The Lancashire Hotpots [Live Review]

The Lancashire Hotpots [Live Review] – Fibbers, York, Saturday 12th November 2011
Supported by the Re-entrants

As a Yorkshireman who was born in Yorkshire and lives in Yorkshire and eats Yorkshire (puddings) I should detest anything from Lancashire with venom. However, no matter how much our counties may be rivals, it’s difficult to dislike – nay impossible – one of their exports in the form of comedy-folk band ‘The Lancashire Hotpots’ who, over the course of four excellent albums and a Christmas record, have set the bar for Northern comedy, putting a twist on the modern life by setting 21st Century dilemmas, hobbies and technology to the sound of the dance halls and to George Formby-esque music.

It was not a difficult decision for me to buy some tickets to see them a third time after recently purchasing their new album and, late in the day their Christmas record which I’m saving to nearer the festival to listen to, even if decorations and shop aisles of festive goodies are springing up around me. So, bringing a friend with me for whom this would be their first ever live music gig, it was time to enjoy a night of Hotpotting. And we didn’t even need a knife, fork or bib.

After several years camping out in the Duchess in York, a former snooker bar turned musical venue weirdly sat directly above the competition in a town which, until the recent re-opening of the Barbican, only had two real music venues both situated on top of each other so you could fall through one into t’other, the band returned downstairs to Fibbers, as have another band I’m seeing later in the month, suggesting Fibbers have either got a new booking agent or are splashing their cash around.

And I might be guessing at the latter. Because of the Duchess taking away all their acts, I’ve not been to Fibbers in years. It used to be a good haunt in my early days of music reviewing and one of the first places I went to to listen to bands. So, naturally, it was a shock as I walked through the main door to find the place looking completely different, with the stage at the other end, a new bar (with reasonably priced drinks I might add!), illuminated steps, toilets in a different area and generally some investment in a bar that had been a little dark and dingy before. Granted, it was still dark with bits of balsa wood glued to the ceiling, but it was much nicer than before.

Nicer, that is, as long as you don’t need the loo as it seems they finished building it then realised that men might want to, you know, occasionally, erm, dispose of previous meals and hadn’t put in some cubicles, so have bashed up some chipboard panelling to form two make-shift compartments. It’s a shame as the toilets were quite fancy though were, er, blocked shall we say, unless the chipboard / MDF was a decision choice then I am clearly out of touch with the music venues of the day. But that’s enough about bogs. You want to know what I thought about the bands not the crapping facilities.

Though not as big as the Duchess, it must be at least a quarter of the size, it was the perfect size for the 250 or so punters that turned up, and I was glad to find it wasn’t just my friend and I that turned up dressed for the part in our flat caps. In fact, a lot of them had gone to even more trouble with neckerchiefs, overalls and other stereotypical Lancashire garb on their bodies, scattering among the others just in one of their range of band t-shirts.

So with a pint of cider in hand and proudly wearing my ‘Professional Yorkshireman’ t-shirt, it was time to read about how Silvio Berlusconi was standing down as Italian PM, how the X-Factor was suffering technical difficulties (just like the London sewage system struggles in the modern age, so it seems BT Tower was struggling with the amount of shit coming through it that night), and other distractions on the internet, whilst also chatting with my friend, as we waited for the support act to come on.

Their name tickling my memory and on sight definitely reminding me of something, it was clear that ‘The Re-entrants’ were the band that had supported the Hotpots the last time I’d seen them in York.

Basically two men with a ukulele each, their schtick was singing classic and modern pop and rock hits on ukulele. Sure, they were a one trick pony, but it was a thoroughbread of a pony and one that couldn’t have got the show off to a better start.

Introduced by the Hotpots very own Bernard with some hilarious banter, they soon burst into their set, kicking off with a speedy and pleasing version of ELO’s ‘Mr Blue Sky’, even down to the closing instrumental (even if they did get the ending of the song wrong – it is actually ‘Please Turn Me Over’ rather than repeating the title, though I do appreciate that wouldn’t make much sense in a live setting); then a hilarious version of Lady GaGa’s ‘Poker Face’, the two grown men impersonating her vocals a sight to see and a sound to hear, with them injecting a lot of character into the lyrics, with the hilarity of the situation even causing the singers to laugh, a laughter and appeal that was infectious to the crowd.

‘Ace of Spades’ and ‘Thriller’ followed and were both well performed from a musical and singing point of view, the two singers impersonating the different vocal styles and, in the case of the second, singers’ tics, perfectly. A headbutt of the mic during the door slam line on Jacko’s most famous hit was one of the most unexpected but amusing things during their set, as was the Hotpot’s occasional adlibs during the gaps (“Play us something we know”) and their discussion about whether they had a muffin as ‘Poker Face’ finished.

‘The Re-entrants’ continued to throw in curve balls during the set, including intentionally funny dance moves, and the ‘whoosh’ sound effects of Bonnie Tyler’s opus ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’. The only thing that put a dampner on the set, as they did at times during the main performance, were the, and I use the word sparingly, tossers next to me who thought it was hilarious to pretend they were in a two-person mosh-pit banging into other people and, frankly, needing a good spray of deodorant. Mosh when others do, yes, but they were off their heads with drink and, though I’m not against people enjoying themselves in a gig, they just went a little too far.

One thing that was unusual about the support act was that they got an encore due to how much the crowd were enjoying them, a first for me, so they treated everyone to their version of ‘Kiss’, the Prince original, complete with high vocals and a dance section during the obligatory ‘I think I’m gonna dance now’ bit.

In the choice of ‘The Re-entrants’ a better support act for the Hotpots you couldn’t find. Though as I said at the top of this section it was just one joke over the thirty minutes the crowd didn’t tire of it and it was truly interesting to watch, both from a technical point of view in adapting pop songs to the ukulele but also the funny skits they through in during songs and between them.

I would recommend picking up one of the CDs where you can.

Set list:
Mr Blue Sky (ELO)
Poker Face (Lady GaGa)
Ace of Spaces (Motorhead)
Thriller (Michael Jackson)
Gold (Spandau Ballet)
Total Eclipse of the Heart (Bonnie Tyler)
Comfortably Numb (Pink Floyd)
Kiss (Prince)

It was just a short twenty-minutes before the main act would begin, starting a very generous ninety-minute set from the Lancashire Hotpots, which is possibly the longest, best-value-for-money set I’ve seen in a long time.

Coming onto the ‘Price Is Right’ theme tune, they owned the stage and crowd for the whole of their duration on it. Even Bernard’s guitar being unplugged before he got on allowed for a funny skit to kick off, leading to an hour-and-a-half of drinking, dancing, singing along and, of course, laughing.

As expected they began with a drinking song, but a drinking song with a difference, with their fourth album opener ‘Give Us A Brew’ getting the crowd in the mood, and like in the previous times I’ve seen them even with a tweaked line-up now, it was amazing how tight they were as a group, from Bernard on his guitar, to Ken on his drums, to Bob on bass, to Billy on Synth and Dickie on backing vocals with a variety of random instruments for throughout the gig, including some in the shapes of fruit and one in a Pringles can.

The early part of the set was a highlights package of some of their best tracks from another drinking song in ‘Bitter, Lager, Cider, Ale, Stout’ to ‘I Met A Girl On Myspace’, each sung tail-ended by banter by the band that really engaged with the audience and made everyone enjoy the night more. This was the third time I’ve seen the band and, though the last two were brilliant nights, this easily tops them as the best and the most fun, the group benefiting from extra props and more energy.

‘I Fear Ikea’ and ‘Chav’ followed, with the crowd happily singing back the songs and fulfilling Bernard’s request in doing a YMCA-style dance to the second of those tracks. The crowd participation only increased when Bernard left the stage and returned in a full pirate costume for a rendition of ‘Cinema Smugglers’, sadly the only cut from their excellent third album, my favourite of them, complete with the crowd going ‘yaaar!’ on queue.

A personal favourite of mine was next as Dickie Ticker took lead-vocals for the Noel Coward-inspired ‘Has Anybody Seen My Dongle?’ before yet another drinking song in the shape of ‘I’ll ‘Ave One With You’ got the crowd singing along again.

The Hotpots continued to rattle through their hits with ‘Keys, Wallet, Phone’ and ‘The Beer Olympics’, before one of their biggest hits – ‘He’s Turned Emo’ set the room alight, following one of Bernard’s hilarious wordy rants about emos in a similar vain to his one on chavs.

It was then a quick dash off stage for the band, who returned back on dressed in high-visibility jackets and glasses, ready for a rave, with the crowd only too happy to oblige with a conga around Fibbers to ‘A Lancashire DJ’.

‘Me PSP’ and their trademark track ‘Chippy Tea’ followed, both expertly realised and sounding every bit as good as their recorded counterparts with all of the first verse of ‘Chippy’ sang by the audience, emphasising their familiarity with the words, but both with the added power and magic of being performed live, before they went off properly for the break before the obligatory encore, which featured a hilarious pastiche of Eminem’s ‘The Real Slim Shady’ and fan-favourite ‘Shopmobility Scooter’, which mixed in a sing-along end of the Beatles hit ‘Hey Jude’ transformed into ‘Hey Jean’, featuring great sing-a-long sections and a men vs women singing battle, showing that the band had the crowd eating out of their hands.

There was only one real way to end the set, as they always do, with their ‘Bang Bang Thumpy Dance Megamix’, their mirth-filled montage of popular dance tracks from the 90s to now with a northern theme, serving as a high energy end to what was a fantastic show.

After they left the stage the night wasn’t over for my friend and I. We got to meet the one and only Bernard after the show for a quick chat and an ident for a radio show we do – thanks to Bernard for that – and he was a genuinely nice chap.

It was also an interesting end with a couple of people asking me where I’d purchased my ‘Professional Yorkshireman’ t-shirt from and one thinking I’d actually gained it as a professional qualification from University. It takes all sorts.

Overall, my journey out to see the Lancashire Hotpots was as far from a disappointment as it can be possibly be. Following one of the best, and well-received, support acts I’ve seen in a long time, their generous ninety minute set packed full of seventeen of their hits, was fantastic and delivered brilliantly thanks to a tight band and a great sound system, much improved on the Fibbers days of old.

If I could find criticism it would be in the lack of tracks from their third release ‘Criminal Record’ but that’s my personal preference. It was an excellent night of hilarious tracks brilliantly performed and I’ll be definitely making the journey to see their next tour.

[8.5 / 10]

Set list:
Give Us A Brew
Bitter, Lager, Cider, Ale, Stout
I Met A Girl On MySpace
I Fear Ikea
Ebay Eck
Chav
Cinema Smugglers
Has Anybody Seen My Dongle?
I’ll ‘Ave One With You
Keys, Wallet, Phone
The Beer Olympics
He’s Turned Emo
A Lancashire DJ
Me PSP
Chippy Tea

-Encore-
The Real Bernard Thresher (Short)
Shopmobility Scooter / Hey Jean
Bang Bang Thumpy Dance Megamix