (HMHB's management) for giving the thumbs up to the idea - and especially to Nigel Blackwell and the rest of HMHB for making us most welcome. Great to see that there are some genuinely nice guys at the sharp end of the music industry!

Rosie would like to thanks 'Mrs Biscuit' (Nigel's wife) for being equally friendly and approachable as they worked side-by-side on the merchandiseing stalls.

And many thanks to Paul Mancini who got into the gig for free on the pretext that he would act as roadie but was really there to take loads of pictures for us to remember the night by.