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Feb. 27: Mark's had an accident and has fractured his hip.

Birmingham and Liverpool have been rescheduled for April 1 and 3 respectively. No word yet on the Middlesborough, Scarborough, York, or Bristol gigs. The US tour will go ahead as scheduled.

Our very best wishes to Mark for a full and speedy recovery.

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The Fall play ...

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The Lovers (with Steve and Paul Hanley) have some UK gigs coming up:

1 APRIL 2004
The Witchwood Old Street Ashton Under Lyne.
Time: 9.00
Tel: 01613440321

30 APRIL 2004
WA1 Venue Bar. Warrington
Time: 9.00
Tel: 07952624825

1 MAY 2004
Coventry, Coliseum
Time: 10.00
Tel: 02476593247

7 MAY 2004
Doncaster Leopard Club
Time: 9.0
Tel: 01302363054

13 MAY 2004
The Cauliflower, Ilford Essex
Time: 9.00 email to cauliflowermusic@aol.com
Tel: 0208 478 0627

12 JUNE 2004
King Street Pub, King Street Accrington.
Time: 10
Tel: 07870573678

13 JUNE 2004
Leeds New Roscoe
Time: 9.00
Tel: 01132682184

30 JULY 2004
'Shetland Rocks' Festival, Lerwick, The Shetland Isles
Time: tba
Tel: 01595693474

31 JULY 2004
'Shetland Rocks' Festival, Lerwick, The Shetland Isles
Time: tba
Tel: 0159569347

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The Blue Orchids will be returning to the London stage on May 6, headlining at The Orchestra Pit, at the Arts Cafe on Commercial Road.

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Many thanks to Fallfandave for sending in this piece from City Life on Howard Devoto, who will perform "The Punk of Me" at the Bridgewater Hall thing on Saturday.

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Mark was interviewed a few weeks ago for "The Evening Sequence with Tom Robinson" on BBC 6FM. They played some old rockabilly and Can tracks as well as some Fall, and they hope to play the b-side of the next single.

The show will be broadcast on Wednesday, March 17 and runs from 7pm - 10pm GMT.

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Ian:

Fresh from their appearance on University Challenge, imagine my surprise when listening to BBC Radio 4's Round Britain Quiz to hear 'Why Are People Grudgeful?' ringing out (possibly their first appearance on the channel since Eat Y'rself Fitter on John Peel's Desert Island Discs).

The question was: Conjugate the following - 1) our group's track, 2) a passage from Elgar (sound also), 3) an unlovable dean of Christchurch, 4) an early disappointment for American husbands?

The answer was 1) (The) Fall, 2) (The) Fallen - a poem by Laurence Binyon set to music, 3) (Dr John) Fell, 4) (Niagara) Falls - a quote from Oscar Wilde.

The presenter Nick Clarke referred to them in the answer as "The eccentric and resolutely uncommercial punk band from Manchester, founded by Mark E Smith in 1977 and named after Camus' novel, La Chute. I should have told you that (i.e. the Camus bit), it might have helped you get it".

You may not be surprised to discover that although the team got elements 2,3 and 4 in the answer, they struggled somewhat on 1. Even having worked out the band must include the word 'fall' in the title, their best stab was 'Fall Guys'. Call themselves intelligent!

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Fall film being filmed in London now - volunteers! Documentary - we need hardcore Fall fans

Hello ! I know we're late with this but I hope we can have other fans join mr. John Peel in this film. It's at the Slug & Lettuce - function room in the basement.
Thursday Feb. 26th 10 AM - 1 PM
Friday Feb. 27th 10 AM - 1 PM

It will be about being a Fall fan - your personal story and a picture of the time 2000-2002 involving The Unutterable and Are you are missing winner.

The Slug and Lettuce (the function room in the basement)
5 Chicheley Street
London

250 meters from the London Eye

Reply to: larskjelras@hotmail.com or the phone number (0045) 6118 4287

Hope to see a lot of you

Cheers Marne and Lars Kjelfred

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The Dome, Morecambe, Feb. 18:

Essenceoftong:

just got back from morecambe and as i've got to be up for work at 5.00 it'll just be a quicky. decent turn out considering fun loving criminals had been sold out for weeks down the road in lancaster. john c.c. on first. ok even though most of his material washed up on the ark.. the fall: goodevening.... we are the fall.....open the box..... tracklisting the same as the dec tour shuffled around slightly .. NOTHING NEW.. still bloody good though, please release walk like a man A.S.A.P.. ben pulls more faces than anyone i've ever seen. dingo wishes he was in the clash (a compliment). mes seems sober and on form, doesn't even mess around til near the end and then not much. encore, sparta and prinz. bed time, night all.

boxoctosis / telephone thing / mountain energi / green eyed loco man / the joke / mr pharmacist / walk like a man / middlemass / bourgeois town / janet vs johnny / mere pseud mag ed (aborted attempt - mes started mag ed whilst the band started playing sparta) / mere pseud mag ed // sparta / big new prinz

Essence kindly keyed in the following from a local Morcecambe paper:

proper review of the morecambe gig by michael gibson in the local paper "the visitor"
headline : MARK, IT'S FALL OR NOTHING WITH YOU MATE

there's this bloke on stage resembling a coach driver having a fag break. in his belt-less polyester mix, grey pants and tacky blue short-sleeved shirt he proceeds to utter incomprehensible ramblings into a microphone. i'm in awe.

for this is the fall - or really the maverick genius that is mark e. smith. for more than 25 years smith and over 40 other band members hired and fired , have provided us with the "northern white **** that talks back" - a potent mix of stupendous rhythms, some of the greatest lyrics since captain beefheart and the protestant work ethic of mr smith.

the result is inspirational music that most current pop (read pap) bands haven't even got the where-with-all to even dream about. smith's latest line-up is as tight and as well-drilled as trooping the colour. highlights included kicking off with the rocking open the boxoctosis, the hypnotic telephone thing - "how dare you assume i want to parlez-vous with you?" - and a stunning mr pharmacist that offered a glimpse into their sumptous back catalogue. they rounded off the evening with the glorious sparta fc and the tub-thumping bass banging big prinz.

yet it's hard to do justice to smith's incredible stage prescence, his casual toying with the audience and the sheer devilish arrogance of the man. as he plays around with the knobs on the guitarist's amps (much to their annoyance), jams his mike in the drum kit and plays random notes on the keyboards behind his back you can only grin.

he deserves to wind up his band, he's allowed to be unfashionable, he can afford to be arrogant because he's earned the right. awesome. ditto, too, the pipe-cleaner legged support supplied by john cooper clarke, who reminded us why we held him in such esteem in the 1980s. as well as his laugh-out-loud poems - some cracking new stuff in there as well as classics like "i married a monster from outer space" - his general patter was spot-on. he's been away from our tv screens too long and his repertoire would slot straight into one of the ubiquitous stand-up shows. if he can be bothered.

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The Brickyard, Carlisle, Feb. 19:

Mike:

Just a quick note to say how brilliant The Fall were at Carlisle last night. The band were really tight and Mark E was still his usual nonchalant self. You are in for a treat when you see them in Scotland. I'm not sure who will be supporting them but John Cooper Clarke was definitely on form last night (even though he turned up an hour late).

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Magnum Leisure Center, Irvine, Feb. 20:

Graham:

Just back from Irvine where we had an impromptu friends of Fallnet meetup.
Me and djbawbag bumped into Paul, acquaintance of Garry McIntyre if he's
still out there. Unfortunately the Fall pissed about a bit before coming
onstage so we missed the encore but the main set was pretty good. I will
review it properly soon but highlights for now were -

• the no roadie onstage policy which resulted in MES playing a permanent tangled game with multiple mics
• the spot on amp fiddling! Guitar turned up for pertinant bits and turned down too empahsise drums and bass at other pertinant bits
• a good mix of the old and new. Surprisingly good versions of Middlemass and Mere Pseud Mag Ed
• several dual mic vocal spots
• on the whole a good, punchy sounding band with completely focussed MES, as good as I've seen the Fall in the last 10 years
• stunning opener of Spectre vs Rector
• one of these statements being an obvious lie

djbawbag:

Open the Box / Telephone Thing / Mountain Energei / Green Eyed Loco Man / Sparta FC / Mr Pharmacist / Walk Like a Man / Middlemass / Janet +Johnny / I am Damo Suzuki / Mere Pseud Mag Ed / Contraflow

Had to leave before encores to catch last train. Good gig. Band tight and focused. Minimum of fannying about from Mark. Deeply strange venue. If you didn't fancy The Fall you could go to the leisure pool or the ice rink.

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Refrew Ferry, Glasgow, Feb. 21:

Bobby:

Just back......( and I'm very, very drunk...) long wait for the show to begin...Local band on eventually... alright I suppose but they overstayed their welcome. Sitar guy followed them, funny tomato hat. JCC up next, loads of one liners, would make a good stand up comedian. Then, The Fall.... (the playlist will be provided by better people than me). I reckon it was no different from the Irvine show (from what I've read).

The Renfrew Ferry is, (what it says on the tin), a ferry. Stage and dance-floor surrounded by a balcony,(where I perched for most of the night). A good venue I suppose, you could see the Clyde !!! But not dark and sweaty enough for my liking. That's what killed for me,too clean. This drunken ramble sounds like I never had a good time, I did. Infact ended up down the front and had the mic' passed to me by Mr Smith, for a singalong at the end of the show. Don't get me wrong it was a worthwhile experience, how often do you get to be in the presence of genius ?

The band were "tight", (a tad young looking, or is that me just me ?) and the crowd were up for it, but... In summary...WRONG PLACE, RIGHT BAND.

djbawbag:

Open the Box / Telephone thing / Mountain Energei / Green eyed Loco Man / Sparta / Mr Pharmacist / Walk Like a Man / Middlemass / Janet Johnny / The Joke / Mere Pseud Mag Ed / Contraflow // Big New Prinz / Dr Bucks Letter // White Lightning

Black Dog:

Hey fall fans out there - wot a show! Ok my first fall gig after 25 years of curious attraction to this unique band. I knew MES was special, but I was spellbound by him on stage. I had done my homework and listened to the new LP endlessly for weeks, and the tracks I have on my far from comprehensive fall collection that I knew were on the set list. Amazing. I awoke this morning and rushed downstairs to put on Dr Bucks (the final song last nite) ,or there abouts, but could not let it finish, I was stacking up the CDs to hear again Big New Prinz, Mr Pharmicist, Mountain Energei etc etc still reverberating in my head! I am still on a high... Better still my wife has always hated the fall (cant stand it when I put them on of an evening), but she came along. Raving about MES now - what a nutter..he can sing..WHO IS THIS GUY?.. yep she is hooked I can tell.. "says she is beginning to understand my obsession now..!

Cheap Cds from Action Recs on sale - great - I bought some stuff. The venue was brill (a ferry on the River Clyde)- JCC said we were going to up anchor and take this show to the USA tonite - we're goin Stateside! Finally, who was the guy in the strawberry hat who play sitar to a thumping bass? He was weird but wonderful. It all was... Cheers....Happy Days!!

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The Venue, Edinburgh, Feb. 22:

Colin:

Fucking great. For my own brand of Fall liking, the best since late 90 shows and as a band doing what they are doing, equal to any Fall I've seen. Not one fault for me. Wonderful.

No point me reviewing as I'm rubbish at it, but, one funny moment wa provided when MES went over the keyboards and just before his hand rested on a key, Mrs deftly swept it away. He came back a couple of minutes later and successfuly made a grab for them while she was working on the other one. She glared at him and reached over to turn his volume down to a decent level.. then went back to doing what she was doing after giving him a lovely sidewise glance. Ahhhhhhhh.

Toby:

I managed to get my hands on a spare ticket at zero hour, so went along on my own. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised - best and most focussed I've seen MES in a long long time - no slurring and vocals loud and audible. The band seem to get a good sound too, although these days with the Fall I always get the impression of MES + random session musicians.

The Herald:

NEIL COOPER February 24 2004

"Mark E Smith Presents The Fall," announce posters for what must be their millionth countrywide slog. After a quarter of a century, punk's greatest cabaret turn this side of John Lydon appears to have become not just compere of his own sideshow, but promoter, too. With new wife Elena on both keyboards and management duties, no wonder the latest line-up look like a bunch of terrified YTS lads doing their best so as not to upset the gaffer lest they get the sack.

For the time being, at least, they needn't worry. Because, coming hard on the heels of the umpteenth album, Country On The Click, this is the tightest, most relentless The Fall's uniquely luddite brand of chugging garage punkabilly has been for some time. And with fellow veteran John Cooper-Clarke as warm-up man, ricocheting well-worn one- liners off pop culture ephemera like a post-modern Bernard Manning, this really does feel like Mr Smith's old time revue of vaudevillian peculiars.

Ambling onstage 40 minutes late to the accompanying dirge of a solitary bass note, a sober-looking Smith sports a solitary leather glove à la Michael Jackson or Gene Vincent, a man who also toured himself into oblivion. New material is rattled through without a word alongside teasing snatches of old favourites and crowd-pleasing cover versions, Mr Pharmacist, White Lightning, and even, bizarrely, Divine's Walk Like A Man [sic]. Oddest of all is when, on the magnificent Glitter-beat encore of Big New Prinz, vocal duties are shared with a man whose suit, moustache and curly perm give him the air of a 1970s Eurovision runner-up. "Appreciate him," Elena snarls, and we give him a big hand, knowing he'll be back.

Punk John:

Met with Cheruba in the Black Bull before the gig, had a good chinwag but was unfortunately on the wagon so had to overdose on ginger beer. Toddled down the road to the Venue (sold out, I've never seen it so packed before) in time to see John Cooper Clarke. Very funny but decided to play a couple of crap rock 'n' roll songs at the end. Why?

The Fall were on cracking form. MES didn't do much amp-fiddling or even much turning-back-on-audience, he stood at the front of the stage and belted out the songs. Band were tight and solid. MES had a great stab at keyboard playing during Middle Mass.

The setlist was (in very vague order):

Open the Boxoctosis / Telephone Thing / Mountain Energei / Green Eyed Loco Man / Mr Pharmacist / Theme From Sparta FC / Middle Mass / Janet & Johnny / The Joke / Walk Like A Man / Mere Pseud Mag Ed / Contraflow // Big New Prinz / Dr Buck's Letter // White Lightning

My personal highlights were Sparta, Mere Pseud and Loco Man (how much better is the guitar-driven Peel/Live version than the electronic RNFLP version?). Nice to hear Big New Prinz again as well.

Turned out that one of my friends I met up with at the Venue used to work with Cheruba - uncanny! What a small wee world. Good night out!

George:

Well, I'm a recent convert to the band. I was asked along by a lady who had been a fan for years. I have to say that my expectations were lowish, but I was completely overwhelmed by them.

We had supper in The Basement, Broughton Street, toddled off for a drink in The Conan Doyle, before arriving at The Venue at 7.45. I was slightly pissed off that we had to wait until after 9 before Cooper Clarke hoved into view. He was very funny, reminded me of Mark Radcliffe, although he looks nothing like him.

The Fall came on about 10.30, opened with, what I thought was the highlight, 'Open The Box....', and never dropped the standard throughout the set. 'Walk Like A Man' was another highlight. Mark does have a talent for making songs his own, does he not.

After the gig, I was very high, and decided that my music collection would be bolstered by an album or 2. Having bought 4 on Monday, I am unsatisfied, and will be venturing into record stores tomorrow to buy a lot more.

Oh, and my current favourite is 'Ed's Babies'.

What a great band. It's always nice when your view of a band is absolutely shattered.

Edinburgh Evening News:

Heroes of punk era pure poetry

With two heroes of the punk era on the stage, you might be forgiven for thinking that this was a show for old-timers and nostalgia junkies.

But you'd be wrong, because the punk poetry of John Cooper Clark retains a freshness and energising youthfulness which belies the look of the man.

Stick thin and sporting a pair of pitch black sunglasses with casual coat and unruly hair, he looks like Ron Wood at a teddy boys' convention, yet speaks like a sharp pastiche of any end-of-the-pier comedian you care to lambast.

In the midst of the not-unexpected heckles, he kept his nerve with an assured delivery, the crowd-pleasing wife-jokes masking the true intelligence of his poetry.

Mark E Smith, on the other hand, is a man of very few words. As The Fall entered the stage to a hammering pre-recorded guitar riff and launched into a tightly co-ordinated (and loud) aural assault, his shambling presence - messing about with microphones and turning the guitar off - made him resemble some old jakey who's just there to annoy the band.

Then he sang in such assuredly distinctive tones that you remember he single-handedly IS The Fall - and that's why they'll be remembered as quite possibly the greatest indie band ever.

David Pollock

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The Lemon Tree, Aberdeen, Feb. 23:

Sunglasses Jon:

Here's how two London Fall fans saw the Aberdeen & Inverness gigs:

Slumped in a café in Kings Cross, Sunglasses Jon & Tim the Fish vowed to exit the capital, & track down The Fall's Enterprise tour van, recently seen in Preston, Blackburn, & other glamorous locations, to the Scottish Highlands. Fish, a veteran of Fall gigs across the UK for twenty years, prefers the atmosphere outside of London, & Sunglasses hadn't seen daylight for four months. The Plan was: no plan - & no tickets, which rapidly backfired at the packed Edinburgh venue. The nearest they got to the band was a wee blonde lass frantically searching the Black Rock Pub, complaining Mark Smith doesn't answer his mobile (!) The Monkey on the door (& the mysterious Manchester "Mr Big" MC) advised them to try the Cowgate instead, but that was bullshit.

Undeterred, they set off to Aberdeen, which proudly embraces the diversity of 14 cultures, but the only one found was darts, & paralytic ex-fishermen, in Clare's Bar, & the prehistoric Drift Inn at the Docks. Don't mention the Cod: it's Haddock, & Tattie Wedges, &, full on this repast, Sunglasses & Fish soon discovered the Van, complete with Road Atlas of Britain wedged in the dashboard, in a crumbling car park. The legend of The Fall didn't penetrate the nearby King's Arms, her patrons dumbly transfixed to a portable TV. Onwards: the first number, Box, introduced with gusto by guest vocalist (presumably, a member of the original band who did Walk Like a Man). This was as profesional as it gets: Green-Eyed, Sparta, Contraflow powered out with controlled force. Extended Contraflow, the drummer carrying the vocals as Mark slowly disappeared. Noisy encore, crowd fighting for the microphone as usual, probably still singing "he's not appreciated" when band were halfway to Inverness. The 500-strong Venue two-thirds full, enthusiastic; the band were tight, workmanlike, a lot of energy. Mark arrived wearing a glove, which he soon dispensed with, only for one to appear on the other hand towards the end - well, it was cold up there. Good to hear the Joke again, whatever anyone else says, it f-in rocks.

Open the Box / Telephone Thing / Mountain Energei / Middle Mass / Sparta / Mr Pharmacist / Green-Eyed / Janet vs. Johnny / Walk Like a Man / Mere Pseud Mag Ed / The Joke / Contraflow // Big New Prinz

Kev:

Never seen the Fall so far north,so off we set,a mate and myself,1,100 miles later and at home
it was all over.Had the pleasure of meeting Mes and some of the band and Jcc in Tescos in
Inverness.Aberdeen, good crowd if a little polite n quiet but appreciative.The sound and Mes's
voice were as clear as i've heard of late,all very pleasing.Similar set list as before, focused and kicked out the tunes...Inverness via a stone circle and Findhorn to turn up at the hotel to find Ben arguing the toss with the hotel staff,no room at the inn for you lads they said,over the road lads n lady,ace.Strange venue,a pole dancing stage in front of main stage.Much to our disappointment Mark never utilised the equipment.JCC had to battle against the noisy bar staff and a "beached whale in Inverness" who was screaming down her mobile front stage,fucking incredible.John put her right.Great gig by the Fall good sound , focused, similar set list,if not the same.Small audience 150@ one short encore and off.Bens face when Mes fucks with his amp,classic.Got a great tight sound going on here these boys n girl,long may it last.So,18 hours of driving,£100 in hotel rooms and 2 hours of the Fall,was it worth it? Fucking right it was,wife thinks i'm mad but i'm conscious of not developing a " goatish smell " ,keep the odour away Mark,cheers..........Kev

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Blue Nightclub, Inverness , Feb. 24:

Sunglasses Jon:

the Blue Rose Nightclub has a bizarre podium which occupies the front of the stage, & a maze of winding staircases & platforms, on which the 2-300 loosely congregated. John Cooper Clarke arrived, through clouds of incense & dope, uttering biblical prophecies to a sitar & tabula backing: memorable set, including the gritty Beasley Street, punctuated by "trip the fuck out" & "all I can hear is some fucking tart on the telephone". The Fall seemed to enjoy this gig more than the previous night, the crowd more vocal & provocative, locals stoned on E, but pretty funny. Longer set than Aberdeen: the band held a conference two-thirds of the way through & seemed to opt to stay on a bit. "The Germans never got in here" belted out vigorously, a menacing Way Round, & hypnotic & extended Mountain Energei. Usual keyboard tinkering in Mere Pseud. Mad Mock Goth relentless, reminiscent of And This Day, the band must lose half a stone doing this. The American (?), taking pictures of JCC prior to the Fall, returned for Walk Like a Man, encouraged by a smiling band, clambered onto the podium, & got the crowd pumping. White Lightning encore, ramshackle as ever, just makes you wanna get stuck into the moonshine. Overall, top gig, much better than bigger London venues

Open the Box / Telephone Thing / Mad Mock Goth / Green-Eyed/Middle Mass / Janet vs. Johnny / Walk Like a Man / Contraflow / Sparta / Mere Psued Mag Ed / Mr Pharmacist / Way Round / Mountain Energei / I Am Damo Suzuki // White Lightning

Kate:

Blue nightclub looked like an unlikely venue for a Fall gig, but has turned out to be my highlight.

We headed into the bar next door, "45" which is part of the same set-up, and expected to see a mass of fans in there building up for the main attraction, but no, there were two young guys eating a bag of chips. ....so much for pre-gig atmosphere!

As for the evening itself, JCC was really funny, and set up the crowd for another good night. He was accompanied by the sitar tomato-head man, and the bongo player as at previous gigs. He still looks like he hasn't eaten since 1980, but he can crack me up. Only spoiled by the cries of "Yee-hah" from the bloke on my right. After every joke and poem. Not funny.

Cue the mighty Fall! On he came in the same old get-up, and spent lots of time knob-twiddling much to everyone's annoyance. Much the same set as before, but the atmosphere was really great with lots of body-movin' and good vibes in general. Mrs Smith was as unmoved as MES was and managed not to crack a smile or say a word. In fact, the band were serious looking, and played like the possessed! It was excellent, only marred by the short one song encore, and despite shouting, whistling etc, that was our lot.

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Fat Sam's, Dundee, Feb. 25:

Alan:

Open The Boxoctosis / Telephone Thing / Green-Eyed Loco Man / Mod Mock Goth / Middle Mass / Walk Like A Man / Way Round / Mountain Energie / I Am Damo Suzuki / Mr. Pharmacist / Theme From Sparta F.C. / Janet, Johnny & James / Mere Pseud Mag Ed / Contraflow // ....and the fastest ever White Lightning as the solitary encore

I would say it was the largest ever crowd for a Dundee gig by The Fall and Ben and Dave in
particular were on outstanding form.

Kate:

Expecting great things after hearing that it was going to be busy. Unfortunately it wasn't as good as the previous night for me at least. The crowd were doing the cool standing about thing and it didn't feel as good. I was pretty much on my own with the dancing thing....... until "the hits" then it got a bit mad at the front, but in that special controlled Dundee way.

No sitar or bongos for JCC tonight, but he was on great form with some new anecdotes, which were cracking him up so much he couldn't get them out. At least I knew he'd eaten as he said they'd managed to steal Mark's pork pies!!

I managed to get a smile out of Mrs Smith when I laughed at the faces of the band who seemed to be amused & exasperated, but resigned to the persistent knob twiddling. Nothing changes. Hey, they all seemed to be having a good time, and were pretty damned tight again so I can't complain.

Just a quick word about the merchandise - I'm chuffed as they have t-shirts for small people, and the cds are good value too.

Paul Fox, from the Tangents website:

24 Days with a Broken Heart

This has got to stop. I've got to sort out my head, life, expectations. As if such intentions weren't a recipe for never achieving any such thing, and in any case in direct opposition to the Code of the Flaming Lips (live life for the moment, dress up as a dolphin). Because here I am for the second time this year at such a great gig, having it semi-destroyed feeling a wilderness for you and me punctuated by. philosophy? Denial and awkwardness, more like. This time it's The Fall, returning to Dundee after a few years, in fact plastering most of the city with large fluorescent yellow posters proclaiming that Mark E. Smith is presenting THE FALL on 25th February, supported by the very special guest JOHN COOPER CLARKE. THE FALL in huge type, each poster accompanied by another underneath proclaiming exactly the same thing, like it's actually The Fall of Man which is coming and there's no escape.

The last time The Fall played here was bloody ace. So ace, it constitutes one of the two anecdotes I've been supplied with in this life. Whilst the one about my old flatmate getting Hallowe'en mixed up with a Remembrance Day and going to a televised ceremony dressed as a vampire is always going to be pretty hard to beat, the one about The Fall isn't bad either. This was around the time 'Touch Sensitive' was out, and they played a tiny place I've not been to before or since. A world cup was on, I think, so maybe the band were annoyed about having to wait for a match to finish before they could come on. In any event, they played a 20 minute set (the first 5 of which was the 'Touch Sensitive' riff with no Mark E. Smith in sight) and stalked off. They condescended to do one encore, and their mood must've lightened, because a second looked as though it was in the offing. The band came out without Mark again, and cranked up 'Big New Prinz', to the unspeakable excitement of all present. It was more than one fan could take to hear the song without the singing, and a few minutes in, just as Mark could be seen shuffling over to join the band and claim the adulation, the fan climbed onstage and slurred 'Check the record check the record.' into the microphone. Pausinag in disgust, Mark signalled the band, who stopped playing and walked off, leaving this poor fan alone, confused, and snubbed by his favourite band. You felt for him, but he cut a comical figure sitting on the edge of the stage afterwards, bemused, being guardedly consoled by other fans who hadn't the heart to shout at him for not letting The Fall play their best song.

Switching to Edinburgh, I'm standing a month or so earlier in a packed Liquid Room, wondering if I have to plead to get you by my side. The wound a little fresher this time, and any less a prospect than being just about to witness a Magic Band show would be blotted out by shameless self pity. As it is, the whole room goes into total meltdown as 'Diddy Wah Diddy' just fucking ERUPTS from these fat bouncy old men and is pretty much the best thing I've ever heard. The biggest fattest dumbest heart-vibrating good time fuzz bass riff accompanied by mental images of the Captain on the beach in the video, eyes shut, stomping and looking like some marketing person thinks he's a heart throb. And in real life, 40 years later: Drumbo in his white overcoat and sunglasses, bellowing 'Ain't no town / Ain't no city / CRAZY 'bout my girl in Diddy Wah Diddy' like he was born to do nothing else. I mean, it's a fun thing to do in any case: I do it myself if I've had a few and am with someone who's likely not to run away. But Drumbo's a natural Second Captain. And from this bubblegum blues height to be plunged without warning into the hellfire of 'The Big Dig' is almost too much. No messing. This is what sound can do when it's sick splintered joyous enough.

The rest of the set's amazing too, but I kind of tune in and out and wish you were there to dance with. The support band are The Fire Engines, which I gather is a big deal for people who knew who The Fire Engines used to be (i.e. not me). They sound like The Yummy Fur, which is probably the first time the comparison's been made that way around.

Back to Dundee, and the improvisational karaoke-ist Fall fan is there again this time, looking slightly nervous and flashing his beer belly from time to time by way of steadying his nerves. John Cooper Clarke looks in the same kind of battered and toothless physical shape as Mark E. Smith tends to. He's funny, rhymes and talks about divorce is about all I remember. Does some songs accompanied on guitar with another dentally challenged man. These toothless people are scaring the shit out of me: is this normal? And then The Fall are great. Brittle and brutal and even crowd-pleasing for a while ('Mr Pharmacist' and 'White Lightening'). It's the rest of the set that rocks though. 'Telephone Thing' leaping to life, and a whole load of stuff which I couldn't tell you where it was from, but which knows exactly where it's going. Mark looking pretty together: fiddling with amp knobs and keyboard keys as usual, but more in the guise of a band leader than a leader propped up by his band. And this time you are there, dancing, but still this breaking off is misery and I'm sorry but I can't see past it for the moment.

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Newcastle Opera House, Feb. 26:

Chris (who also sent in the setlist - many thanks):

The lows: The venue was wrong for the event; you need to stand to see The Fall. There were three guys in front of us who talked incessantly throughout despite repeated requests for them to stop. Row B, seats 15 to 17, you are tossers. JCC was late to the stage and possibly drunk. I think he had only just got to the venue. He seemed nervous and ill prepared. That said his Haiku poem was excellent.

The highs: I am not one for hyperbole but The Fall are the greatest band that have ever graced the planet. Exceptionally good sound, MES vocals as clear as they are on record(!!!). MES stood proudly at the front of the stage and delivered a blistering hour (exactly as per setlist) plus a very rushed ?Lightning? encore. Tremendous rendition of Sparta that made even MES smile. Magic fiddling moments too; at one point Dave raised his eyes to the heavens and shook his head when MES adjusted the amplifier for the umpteenth time.

Barry:

Saw The Fall last night at the Opera House. Dream-like intro of watching drinkers return to their seats soundtracked by Pander Panda Panzer followed by the tightest of Falls - do they do marching band drills on their day off? Stonking reworked Middlemass, (unless I dreamt it) Damo Suzuki, and the new material sounds as familiar as everything else even after just a few months. All this and a covering of snow when we got out. V. good.

___________________

Bridgewater Hall, Manchester, March 6:

Some excellent reading material on Manchester Online. This BBC review is good as well -- "who gave Stephen Hawking a drink" indeed!

North Knots:

mark on top form - prestigeous gig, no concessions. Mancunian twats heckling and walking out - mark responds with idiot joy showland. Considerately he was on first, so could adjourn to pevril in the peak, and leave dimwits to enjoy nostalgia bollocks. Cheap bastard of an mc made lazy ref to mes in wheelchair - walked out at this point. A brilliant 20 minutes (sparta fc, mod mock goth, something unknown, then idiot) whose memory I didn't want tainting.

20th anniversary of miner's strike, and third round brought back memories of fall on the eve of the calamity of 1984. I weep for thee.

Mr. Pharmacist:

It was a surreal experience. Totally. The Full Moon had maximum effect on performers and audience alike. Expertly planned and with regimental timing the evening progressed like clockwork...

MES "broke" the ice on the event. He was whisked in his wheelchair behind a curtain then through the curtains to a desk where there were mikes, sheets of paper and a glass of water. He did Xyralothep, Sparta, Idiot Joy... He was then whisked away via the same route, some say to watch the Stranglers down the road!

Many of the audience obviously had no idea what his performances are like...or just turned up to hurl abuse. Some complained about the sound...some even said they couldn't understand what he was saying!!!!! He wasn't on long. Started with "Good Evening" Ended with "Cheers" I think.

JCC well received.

One front row spectator, during a lengthy interval, got up to perform for a few seconds before being asked to leave the stage???? He spoke into the mike.... "The palace of excess leads to the palace of access" I'd have a go at writing a proper review but I'd probably piss meself too much.

Pete Shelley (saturated with red wine) summed it up best at the end by yelling "FCUK OFF!" at the audience. Don't know if audience participation made/spoilt the show...bit of both I suppose.

MES got a "F off you're sh1t"
Shelley got a "Where's Orville?"
HD got "I'm an artist! and "You're taking the piss!"
The Hall director got a "F off you fat B*ST*RD!"

Make yourself at home boys!

Elderford:

We approached the hall from the back and at the artists' entrance was an ambulance, so we made the obvious comments that it was MES's, that said before he came on a lad in paramedic green overalls was at stage right before he came on. So this got us to wondering whether or not MES had come in from the hospital for the gig?

For those of you who didn't go, or didn't stay (we didn't make it to the end either), the whole show was fairly shambolic.

CP Lee began with an amusing enough read through his supposed diary from 76/77, but then did a faux radio advert skit about a sperm bank (making deposits, withdrawals in a hole in the wall, etc). Introduced MES, walked off.

and then nothing happened.

The stage had a large back curtain, infront of them a table (with floor length cloth over it), upon it three microphones (as though for a press conference).

Then in the gloom pushed by a young man a wheelchair flew along the side of the stage and behind the curtain, which were then parted and MES was wheeled upto the table (laughter from the sections of the audience).

MES wasn't on for long, I wouldn't have thought for more than 15 minutes or so. Tape with audio hiss and puncuated by various noises played in the background/foreground throughout.

MES leaning over the desk, working backwards and forwards through the ever present pile of loose leafed notes (inc. an A4 windowed envelope). I couldn't decide if he was winging it or if there was a method to it (ie. he had rehearsed).

Each of the microphones appeared to have a different balance: one had treble, another bass. MES removed the shield from one, so that his Ps and Bs popped through the PA system, cupping the end of it in hand he produced a cacophony which rendered his words unintelliable (I would argue that this was of course intentional, my friend felt that it spoilt it as he couldn't follow what MES was on about).

Swapping between microphones, not being able to replace one in the holder so that it clunked on to the table to begin feeding back, MES carried on oblivious to the heckling and slow handclaps.

As usual I was captivated by his facial contortions as he readies himself to deliver a line. My Fall knowledge is scant, but he begin with Sparta FC, performed Idiot Joy Showland (very appropriate), The CD In Your Hand, told a joke about two cows in a field and read something about 15 phrases (reminded me of the example of his notes towards the end of the Middles book, about how to get the best out of your musicians).

I enjoyed it, MES uncompromising, doing his thing the way he does it, was he crap or is he so far ahead that we haven't caught up with him?

Then he was gone.

CP Lee returned, got barracked, told some unfunny jokes (one involving telling homeless people to fuck off) introduced Pete Shelley (he didn't return again, so much for compering). Nothing happened.

Roadies came on with Shelley's gear. Nothing happened.

An unscheduled intermission was called.

Eventually Shelley came on, and couldn't find his guitar lead, it really was gearing up to be a shambles. His performance appeared to be off the cuff. Much heckling, Shelley appearing to alternate between good humoured and mardy. He made some comments about not being there to entertain us, not looking forward to it, and that it didn't matter if it made a loss because it was a council subsidised show.

The sound was not good, but Shelley defended it on the grounds that it was a venue that was not suited for small sweaty club music (I would disagree because the building has been built to enable a complex beast like an orchestra to sound good in, this was one guy with an electronic microphone and an electric guitar both being put through a soundboard).

Off he went. John Cooper Clarke was well received, and it was the only part of the show that really hung together as an act, the audience were behind him, big cheers at both ends of his set, funny and so much more together than we expected (we imagined he would be the weakest of the four: so long without new material, the only nostalgia act on the bill). His legs are really thin and his trousers unbelivably tight, looking like a craggy version of himself from all those years ago.

Followed by the usual nothing happening, and then three instrumental tracks sounding like the had been put together on a digitial studio, and then on came Devoto. I'm not gonna give him a hard time for going bald as there's not much he can do about it, but the beach style short sleeved shirt, open toe sandals and heavy framed comedy style glasses were grim to behold. What we saw of his performance may well have worked when he rehearsed it in his house, but it was flat and dull. He performed Hound Dog to a backing tape, then did a spoken word piece breaking down the lyrical structure, which verged on using big words but having nothing to say. For what we saw the rest of his performance was kareoke singing along to a cd of his music interspersed with talking or reading his lyrics. A large empty stage with a man dancing to his own backing track whilst wearing sandals.

Mick:

back from Bridgewater Hall... well, he made it... trouble was, franky.... I couldn't here a single word, despite being sat in centre stalls. It was a really strange affair, actually, and very fractious backstage. CP Lee was very funny... Johnny Clarke brilliant but the PA made it all sound like The Squat Club 1979, despite being in a state of art concert hall.... from my vantage point there was no point in Mark being there and I was annoyed on Mark's behalf. Later, Devoto wouldn't allow CP on for a second spot and we were plunged into a block of po faced electronica instead... it was a very cold evening... not at all chummy nostalgia do... finished up in City Arms with Richard Boon and CP etc... I accept the charge of sad old punks and Mark did well to get the hell out.

Gareth:

It was rather portentous that the audience gathering in the Bridgewater Hall bar seemed more suited to a gig than an evening of "spoken word performance", as was the fact that MES had moved from the top of the bill to the bottom. The crowd seemed to consist mainly of Fall and Buzzcocks fans, many familiar faces. C.P.Lee did some cringingly awful "working-men's-club" type jokes before Smith was wheeled on stage to loud applause.

Seated in his wheelchair at a table with several mics, Mark was obscured to most of the audience by a music stand strategically placed directly in front of him on the stage. It was eventually removed, but to be honest, it didn't really make a lot of difference. The sound was dire. The backing tapes drowned out most of what was said and, despite constantly changing mics (possibly to create a "textured soundscape"), Mark's words were reduced to a series of distorted snarls and grunts echoing around the auditorium. It was largely indecipherable and he might as well have been talking in tongues. People started walking out almost immediately and may of those who did stay did so only to boo and heckle. After what seemed like an embarrassing eternity, but was probably more like fifteen minutes, the slow hand clapping started and MES beckoned to leave. I can't be sure whether the applause was for him or for the bloke who wheeled him off...

After much disorganised resetting of the stage and a couple of false starts from C.P.Lee, we were treated to the camp comedy stylings of Mr. Pete Shelley. Pete was here, so he tells us, to provide some musical relief for the evening. So why he ended up doing more talking than anyone else that night is a mystery. The heckling and the exodus to the bar continued. When he did sing and play his guitar he was very good, but in a hall of this size he could have done with a few more Buzzcocks to add some power to his performance.

More painfully long waiting for the next act. Actually, by this point, I'd worked out that, rather than queue at the over-priced, under-staffed bar, there was enough time to leave the Bridgewater Hall and go and get a decent pint in the Briton's Protection across the road. And still be back in time to see the increasingly confused C.P.Lee wandering on and off the stage.

John Cooper Clarke saved the evening. 'Course, he's used to this sort of thing, having performed spoken word in front of a "punk crowd" for about 27 years. Despite some of his material being outdated (jokes about Ladas and Skodas anyone?), he was the only one on the bill who managed to hold the audience. The flow of people to the exits stopped and the only people who left their seat were rolling around on the floor. Johnny could have stayed on all night. He was the only act to receive rapturous applause and calls for "more!" at the end of his set.

Devoto would have had a tough time following that but, to be honest, the audience didn't even give him a chance. By this point the whole show was beginning to resemble "An Evening With Alan Partridge" and alas, with last orders approaching fast, I succumbed and joined the rest of the fleeing masses, pausing only to shake the hand of Johnny Clarke in the foyer and to buy the New Fall DVD.

On balance, what should have been a dream line-up was destined to failure. Wrong venue. Wrong crowd. Wrong atmosphere. And worse of all, p*ss-poor organisation. Considering it was mainly blokes coming up to a microphone and talking... I've seen orchestras set up quicker.

Incidentally, the DVD is great. Crisp, clear sound and pictures and a great set-list. The bloke who interviewed MES, though, he should be shot. But that's another review...

Paul:

Don't know if any of your eagle-eyed subscribers noticed it, but the guitarist who played with John Cooper Clarke at the Bridgewater on Saturday was Eric, aka Rick Goldstraw, who preceded Marc Riley on bass in The Fall.

Eric also played guitar for the Blue Orchids and the Invisible Girls, and played for Nico at one time.

___________________

Blackburn DVD details:

A Touch Sensitive - Live Secret Records SECDVD10, out now. Format: PAL, region 0 (all regions), 5.1 surround sound. Apparently the DVD will play on North American NTSC DVD players and TVs as well, despite the PAL encoding. Secret Records are taking orders on their website.

Concert recorded at King George's Hall, Blackburn, September 22, 2002
1 02:42 To Nkroachment:Yarbles
2 04:57 Two Librans
3 04:18 Cyber Insekt
4 05:08 And Therein...
5 02:44 Mere Pseud Mag. Ed.
6 03:35 Behind The Counter
7 04:21 Telephone Thing
8 03:22 Touch Sensitive
9 04:12 Hey! Luciani
10 07:31 Free Range
11 07:22 The Classical
12 03:27 There's A Ghost In My House
13 03:33 The Chiselers
14 04:17 Big New Prinz
15 04:14 Jerusalem
16 02:17 Mr Pharmacist
17 05:53 Bourgeois Town
18 04:45 I Wake Up In The City/My Ex-Classmates' Kids
19 02:36 Victoria
20 02:05 White Lightning
21 05:07 Hit The North

Special features: Exclusive interview with Mark E Smith and on the road footage. The interview was conducted at the same time as the Rebellious Jukebox DVD, but is not the same footage.

Conway:

Blackburn gig, 22 September 2002: 1 hr 40 mins. Well filmed by multiple digital cameras, good lighting, very clear picture, nicely edited with good mix of shots from front, back of stage, both sides, rear of hall. Excellent sound, clear, no distortion, good mix - all instruments clearly audible throughout. 21 songs in total, mostly the old "hits" as requested by the film producers, but they generally work very well. Steve Evets, Ed Blaney & Al the roadie make several appearances, for better or worse. The roadie does a reasonable spoken word reading (Mark: "I've heard worse"). Elini and Ruth, the other young lady on keyboards, are audible and visible. Mark is clearly relaxed and in good spirits. Sings pretty well throughout.

DVD Extras
Interview : 21 mins, mostly talking about the songs to be performed. No overlap with the interview footage on the Rebellious Jukebox DVD. Couple of interesting things come up, but it's a bit like extracting teeth in places.

Behind the scenes : 16 mins, in the pub and then in a motel room with the lads putting the setlist together. Hilarious, truly superb!

Biography : quite a lenghy text, nothing very new but well written.

Overall, it's a top notch production. Like what you'd expect from a real rock group... almost.

Highly recommended. And at a mere 13 quid, every home should have one!

___________________

Many thanks to Jon for sending in this piece from the Telegraph, Dec. 13, 2003:

___________________

SimonFB:

please tell me that someone was taping university challenge tonight

"totally wired, how i wrote elastic man and the man whose head expanded were singles by which band formed in manchester in 1976 by mark smith and martin brammah"

exact words are are not exact (i didnt tape it) - but the "mark smith" was without the y

___________________

Steven Bending's wonderful The Fall Multimedia Project website has the L.A. promo video and edited highlights from Mark's appearance on Flipside last month.

___________________

Mar. 9, 2004

This is the latest news and gossip off FallNet for those with weak stomachs.

If you have anything to say, you can mail Stefan, but you can't mail the FallNet mailing list direct anymore. To subscribe to FallNet, send mail to:
fallnet-subscribe@
yahoogroups.com.

10feb04 London gigs, loads of music press scans (mostly NME), I'm into CB cartoon, Smash Hits trading card, Michael Pollard photos, Cider with Roadies, Guardian int. w/ Ben, Pascal Le Gras exhibition, Blackburn DVD, Sanctuary update.
24dec03 lots of UK gig reviews, Birmingham Post MES interview, details on expanded LATWT and Dragnet CDs, recent NME Fall snippets.
24nov03 TRNFLPFCOTC reviews, HMV gig, Unpeeled interview (w/ Ben) details, Smash Hits '87, Michael Bracewell's most embarrasing moment (and Pseud's Corner finalist), Durutti Column vs. The Fall photo exhibition, Permanent Years / Rebellious Jukebox comp CDs, Fall badges, Reuben's Paintwork title page.
20oct03 Portugal, Manchester, Leeds gigs, book reviews, 1997 MES interview, new LP and single details.
19sep03 Uncut interview, book reviews, "No Place Like It" transcript, a few old press clippings, Bingo Master's 25th anniversary, War Against Intelligence cd, Bootleg Box Set review, book launch party, Masked and Anonymous, Jack magazine, The Lovers on tour, Johnny Cash
18aug03 Prindle int. w/Ben, Hip Priest reviews, Live at Phoenix cd, War Against Intelligence cd, Brix int. 1994, Lovers single, web-enabled MES filter
22jul03 US tour reports (second half: Cambridge Dallas), New Yorker cartoon, Simon Spencer RIP, "Idiot Joy Show," Words of Expectation review
01jul03 US tour reports (first leg, thru Cleveland), PBL dvd & User Guide reviews, Jim Watts interviews John French, 1999 MES int., Voiceprint clearance sale
19jun03 Canada, ATP cancelled, the fall uk, Fall books, Damo vs. USA, MCR's greatest frontman, Meltzer, Bad Man Wagon, Adult Net debacle, comp reviews, Brix '87int., MES '82 int., "Idiot Joy Show"
27may03 PBL/Leeds DVD reviews, Aarhus gig, great 1981 MES interview, Smiths Week, Woog Riots tribute, Sanctuary CDs, Rubber Banana Fall radio show
29apr03 ATP, PoSR review, Peel Session & Step Forward CDs, Made in the NW, Jeremy Vine show, bits
28mar03 Jim Watts sacked, Country on the Click details, Peel Session, Turkey gig, 85 & 88 gig photos, Luz's "The Joke" comic, Pascal LeGras new work, MES T-shirt, Fall on emusic, Fall Tattooing rip
24feb03 news about books, Mojo top 50, Claus Fall guitar, Beggars vids, Corsa ad link, 9feb83 + 88oct8 photos, '78 So It Goes clip, Hanley bros interview, several early music press scans, other bits
9jan03 Independent interview, Early Singles, Listening In, UK chart placing history, Razor Cuts, Pascal LeGras video, Record Collector, ring tones, Blue Orchids CDs, Peel's Fabriclive
4dec02 Electric Ballroom gig, Virgin Radio, Fall vs. 2003, MES death row picks, Conway's wallpaper
8nov02 PPP review and lyrics, Dave Harrop, Manchester Online soap opera
15oct02 UK gig reports, 1983 photos, Fall press kit
20sept02 loads of upcoming releases, jigsaws, Vauxhall advert, Mark Prindle int., couple of music press scans, Slates movie clip, Fall Tattooing
23aug02 singles box and Totally Wired reviews, Rocking Vicar, lots of old music press scans
3july02 2G+2 reviews, 6FM mp3, Bourgeois Blues, bits
13jun02 2G+2, Wire 25th anniversay piece, custom Fall gig, PDFs of four old articles
16may02 Blackburn, London, ATP gig reviews, BBC 6FM, Sydney 1990 int., French cartoon
19apr02 US tour cancelled, Mojo article, Select (June 91), bits & pieces
19mar02 Euro tour reviews, Record Collector interview., Wire review, new Fall discog., misc.
13feb02 comp results, Athens review, Bournemouth Runner, Pan
13jan02 Timekode, Pan, bad German translations, NME 2/25/89 interview
02jan02 album reviews, ancient Usenet refs
12dec01 MCR gig reviews, album reviews, Pan
28nov01 mammoth US tour edition
13nov01 first batch of AYAMW reviews, London Forum gig reports
5nov01 Euro gig reports, Knitting Factory Knotes interview
19oct01 UK gig reports, studybees interview
30sep01 tour / booking details, 1979 fanzine interview
9sep01 not much
28aug01 Flitwick single, 82/83 gig pics
27jun01 Faustus
31may01 Dublin pics, Cash for Questions, Guardian interview
29apr01 IR, UK gig reviews
9apr01 NL gig reviews
3mar01 Dublin gig, Invisible Jukebox
28jan01 World Bewitched details
1jan01 some ace Castlefield pics
19dec00 more reviews
1dec00 tour reviews, crap interviews
10nov00 Unutterable reviews
21oct00 Stanza festival, HighSmith Teeth, comedy dogs
11oct00 RFH reviews, new Cog Sinister releases
12sep00 DOSE interview, Fall calendar
22aug00 Portugal, Manchester gigs 
9aug00 bits & pieces
23jul00 Psykick Dance Hall, Pure As Oranj details, Triple Gang reviews
9jul00 few bits
20jun00 Ashton, Hull, Middlesbrough, Glasgow, Edinburgh reviews, old Volume piece
30may00 LA2 reviews
22may00 few old LP reviews
2may00 bits & pieces
24apr00 TBLY #19 details, Prop details
8apr00 more Leeds reviews. WSC interview, other interview snippets
26mar00 Doncaster, York, Leeds reviews, BravEar interview (plus others)
14mar00 various reviews, old Liz Kershaw i/view
24feb00 Past Gone Mad details
13feb00 few bits & pieces
30jan00 tour details, Tommy Blake stuff
20jan00 TBLY #18 details, Hanley in Mojo
10jan00 Dragnet doylum, New Year message, etc

older news: Nov 1997 - Dec 1999