He's getting old and his teeth are falling out, but The Fall's Mark E.
Smith is as fresh as ever, says Caroline Sullivan
If this news ain't good enough for you, try Graham Coleman's Alternative
Fall News page.
Mail Stefan, or mail FallNet.
To subscribe to FallNet, send mail here
with SUBSCRIBE FALL YOUR NAME in the body.
With sinking hearts, we note the threat of two more Receiver releases:
Oxymoron: Contains "previously unreleased material", a mixture
of live and studio tracks, including Powder Keg, White Lines,
Pearl City, Hostile, Glam Racket, He Pep. Release Date: 27-Oct-97
Cheetham Hill: incl. Time Enough At Last, Free Range, Chiselers,
Spinetrak, Oleano. Release Date: 24-Nov-97
From an interview in The Times:
The Fall play live at Dublin Mean Fiddler, Nov 6; Belfast Empire Music
Hall, Nov 7; London Forum, Dec 5. Mark E. Smith plays 333, London EC1,
Oct 10.
The Forum, Kentish Town, London on Friday 5 December: tickets 12 quid
from 0171 344 0044 (credit card, probably booking fee). A band member told
someone after the Dingwalls gig that they would be playing dates in Manchester,
Edinburgh, Glasgow "after we get back from the States". Make of that what
you will.
Here's the latest MES interview from The Guardian.
Band at Dingwalls: Smith, Hanley, Burns, Nagle, Crooks (additional arsehole played by Michael Clark)
Line-up on Levitate:
MES: vocals, keyboard
S. Hanley: bass
J. Nagle: keyboards, guitar, programming, arranging
S. Wolstencroft: Drums
K. Burns: Drums
Andy Hackett: Guitar (ex-Rockingbirds?)
Tommy Crooks: Guitar
From: Rich Kidd
I really enjoyed that. Quality was proportional to my distance from
the
stage, but when I got up close they were great. It was spoiled a bit
by
their guest onstage half the time, who sang, jumped up and down, did
some
shyte gymnastics over a metal-legged chair, then chucked it into the
audience. Fucking twat. Educated opinion has this as being Michael
Clark.
Songs: started with He Pep, Lie Dream, 10 Houses, Jungle Rock (sounded
great this, compared to the album) - after this Konrad's keeping count
Stefan - plus Masquerade, Hurricane, Mummy, Spencer, Ol Gang (brill),
Levitate, M5, Behind The Counter(?), New Big Prinz (audience singalong),
one newie which combined words from Recipe For Fascism and Quartet
of Doc
Shanley.
Band: Smith, Nagle, Crooks, Hanley, Burns (looking increasingly like
a
refugee from the Dirty Dozen), Fucking Twat.
Fuckfaces: diw, mel (who hopefully had a very happy birthday, with Stewart
Lee and MES in the same building), Konrad, Gez, Graham, Mikey, Alan,
Tony,
Aengus, Colm, Raf, Kate, David K, Ash, Neil, michael,
Only downsides: far too much handing of the mike out for audience members
to bellow down, Tommy's mike virtually went to live in the crowd after
half
way through; the Fucking Twat; no Crack House; no Lucy.
Upsides: T-shirt for Arjan, and an IRS LatWT for me.
The Fall play London Forum on Friday 5th December (promoted by Mean
Fiddler
- you'll never work again!)
Rich, thank you and goodnight
From: Alan McBride
highs
- big prinz is brought back, awesome
- smith's six costume changes :-)
- smith giving the mike to a skinhead in the audience, patting
him on the
head, and the slaphead then singing some totally different song over
the big
prinz riff - sounded great
- passably good renditions of m5, hurricane
- great renditions of ol gang, jungle rock and a version of recipie
- tommy's guitar sounded better, lower in the mix, less improv'ing
- three encores
- most vocal audience I've ever seen at a fall gig, in terms
of shouting
and cheering for them to do encores
- forum gig flyers!
- word is there's gigs in glasgow, edinburgh and manchester coming
up, plus
more to come!
lows
- no computers, less programmed stuff
- tiresome audience mike exploits
- michael clark (?) chucking a rather heavy chair with metal
legs at the
audience (anyone hurt?)
- burns looking ill - hope he's ok
- no crackhouse
smith's costume changes...
1) dark navy slacks, semi-transparent black shirt with sleeves
buttoned at
wrist, aqua-marine t-shirt over the shirt
2) lost the t-shirt, wears only the see-through shirt (mel faints
at this
point)
3) comes back on stage having lost the shirt, pulling on a beigh
v-neck
pullover with nothing underneath (disturbing protracted view of smit's
midriff during this)
4) as above but with jacket over the top
5) pullover and jacket gone, dark blue-black shirt in its place
6) as above but with jacket
............
the fall's latest london gig was undoubtedly a coded warning to fallnet.
It was a pretty good gig by most people's estimation, and I really enjoyed
it too, but on balance it was a disappointment to me after the last
batch.
As you note below, Clark's arsing about and the excessive audience
backing
vocals brought it down a few pegs. Also a lot of great songs
were notable
by their absence - no crackhouse, powder keg, cheetham hill.
Very poor
rendition of counter.
But despite that, it was great :-)
> Educated opinion has this as being Michael Clark.
Yeah. Funny start to the gig. Out comes Karl first, closely
followed by
Tommy and Julia. After quite a pause, Steve comes out to a massive
cheer,
which he smiles embarrassedly at and acknowledges with a nod and a
wave.
Not unusually, no Smith. Band launch into PEP and eventually
out comes
this youngish looking guy who looked a bit familiar. He does
a pretty lame
attempt at singing the chorus of 'you PEP'. For a horrible moment
I thought
'they've finally done it - they've finally replaced the vocalist!'.
But
eventually out came Smith and finished off the track.
So this guy's still hanging around either on stage or just off-stage.
For a
couple of tracks he's standing there holding a chair up in the air,
making
like some sort of human sculpture, lots of attitude. Looked pretty
lame.
Then eventually during another track Smith goes off stage again,
and out
comes this guy with his chair (he's in a t-shirt at this point, with
something like 'i'm a movement' written on the back). He puts
the chair on
the stage and starts doing these semi-dance-like poses, lying balanced
on
the chair and stuff. Then at some point he chucks the chair into
the
audience (not clever, since it had metal legs and was quite heavy).
Dunno
if it hurt anyone, but when it was chucked back it skulled someone
at the
front.
It was a while later that someone suggested it was Clark and I'm inclined
to
think it was because it looked like Clark would look if he put on a
bit of
weight. He certainly had Clark's cheeky grin. And the dance
stuff, the
poses, the logo on the shirt. If it's Clark, it's a shame to
see he can be
an asshole. Would certainly explain the nagging recognition I
felt when I
first saw him.
And apparently there are to be gigs in glasgow, edinburgh, manchester
plus
more to be added.
From: Graham Coleman
Oh dear oh dear. I don't feel very well. Were The Fall any good? I seem
to
have forgotten. I lost my watch in the 'melee' at the front and am
very upset.
Personal reasons. Don't suppose anyone found one... no.
Saw MES outside the venue. He really is quite short. Taller then me
obviously
but shorter then he used to be I'm sure.
Graham, really not well at all.
From: "Beeho, Steve"
Didn't get to Dingwalls until 9.15 so hooking up with everybody was
out
of the question - ho hum.
Yeah, that smug git was Michael Clark. What a shame the whole audience
didn't storm the stage after he lobbed that chair and beat him into
a
FUCKING PULP. Arsehole.
Thought overall they were pretty decent although MES and to a lesser
extent the rest of them only hit full throttle during the encores.
Pity
they didn't proceed to play the whole set all over again!
Levitate and 10 Houses sounded much more muscular than the album
versions - Hurricane on the other hand was a bit of a snoozer. It does
seem mildly perverse to stick to just a one guitar line-up - when Julia
strapped hers on as well the difference was immense.
PS Just for the record, they also did Idiot Joy Showland.....
----------
From: Lukey
He Pep
Lie Dream
10 houses
Jungle rock
Hurricane Edward
Levitate
Behind the counter
Recipe for Doc Shanley (see earlier posts)
Idiot joy showland
Masquerade
I'm a mummy
------------------------
?? * (we now reckon this was Spencer)
Ol' Gang
------------------------
M5
------------------------
Big New Prinz
Personally, didn't think it was one of their better efforts. If I didn't
love them so much, they'd be appalling.
PS Paul and I effected the "Pagnell cutlery heist" on the way back this
morning.
From: "Mike Jones"
> Yeah, that smug git was Michael Clark. What a shame the whole audience
> didn't storm the stage after he lobbed that chair and beat him into
a
> FUCKING PULP. Arsehole.
Yep gotta agree there. The chair landed safely into the
crowd, but
caught the back of two girls heads on it flightly return. Areshole
Confirmed.
Lie Dream sounded good. Nice whirley Julia keyboard, but still not
reaching that naff old riley sound :)
Mikey.
Highlight; Bumped into Tommy pre-gig and had a little chat.
Apparently band had encountered travelling problems (6 crashes on the
M6 causing delays).
From: Graham Coleman
re: Michael Clark
Didn't dance much for a dancer, did he. Waste of space.
re: fashion correspondent Alan McBride... very observant. Were you taking
notes?!
From: David Kettle
>Last night's gig sounds a strange one - I don't approve of this
>handing the microphone to the crowd malarkey. If I wanted to
hear
>some pissed twat shouting nonsense into the mike, I'd errmmm, ah
>forget it.
Speaking as one of the pissed twats to whom the microphone was passed
(managed little more than a very brief wowowowowowo from Bald Headed
Men) I find I don't resent this. Of course pissed twats should be restrained
from ventilating their foolishness. On the other hand, if you can't
get
a little wild at Fall gigs when on earth can you? Standing at a distance,
considering critically and objectively the nuances of performance with
a sober and earnest detatchment is all very well for those who manage
to attend Fall gigs regularly, but those of us who dip in only occasionally
are apt to get a little more excited. And of course there's the added
bonus
of flirting with the frisson of danger provided by flying furniture.
The pillock in question seemed to me to be M. Clark and I enquired
of
my neighbour if it was indeed the man. He seemed to think it was too.
In addition, I was vouchsafed an excellent view of the Smith footware,
mention of which was missing from the clothing review. A fine pair
of
brouges, hard toed and black. Not the shoes of a weak man.
Anyway, great night, and good to meet some of you fuckers.
******************************************
From: Richard Kidd
From my position off to the left, it looked a bit grim at the front
- people
were getting crushed face down on the stage itself. I was getting a
bit
worried as the single security guy was only bothered about the mike.
Nice
to see Roddy McDowell picking up a bit of extra cash roadying n'all.
Smith was smiling a lot, with loads of fiddling with Julia's keyboards,
Tommy's guitar and hitting the drums and cymbals with his mike. The
mike
stand only got taken for a walk once, when MES escorted it backstage
to
stop people grabbing it. Steve kept whispering stuff to Tommy - towards
the end they almost did a Shads-type guitar move.
Cut-outs present were Stve and M.ET.S, languishing still in my pocket
I'm
afraid
From: Neil Saunders
As a social event, great. As a Fall gig, personally I've seen a lot
better. In fact, probably the 2nd worst I've seen them, the worst being
the Edinburgh festival tent a few years back. Anyway...
Getting there
Now I remember why I usually go to these things hours early-it's because
if I try to arrive "on time", I get the full joy of the West London
rush-hour. I'd forgotten the thrill of hitting Hillingdon and thinking
"nearly there!" only to be 5 miles outside Shepherds Bush an hour later.
Humph. Anyway, after descending into the living hell that is the Northern
Line, I finally emerged in Camden and got lost for a bit. Camden always
has this effect on me. Furthermore, no-one else in Camden seems to
know
where anywhere else is, even though it's really small. Eventually I
took
the only road outside the tube exit I hadn't tried and discovered that
Dingwalls is bloody easy to find and is about 100 metres down the road.
Humph again. Reassured by pint of Guiness and pleasingly large number
of
ff's.
The gig
Normally I'm to be found in the crush at these things, but the floor
was
pretty packed by the time I got back from the bar (not a bad venue,
but a
bit barrier-strewn and disturbing 33% increase in drink prices between
the
upper and lower bars...), so I stayed at the back. Whether this
contributed to my relative lack of enthusiasm I don't know; the sound
was
certainly better from the side when I popped to the loo (an experience
in
itself), but I don't think so. MES seemed to be lacking his usual
attitude, or perhaps was just in unusually good humour? He seemed to
be
bent double over the mike much of the time in an odd, leering sort
of way,
as if a tad pissed perhaps?
To be honest, I found the gig much like the new album-a few high points,
but nothing that leapt out at me. "Ol' Gang " was pretty good, "Idiot
Joy
Showland" was pretty good too, but a lot of it was programmed stuff
with
occasional vocal interludes. And whoever the twat with the chair was,
someone should've had him. The bizarre hybrid that we christened "Ol'
Jungle Rock" was interesting though. I thought the New Big Prinz was
one
of the lamest ones I've heard of late. Anyway, everyone else has covered
set lists, costume changes etc., nothing to add there.
The way home
Saved from the rigours of tube and bus by Ash, we embarked on a magical
mystery tour of London for a while. It was a bit like a live action
version of Monopoly at one point, as we whizzed past Baker St and
Marylebone Rd ("I'll have a hotel there please"). Somewhere along the
way
it occurred to me that Levitate (the track) reminds me very strongly
of
something else; after a lot of thought I figured it was "Set Me Free"
by
The Kinks, just the bit where the pitch of the vocals drops abruptly
(as
in the "if I can't have you to myself" bit of Set Me Free...well, never
mind). In the cold light of day I've decided this is a superficial
similarity and it reminds me more of something else, that I haven't
pinpointed yet. Anyone?
So that's that. As I say, a great social event, good to see so many
of us,
but not one of the greater gigs for me, and so far, not one of the
greater
albums either. It hasn't struck me in the way LUS did first off. Oh
dear,
I'm a bit concerned. As Konrad said at one point "if I didn't love
them so
much, this would be appalling".
Neil, making for the front at the Forum
From: "David I. Williams"
I thought they did Spencer towards the end, but I may be getting confused
with
the Levitate tape in Ash's car.
Other observations:
MES strapping on Julia's guitar - Julia not looking too happy about
this.
Michael Clark - yes it definitely was him; I didn't really object to
his
presence (chair chucking aside), except that the stage was a bit cramped.
Tommy was almost in Steve's pocket - nice subconcious Shads movement
toward
the end made me chuckle, though.
I'm A Mummy kicked!
Karl was excellent, good to have him back; personally I thought his
more
rustic style worked well on this material and was a nice contrast to
Simon's
more precise and compact style. I suspect some of the programming was
dropped
because Karl can't cope with a rigid drum pattern, although 10 Houses
didn't
sound too bad.
Come to think of it, this line-up complement one another nicely.
Overall, I really enjoyed it - I don't really like to see neat &
tidy,
polished performances; I like the rough edges, and that's what we got
- 8.5/10
Good to put more (fuck) faces to familiar names, too.
diw
From: "Mel O'Reilly"
Thanks to meeting Stewart Lee I now have no friends left at school..(not
that I'm saying it's his fault)..let's just say they were very _very_
unhappy and the words 'fucking' and 'cow' featured rather a lot in
most
of our conversations. No, seriously. Apparently I 'shouldn't go to
all
these bloody gigs, why don't you just f*** off and go back to all of
your celebrity friends...' Shit...
The gig was good though weren't it? Despite the fact that I could only
very rarely see MES and only noticed 3, possibly 4 costume changes.
From
where I was right at the back he looked alright though, maybe I should
stay at the back. Will be at forum and other dates by hook or by crook,
to see if these costume changes are going to be a regular feature.
Gez
wants to get one of his pics printed backwards to give to me so that
it
will be MES unbuttoning rather than buttoning his shirt...thanks Gez.
I
didn't faint, but did feel rather ill at intervals, probably the fact
of
Stewart Lee and MES being at such close proximity making me far too
excited.
I noticed _the_ shirt while he was still wearing that blue t-shirt,
and
shouted loudly at konrad who unfortunately appeared confused and
disorientated. ;-) I think I saw a bit when the T-shirt came off but
not
a lot (this is really boring isn't it), then thought he wasn't wearing
anything at all when he was wearing that odd beigy top, then went down
the side and thought it wasn't the same top at all, and so on. At one
point he hadn't even buttoned up his shirt to come onstage and was
a bit
caught out when he realised....I could go on and on for hours but I
won't.
Stewart Lee was very nice to me after Konrad collared him and forced
him
to talk to me. He said that Mark is 'a very sexy man' (after I had
gone
on about the shirt), in a pseud sarcastic way. He said that Levitate
was
a lot weirder than the last couple of albums, and that he found it
very
exciting, almost like a new beginning for the band (dunno how much
is
true/false/pissedness), he was enjoying the gig, told me to take lots
of
photo's of the band before they buggered off, introduced me to Simon
Munnery AKA Alan Parker who has a mad haircut. He also said that he
wasn't sure whether his excitement was like a 'race memory' of being
15
and seeing them and getting really excited, or genuine excitement.
He
asked how many times I'd seen em, I said 8, he said he'd only ever
been
to 8 gigs in 15 years!!! He'll be at Forum on Dec 5. What a nice bloke.
better go before this develops into a full-scale essay.
mel, famous
From: Gerard Wood
I return. As expected, the gig's been pretty much covered, so I won't
blether on too much about it.
For the first time ever, I decided to take a camera to a gig. All ff's
present in the bar were captured in some form, although the flash played
up
a bit. For the gig, I too was caught at the back, and the sound was
pretty
dreadful - I was convinced that half of Karl's drumming from coming
from
some backing tape or something. Rich told me more than once that I
should
fight my way to the front, cos the sound was much better.
So I did. Didn't really have to fight, just pushed through the
photographers at the side and got an A1 spot behind the right-hand
stack at
the mixer, standing directly behind Julia's keyboard, and (unfortunately)
v. close to Mr Twat Clark. Stacks of close up pictures taken, including
a
fine full length shot of MES "improvising" with Julia's kbd. Think
al might
have missed a costume change - I'm pretty sure there was a very short-lived
white shirt during the encores as well. I think I've took a photo of
MES in
it.
Anyway, agreed that the sound was far better down the front - "Ol' Gang",
a
song I'm not the biggest fan of on 'Levitate', was a stormer. From
close
up, I thought Karl looked pretty much OK, if a bit knackered by the
end.
Certainly laying into his kit well at the end of "Prinz".
Biggest disaster - gig finished, and found that my camera had jammed
at 12
frames - about the point where the gig started. ARSE! However,
disaster
may have been averted - looks like either 1) the film never loaded
properly
and NO photos were taken, or 2) film loaded OK, full set of photos
taken
and the film wound itself back into the canister. Think it was
the latter
- all revealed tomorrow. If successful, a web page will appear at some
point documenting the FallNet Big Night Out.
Finally, ta very much to Ash for the eventful lift home. Noticed the
cops
went speeding after you again after you dropped me off - hope they
didn't
catch any criminals....
Gez
From: David John
Just back from London after the gig. Got in halfway through Free Range.
At
the time they were sounding like Run Rig, but they got better.
The microphone hogging by the audience started before the band came
on as a
girl used it to shout "Hurry up" after nothing happened after the intro
tape finished the first time it was played.
The sound man apparently had a good mix at the right side of the stage,
but
where I was the guitar disappeared at times (notably missing during
Mummy
and Big New Prinz). Mark E. at one stage strapped on Julia's
guitar,
unfortunately the results were not audible, and also cut out the keyboards
out.
The track listed as "?? *" in the set list was not Inch and did not
sound
like an introduction to Ol Gang as it was slower and it stopped. It
was
possibly Spencer.
Dave, Carina & 2 others, front right, two steps back
From: "M.Flack -Michael Flack"
Got waylaid in World's End so didn't meet many of you I'm afraid.
I really enjoyed the gig actually. I'm sure the twat was Michael
Clark, and
yes, there's no doubt that throwing the chair was a bad idea.
I also
thought they'd replaced the vocalist when he first came on. The
day may yet
come though.
I was stood over by Steve and Tommy at the side of the stage.
The black
shirts were a bit gruesome, esp. Tommy's. What struck me about
this gig was
that they all looked a lot happier and more together than they had
in M/cr,
and Tommy seems to have fitted in, despite his more peripheral role
than the
guitarist would normally get. Burns always fits in, didn't notice
any
problems with the more dancey stuff, but then they never sound particularly
dancey live. They just sound like The Fall. Mummy was slower
than the
record, more like the original.
The set was a bit short, I thought. But they started late, perhaps
due to
traffic.
Great bit halfway through one of the songs (can't remember which one),
where
Mark went over and picked up Julia's guitar and tried to play it.
As usual
nothing happened and she had to lean across and tell him to try plugging
it
in. He still couldn't get it to make a noise - I think she must
have some
kind of security device on it. He struggled with it for the duration
of the
song and for some seconds afterwards, finally giving it up and putting
it
down with a gappy grin. Later he picked up an electric fan Karl
was using
to keep cool, and laid it on top of one of the drums.
Finally, Recipe for Fascism (on the bonus CD) - he mentions Fallnet,
seems
to be commenting on the lack of FallCon!
> - smith giving the mike to a skinhead in the audience, patting him
on the
>head, and the slaphead then singing some totally different song over
the
big
>prinz riff - sounded great
Was that the guy who sang "Honeybunch" and "I Do Like To Be Beside The
Seaside" (this last was FallNetCom a few months ago, I recall)?
Anyone
here?
By the way, Burns was great, possibly the only guy who could replace
Simon
W.
michael,
From: Ash
After picking up Mel (forgot to mention; you looked stunning, Mel!)an
needlessly epic journey passing through every London borough except
Camden, (our collective sense of direction as unreliable as a blind
dog). More by luck than judgement we finally arrived later than planned
at Dingwalls. Met with Id and picked up (what later transpired to be
much sought after) ticket. Quick chat with Gez (Official Kovin
Photographer), who pointed out various fallnetters (only surprise was
Vlad - who i had pictured as a stocky rugged fellow possibly resembling
Dennis the Menace but was nothing of the sort) and a brief 'camel hair
coat' discussion with R Kidd, but (not unsurprisingly) he knew not
of
what i spake. Had the pleasure of meeting stve (a black&white 4
1/2 inch
cut out but still a little intimidating) before he was put back into
Rich's top pocket, for safekeeping.
While mulling over the un-themed decor of Dingwalls (lobster pots,
oars,
cups and plates, bicycle, rope and other seemingly unconnected wall
adornments) with Neil, saw the welcome arrival of the most amicable
MikeyJ & K, followed by a mass Fallnet exodus from the bar to venue
below.
The support (Free Range) were pretty standard stuff and already playing
on arrival, during which Rich and i lifted two Levitate cover posters
from wall, (the quality of which makes me wonder if they were *meant*
to
be be taken) and Rich in most gentlemanly fashion handed his to Mel.
Then down toward the front of the stage with Mike + K to await the
appearnce of the mighty Fall.
While waiting had a perplexing conversation with a local who was only
there because "my mate's a bouncer..". When asked if he was into music
he answered 'Oasis' and then, when having his view everso partially
obscured by a tall bloke, spouted some bile about tall people being
made
to stand at the back. (he didn't get what i said about the problem
of
measuring everyone and then allocating them into lanes according to
height, or the idea that the tall bloke wasn't tall at all, merely
that
we were all just short).
Tommy, the inimitable Mr Hanley, the vury sexy Ms Nagle, and not vury
sexy K Burns finally happened uponstage and launched into He Pep! and
shortly after our man Smith joined in the fun.
The odd combination of black semi-transparent shirt 'neath a short
sleeved sky blue jumper (Fila, i believe) made him look like someone
who
not only has little dress sense but also shops at charity outlets,
or
had just simply got up and dressed in a mild confusion. But the clothing
debacle gradually lessened via a beige top - to just shirt - to what
appeared to be a bathrobe (clutched shut by knarled hand for most of
the
time) for the last encore. i got the feeling the feeling that all the
changing was somehow a statement of some sort. ANti-fashion? i don't
know. i don't think so.
The music was always pure Fall in it's coarse and delicious form and
MES
in his usual fascinating style made the whole thing even better.
Personal high points; Big New Prinz - fantastic. Ol' gang - better
than
cd. i'm a mummy - great fun.
A point or two. What the f*ck was "not just a skin - ... a movement"
t-
shirt man was at, i've no idea. Throwing a chair into an audience has
got to be one of his less bright ideas, (attempting to 'sing-a-long'
being the second). The inevitable conclusion being that it was thrown
back at him and taking skin and hair from anyone between collective
thrower and throwee. Twat. Also, MES seemed to take offence at his
'mincing about' during ol'gang behind him, as he was happily banging
away on the top end of Julia's keyboard. With Twat *dancing* closer
and
closer he reacted like a cat that had marzipan to eat instead of
Whiskas. Distaste.
It's a mystery to me why he took up any stage-space at all, he didn't
do
anything except dance, a bit, and perform some strange chair acrobatics.
If i had mes's ear for two mins i'd suggest that he gigs in Iceland
and
then leave the dang fool there.
Encore's galore. Even though i thought the Oxford and the Forum was
a
much better performance by them all, the crowd really seemed to enjoy
this show. The fact that crowd more than usual pissed probably had
nothing to do with it.
The end of the last encore saw some other poor drunken fool leap onstage
crashing into Tom and Steve's guitars and equipment who was eventually
'helped' offstage by concerned security.
After a most enjoyable gig we all made our ways home to contemplate
the
eveninks entertainment and grab a kebab.
i taped the gig on my didliophone but listening to it today it's come
out pretty shyte. There was a bloke with a much better one (it had
flashing lights and a pretty led display) doing some taping so if you'd
like a copy i'd suggest getting hold of him. (no, i've no idea who
it
was)
All in all, i enjoyed it. The music was good, the venue ok, and the
company more than interesting. Thanks to Id once again for the ticket
(still owe you two Id), and thanks to Mel for being a delightful
passenger on the (overly complicated) journey up. Hope all that made
it
enjoyed it as much as i did and hope that one day all you usff's will
one day experience that what is a Fall gig.
\sh, crap at this, better at short things
From: Alan McBride
> MES strapping on Julia's guitar - Julia not looking too happy about this.
There was another point where Julia was visibly irritated with MES.
During
ol gang she had to twiddle with knobs so she stopped the keyboard riff
for a
few bars, and MES came over and angrily bashed the keys as if to say
'get
back where you belong', which she did sharpish but with an icy stare
in his
direction. Somethin tells me she's not to be messed (MESsed)
with.
alan
From: David Kettle
>MES strapping on Julia's guitar - Julia not looking too happy about
this.
>Michael Clark - yes it definitely was him;
Well, according to the missus, it definitely wasn't. And I'd have
staked my reputation that it was. Young Kim is/was a pro dancer
and informed me with a high degree of conviction that it couldn't
have been M. Clarke because,
a: the man in question was far too fat.
b: he didn't have the posture of a dancer. Whatever that may mean.
c: it just wasn't him.
I don't know. It seemed to me that he *was* a bit ungainly in his
movements, whereas the real M. Clark is more feline and writhing.
Perhaps some ringer, to add to the maelstrom of confusion.
******************************************
And, kindly sent in by Paul Wilson:
By gum, it's Mr Grumpy (The Guardian 22 September 1997)
He's getting old and his teeth are falling out, but The Fall's Mark
E.
Smith is as fresh as ever, says Caroline Sullivan
Mark E Smith could grump for England, but he has his lighter moments.
Take
the time two weeks ago, when he was visiting the Notting Hill office
of his
publicist. He was in customarily dour spirits until he spotted a crane
parked next to the building, its operator at the top repairing its
scaffolding He entered the empty cab and spent the next few minutes
gleefully raising and lowering the hapless operator. Mark E Smith is
39.
Last week, he recalled the incident with the faintest shadow of a smile.
"I
don't like this new breed of modern workman. Always strutting around
with
their cranes, going up and down like that," he propounds, slumped in
a
Manchester pub.
Since forming The Fall - the band that arguably launched indie music
-
Smith has been pop's voice of Northern bile. This year the group celebrate
their 20th anniversary; and he's more cantankerous than even He is
not
appeased by the fact that the Fall are DJ John Peel's all-time favourite
band, or that they are passionately admired by anyone who was at university
in the eighties. He's still Disgusted of Salford, much keener to rail
at
his bugbears than discuss the band's new album.
Levitate is their 27th release, and falls into the same stylistic
parameters as its many predecessors. The one constant has been Smith's
aggrieved shouting, as he vents his spleen about love, injustice and
the
price of cauliflower. The music has veered from classic indie-guitar
in the
early days, to a light industrial, middle period, and, in recently,
to the
dance-inspired. The versatility reflects not only the number of people
who've passed through the band - well into double figures - but also
Smith's febrile creativity.
"Levitate is a good one for devotees to pick over,' says Peel. "It's
full
of weird gurglings, and some songs are just him repeating the title
over
and over.' It also contains the band's first stab at surf music in
the
track I Am A Mummy and, as ever, Smith's sly wit and considerable
intelligence.
Congratulate him on it, though, and he mumbles, "We want to break away
from
the typical perception of The Fall. I want a cleaner, sparser sound
with no
guitars, but the people who book you want the classic Fall- with-guitars.
That was the problem when Brix left." Brix, his guitarist ex-wife,
left him
and the group for Nigel Kennedy years ago, but Smith is referring to
their
most recent tour; having rejoined the Fall temporarily, Brix left midway
through, enraging Smith.
Out-stare the blankness that accompanies this fact and Smith finally,
almost, breaks into a smile. He reveals grey-brown teeth studded with
gaps.
Then you find he carries in his pocket a false tooth - which he can
slip in
to one of the holes. It doesn't make an appreciable difference. Both
teeth
and face are worn for a man not yet 40, but then, Mark E (it stands
for
Edward) is a champion drinker, smoker and carnivore.
"I don't eat vegetables," he proudly claims. "Vegetarians are why music
is
so wimpy today. And I have a lot of problems with them. You can smell
vegetarians." (A few hours later he puts his money where his mouth
is,
bolting down spare ribs and sweet and sour chicken with utter disregard
for
cutlery. He stops only to breathe and curse record firms that release
substandard Fall compilations.)
Smith's features embody his personality, every Jack Duckworthesque crevice
conjuring up a North thathardly exists today even on Coronation Street.
He
looks like Morrissey and the Gallaghers would have if they'd stayed
in
Manchester rather than gone to Spain and London. It can only be a matter
of
time before the city council - which, mysteriously; he loathes - gives
him
landmark status.
Nonetheless, he hates ingratiation. When an NME writer recently tried
to
compliment him, he responded by throwing the hack's notebook in a lake.
With Peel, though, there's mutual respect. "The few times our paths
have
crossed, we've said hello and punched each other in a manly fashion,"
says
Peel.
So, given their unremarkable record sales (their biggest hit, a cover
version of R Dean Taylor's There's A Ghost In My House, reached 30),
to
what does Smith ascribe The Fall's longevity? "We can play anywhere,
any
time," he says. "We can lock in to the prevailing feeling anywhere,
and we
don't do all our hits, either; which is why we don't get to do festivals."
We've now moved on - Smith, keyboardist Julia Nagle, the press officer;
me
- to a sleek theme pub near Chinatown. Smith strikes a light and a
waitress
cruises up. "This is a no-smoking area, but you can smoke over there,"
she
says politely. His face curdles. "Its all right, we're leaving."
Later he says: "You should be able to do anything you like onstage.
Gorilla
noises...its no one's business."
Th BBC recently roused his ire by asking him to do a retrospective
documentary. "I hate all that retro shit, especially when you reach
our
age. We got asked to do this three-day punk festival in Blackpool."
You can
probably imagine his face as he speaks. "Those nostalgia bands, those
X-Ray
Spex bands, they're putting people out of work." Well, that's a unique
perspective. "It's cheaper to hire old people for 50 quid a time than
young
bands,' he emphasises.
The Fall were never really punk anyway, sharing with that movement only
a
desire to release records without going through traditional channels.
He'd
have little to say to fellow Mancunians The Buzzocks, who now make
a
living on the revival circuit. That said, he'd have even less to say
to his
former keyboardist Marc "Lard" Riley, who's become far more famous
in a few
months on Radio 1 than Smith has done in his entire life. Is he amused
by
Riley's renowned northern wit? "He only made me laugh when he played.
I
used to hope he'd become successful so he'd go away."
We're interrupted as an elderly drunk slides into the spare chair "Is
this
Manchester?" he pleads. Smith's reply is just as compassionate as you'd
expect. "Of course it's fooking Manchester. Are you daft?" Godlike.
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