Last year I ended up seeing the Hotpots four times in six months because of a variety of circumstances. This year I’ve only seen them once, for their live date in Manchester where they would be recording their first live DVD since 2008, where it was made up of just tracks from their first album aside from a few early previews of their second. Now, with seven albums under their belts, they have a much wider discography to feed from, and it showed in another brilliant, energetic performance.
Composed of two halves and an encore we were treated to a cross section of songs from across their oeuvre, Christmas-album aside. They opened with ‘The Wigan Church of Pies’ from their new album ‘Crust For Life’ and it was a well-judged opener, getting the crowd into the swing of the gig even if they weren’t familiar with the new material, as I was at the time, with Thresher decked out in a bright red robe. The crowd was a mostly older crowd compared to other gigs but the Lowry was almost packed out, though the theatre environment did lead to a more muted crowd, with only a handful choosing to come in flat caps and waistcoats and not too many dancing. But, judging by the laughter and smiles, the Hotpots brand of parody music and brilliant stage banter – especially in the case of Billy McCartney – still grabbed the crowd. Well, certainly more than the Lowry’s drink prices.
Playing for around two hours if the breaks were removed, the setlist was spiced up for the DVD with a representative from OfFolk providing some scripted relief and a wider choice of songs, hopefully all appearing on the Christmas-timed DVD release. They also went through plenty of costume changes related to the songs which was visually great for the audience.
From their first album we got ‘Chippy Tea’ – always a crowd favourite; ‘He’s Turned Emo’ – complete with an emo-ified Little Johnny Green, who has never appeared on the song before, presumably in lieu of ‘Uncle Bernard’ with lyrics that could be dodgy on a DVD; ‘Sat Nav’ – with Bob Wriggles on vocals, making a re-appearance after many, many years and was brilliantly done with the new line-up; ‘Bitter Lager Cider Ale Stout’ – as singable as ever; ‘Shopmobility Scooter’; ‘A Lancashire DJ’; and ‘Me PSP’, cementing a strong appearance from their debut with ‘A Lancashire DJ’ getting the dancing, rather than conga, treatment due to the space, but it didn’t really diminish its appeal.
From ‘Pot Sounds’ we got ‘Keys Wallet Phone’, ‘I Fear Ikea’, ‘CHAV’ and ‘The Beer Olympics’, all strong songs from their catalogue. ‘Criminal Record’ was well represented comparatively with ‘Hardcore Quornography’ making a rare appearance alongside the Pirate Bernard-lead ‘Cinema Smugglers’, and ‘Perks of the Job’.
The most recent albums gave us ‘Hip Meddow’ – a song I don’t like on the album but was brilliant live even if it did cause the crowd to shout out the title for much of the rest of the act; the acoustic version of ‘Cottaging’; ‘I’ll ‘Ave One Wi Ya’; and a welcome appearance from ‘Face Like Thunder’, all from ‘Achtung Gravy’; and from ‘A Hard Day’s Pint’ ‘Let’s Get Leathered’ and ‘The Perfect Pint’.
The new album gave us one song outside of the opener, new single ‘The Baking Song’, plus of course the ‘Bang Bang Thumpy Dance Megamix’, including their own spin on Daft Punk’s recent number one, now entitled ‘Get Leathered’.
In a set focussed more on the classic material it was a shame not to see some more newer material, but in trying to summarise their career in two hours they did a great job, though the absence of ‘I Met A Girl on MySpace’; ‘Ebay Eck’; ‘The Girl From Bargain Booze’; ‘Mek Us A Brew’; and ‘Has Anyone Seen My Dongle’, all brilliant live, was felt, but we can’t have it all.
The Lancashire Hotpots are always at their best when live and this gig was no exception. The crowd was buzzed for their material and the extra new elements thrown in really boosted the gig. The theatre environment wasn’t perhaps the best for the energy of the big numbers, but perfect for a DVD recording, and the new material sat well with their big numbers.
The banter between the members was as addictive as always and the range of tunes expertly played and delivered and it’s difficult to think of a better way to spend a Saturday night than in the company of Bernard, Dickie, Billy, Bob and Kenny.
A quality night out and showing once more the quality and dedication from the band in making an interesting night, and I look forward to the DVD this festive period!
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