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In keeping with the band they cover, the Hideous Replicas gig that was to have taken place this Friday (October 18) in London has been cancelled.

The US tour has been cancelled. Here's a note from Elena, who I guess is managing the band now, to Lisa of the Troubadour in Los Angeles:

"First of all thanks for your help so far. I'm sorry for not being in touch but only this week we lost hope and have now decided to cancel the tour, as the visa-application should have been processed first, and then a tour booked. I understand this is the correct procedure, but as you know Ed just booked the tour without making sure we would have a visa. The agency you recommended seemed hopeful at first, but it soon became clear that the processing times are too long at the present moment. Why Ed didn't sort that out beforehand or why none of the promoters reminded him of the petition that the promoter has to request in your country I don't know.

"I am very sorry that due to the strict visa regulations we cannot do anything else but cancel all shows.

"Any further bookings in the future will certainly be made in the correct way.

"Mark E. Smith apologises to all fans and promoters."

___________________

The Fall play ...

King George's Hall, Blackburn, Sept. 22, 2002:

Press release from Ed Blaney before the gig: The Fall kick off a mini 8-date tour of the UK on the 22nd of September at King George's Hall in Blackburn. This is going to be an extra special gig as the show is going to be filmed for a Fall documentary/DVD due to be released early next year. The setlist will consist of Fall classics drawn from the past 25 years. As this is the only show in the northwest any Fall fans wishing to be a part of this event should attend as this is a one-off purely for the making of the Fall docu/DVD. The filmmakers will also be looking to interview Fall fans of all ages.     Thanks to Dave Harrop for the photo.

David Humphries:

Mansion / 2 Librans / Cyber Insekt / And Therein / Mere Pseud Mag Ed / Behind The Counter / Telephone Thing / Touch Sensitive / Hey Luciani / Free Range /
Poem - ? Says 'Gas' on the setlist, but I don't know. Performed by one of the roadies.
The Classical / Ghost In My House / Chisellers / Big New Prinz / Jerusalem / Mr Pharmacist / Bourgeois Town / Victoria / Ben's > F-'Oldin' Money > Kick the Can / My Ex-Classmates' Kids / Dr Buck's Letter / White Lightning / Hit The North

I wasn't taking notes, but the band, to my memory, stayed pretty much with the setlist, with a few minor changes towards the end. It took a bit of time to take off last night -- the audience seemed strangely impassive, and stayed that way through a lot of the night. Things really took off for me with an incredible version of Mere Pseud Mag Ed. Other highlights include a *different* version of The Classical, with no obligatory fuckface lines that I could hear, Big New Prinz, and White Lightning.

They were on for about two hours, and it was being filmed, with six cameras that I could see. There was also an unprecedented in recent years level of security -- four showsec guys stood between the stage and the audience, more to protect the camera gear than the band I guess. Lowlight -- the sound was awful, painfully distorted. Memorabilia junkies will be pleased to know there were two new T-shirts on sale last night, one with the 2G+2 cover on the front, one all black with "The Fall" in white over the heart.

These T-shirts are apparently available on the Action Records web site as well.

David continued in a 2nd post:

> Alan (was there a dancer?)

No, but there were two (count 'em, two) keyboard players, both young females, who started off alternating on songs, before coming together on some track I can't remember. One looked like an eighties goth, and stood disconcertingly to the left of the keyboard.

There were also two (count 'em, two) members of the management staff who took it upon themselves to do some sort of call and response thing with MES last night, much a la Blaney in last year's gigs. One of them might have been him, but I don't know.

The culmination of this was the last song of the night, Hit The North, where there was one of them either side of the drummer, each with a drumstick, bashing out their own version of the rhythm on the nearest cymbal available to them. The drummer, to his credit, stayed smiling, rictusly, throughout.

Expect this to feature heavily in the Xmas DVD.

Stephen:

I went to Blackburn looking forward to the gig with two friends who quite like the Fall in tow. It was almost 2 hour long gig. There seemed to be a new drummer. He certainly looked older than Dave Milner, and seemed to know all of the songs extremely well. Two keyboardists as well. One was being happy and one was being grumpy. Useless security barrier and useless bouncers.

Started with...

Mansion, Two Librans, Cyber Insect, And Therein

so, much the same as usual. Energy seemed to be lagging, although Mark was clearly very sober and was doing a decent job on the lyrics. Next came a surprise - Mere Pseud Mag. Ed. which was performed well. I don't remember the exact order of what came next, but it certainly involved the following; Behind The Counter (good. Happy Keyboardist appeared. Added some sound effects to good effect), Hey! Luciani (also good. Fair few lyrics missing though, but good keyboards), There's A Ghost In My House (Mark did well on the lyrics, band was good also), Jerusalem (some amusing adlibs throughout. Mark clearly getting quite itno it), Touch Sensitive (Steve Evets appears, and after the amusing 'Buy a car' intro, he then twats about shouting more Fall song titles as Mark tries to sing the song. Evets makes no attempts at the 'hey hey hey's despite Ben's prompting. Useless), Telephone Thing (sounded surprisingly good and like the record. Drummer proved his worth), Enigrammatic Dream (Roadie looking like Catweazle hands Mark the lyrics. Mark tells him to do it himself and band walks off. Roadie makes admirable job, looking thoroughly confused before band arrives back and Mark briefly takes over). Free Range (band played almost the entire song all the way through before Mark finally found his lyric sheet and joined in. Cue massively extended version, with a decent amount of lyrics remembered). The Chiselers (musically good, but Mark sang about two lines before a half arsed attempt at Brix's lines before walking off again). Big New Prinz (Evets redeemed himself here, singing almost the entire song with Jim. An extremely good job was done on this before Mark wandered on at the end). The Classical (hacked to death. Lyrically lacking, and a (deliberately?) awful keyboard line was played out by the grumpy looking player). Mr. Pharmacist (good, as usual). Victoria (first time 'round, Mark seemed not to notice the song, gazing at the floor instead. It was tried again a few songs later and it took him a verse or too but he eventually got quite into it). White Lightning (another good track). Bourgeois Town (3 adlibbed verses made for another good track). My Ex-Classmates' Kids/Wake Up In The City (Ed Blaney started it off pretty well, even if he did lob his microphone at my face. Mark finished off in good style. Complete with 'little twigs'). Hit The North (complete with both keyboardists and Ed and Steve attacking the drumkit. Odd 'partyish' atmosphere going on, but a good version all the same).

Pander Panda Panzer is an enjoyable listen too. "The former education secretary was blind. The former former education secretary used the phrase 'more better'..." being a highlight. Oh, and his foot and mouth joke again...

Ray:

Well, I haven't seen The Fall since the current lineup undertook their "phrasebook" assault on the canon's language, in Macclesfield some 18 months ago. This band are not unlike my misguided, part-fascist Grandad in continuing to inspire my loyalty -- though his recent letters are somewhat turgid, I'm still inclined to visit, just in case he's either got it in him to show some warmth, or is attitudinally hilarious. So here I am, pleased to hear him whistling, knocking and muttering as he approaches (great intro tape) ... we are readied by a beautifully alcohol-smoothed Irish voice asking us to put our hands together for "the only band in the world" ...

The opening Mansion is fantastic - Sabbath would have been proud of it; the next couple of offerings less captivating, during which my mind wanders to aesthetic considerations, which prove to be (I think) quite illuminative. So:

(i) Guitarist: Alan Partridge mouth and upper-body movements. Worrying

(ii) Bass player: Arms somewhat unfeasibly thin, though lumpen - "proletarian", perhaps?

(iii) Drummer: A state of near-panic lurks constantly behind his face, and is occasionally slightly visible whenever he breaks into one of his semi-gurn grins. Looks rubbery, like he does good impressions (especially Mickey Dolenz).

Point (i), I feel, probably fully explains why this guy seems, like a modern middle-class errant child, to perform well when productively occupied, but otherwise to cause trouble in rather poxy, irksome ways -- i.e. his penchant for trying to "convey something through the medium of rock guitar". At the end of 2 Librans, he goes into some tunnel of wailing wankrock, at which some extremely tasteful fellow somewhere behind me succinctly self-expresses by hurling his pint in said guitarist's direction. Such wankrock is kept within trousers for the rest of the gig. But keep him busy, as I said, and this guitarist's inoffensive - witness his fine, percussive contribution to "Telephone Thing", for one. I vote we take half the strings off his guitar, get it pared down, more primal.

In fact, "streamlined" is not something this line-up does well (except where it's a calculated departure from the norm, such as on the excellent, contained-then-unravelling "And Therein" and "B Blues"), which detracts viciousness from, and adds ploddingness to, the sound. Librans, Cyber, and Free Range should be precise and pointed to my ears, but instead sound like they've been splatted at them by a salad dodger with some kind of slack mediaeval catapult. Free Range is particularly grimace-inducing in this respect ... Behind The Counter similarly weak, the vacant look on Mr Bass being matched by the flaccid whiteness of his driveless upper arms.

The longer it went on, the more disengaged I became. Yeah, they played old stuff like "Mere Pseud", but it all sounds so contained, so tribute-band, so easy to predict, like it's being served up in binary blocks - despite the rockisms, they don't seem capable of cutting loose, or creating even the slightest diversion. It takes a singing roadie to give it life (nice one on "Wake Up"). I recall MES reviewing a Morrissey LP in a mag about 10 years back, noting something like "the guitarist is getting above his station, and the bassist has too much equipment". Sound familiar?!? MES has often stated his antipathy for musicians - perhaps he should go back to just employing blokes.

SETLIST: Mansion / 2 Librans / Cyber Insekt / And Therein / Mere Pseud Mag Ed / Behind The Counter / Telephone Thing / Touch Sensitive / Hey! Luciani / Free Range / Roadie: Enigrammatic Dream / The Classical / Ghost In My House / Chiselers / New Big Prinz / Jerusalem / Mr Pharmacist / Bourgeois Blues / Victoria (aborted) / I Wake Up In The City - Ex-Classmates' Kids / Victoria / White Lightning / Hit the North

___________________

Rock City, Nottingham, Sept. 25, 2002:

Ian:

Absolutely fucking brilliant. The best for a long long time. ...and Ben wasn't chewing gum or wearing a denim jacket.

I can never remember set lists - they did all the stuff that you might expect but included a storming version of Mere Pseud Mag Ed, really punking it up. Fantastic to hear again after a twenty year pause with a more than passable version of The Classical following a bit later. Some "Dead Ringer" who looked liked an unhealthy version of MES attempted to read something but Mark had to intervene with "try learning the words and then come back. Maybe they won't laugh at you then." Not sure what that was all about but it did encourage a yell of "gimme the lead" which MES seemed to find amusing. He was on top form, looking like he was really enjoying himself, not that I could see a great deal as I only got into Rock City at quarter to ten from the pub, not expecting them to stick to the "on stage at 9.30pm promise" and so I was stuck at the back of a small but packed room. It was the best for many years in my opinion - I've been un-subbed for a bit so I haven't read any other reviews. Is stuff from 1982 typical? I'm very tempted by The Irish Centre next week.

Grez:

Agree with this, the gig was an absolute stormer. I can't remember the setlist but they did play:

Mansion / Two Librans / And Therein / Cyber / Mere Pseud (unexpected but brilliant) / Folding Money / Kick the Can / Enigrammatic Dream (I think) / Touch Sensitive / Ketamine Sons / White Lightning / Bourgoise Town / The Classical / Mr Pharmacist / Dr. Bucks Letter

..and maybe more, just can't recall.

Good crowd as well, a good mix of young and old(er).

Don't know if this is significant but there was no sign of Ed and co. at the gig last night.

Neil:

I was not looking forward to this.

It's a funny thing, but i couldn't for the life of me figure how The Fall were playing at Rock City, arguably the worst venue in the country, at a time when they can surely never have been more marginalised in the "music world".

As we walk in to an at first apparently deserted Hell, immediately wondering if it had all been a joke, i figure. Upstairs is barriered off; a few more paces reveal a tiny stage stuck in the corner of the downstairs dancefloor. i've seen one other band (The Lovers) under these circumstances, and they were fine, so adjusting our expectations we head for the bar.

Here there are 40 people not being served by young men with strange beards and strange trousers, and no sense of urgency. Joy unconfined. i resolve for the thirtieth time that this is the last visit that i shall make to this dungeon. Twenty minutes along, we make contact with one of the beards and order a pint of bitter ("Sorry, we've only got Murphy's") and a pint of cider ("Sorry, the cider's gone but we have cans of Woodpecker) ("That's £5.30 please").

On reflection, the Murphy's is considerably better than the piss they usually serve, i smoke a cigarette, and the evening begins to look up.

A cursory scan of the room confirms my theory of microcosmic Natural Selection among gig-goers, resulting in none of them being less than 6'2". Spending an hour on tippytoes is wearing, but i console myself with the fact that i am indeed still a miserable old bastard.

At 9.30 prompt the young person's music is replaced. The tape kicks off: "Panda! To pander ..." ... strange what that most peculiar voice can do to one. A little chuckling and increasing interest in the stage area as the tape and the voice roll on.

5 minutes in and i smile to myself at the beginnings of confused impatience from the crowd. i wonder if this *is* the gig: MES in a box - and if so, how many will be clamouring for their £11 back thanks.

10 minutes in and three well-built, mildly greasy youths - they look like the kind of people who beat me at football every week - stride onstage to interrupt the recital with a cover version of a Fall song. It's familiar alright, but the old brain can't access the necessary information anymore ... is it from TNSG? Mansion? Something like that ... something good and surprising for sure.

Smith wanders up just in time to hit his mark and they're away. And sounding *really* good. Hell, this is at least as good as i'd dared imagine.

The fourth song of the set is teasing me, because not only does it sound damn fine, but i *definitely* know this one. The memory is trying its best to match something with those familiar phrases, with that riff ... God's Wounds! It's Mere Pseud Mag Ed!

After this, anything could happen, i wouldn't care. This is The Fall that i'd wanted to see 12 years ago, but they had barely stepped outside Extricate then.

Halfway through they peak with Mr Pharmacist. A thought jars me - is this The Fall at Butlins? Living on former glories? Ah, who gives a shit. They still have records coming out and i wouldn't have missed this for the world. And sorry but it's true - The Fall from 15 years ago wee-wees all over anything i'm hearing now. They sound as tight as you'd expect, but hard and sharp as a four-piece. i like it. Everyone watching likes it too, it seems.

On they go at a level, and not even much buggering about with the slightly nervous-looking guitarist's amp from Smith, unexpectedly this is kind of *fun*, the crowd are allowed to bellow "White Lightning" (never a favourite but fitting in nicely) at the appropriate juncture, we even get an encore, and what a splendid night it's been.

Then the crowd's baying brings them back for another ... hey, i know this one too ... The Classical. Tell you what, if it gets better than *this*, i want to know where and how much it costs, and i have a kidney for sale if necessary.

Borrowed from http://www.rock-city.co.uk/content/EpFFFlVFykpBVtdOiG.shtml:

Mention the name Mark E Smith and you’re guaranteed a reaction, whether that may be a snarl of disdain or a cheeky smile of approval, so it was perhaps not that surprising that the wayward Mancunian’s first visit to Nottingham for over two years would ensure a near sell out in Rock City’s Disco 2.

Before the arrival of the man who likes to say “eh” at the end of every sentence, Nottingham duo CLAMBAKE provide those of us who’ve turned up early with a good reason for venturing out of the house before the end of Hollyoaks. Their off kilter blues-tinged countrified rock’n’roll has been compared to that of The White Stripes, and with songs as catchy as ‘Fuck My Love’ their days of propping up local bills may be about to change full circle, as their 20 minute set (onslaught more like) left most of the earlybirds in a spin as to when they’ll be able to get their hands on a more lasting souvenir than a memory. Don’t despair folks, there’s a single due out next month, so just be patient.

Cantankerous, argumentative, arrogant, dissonant, grumpy, demanding, difficult – just some of the phrases that have been used to describe Mark E Smith, although after spending 25 years in the music business maybe he has every right to be as abrasive as his media-created persona suggests?

When THE FALL clamber onstage to the background sounds of Smith’s new spoken word album ‘Pander! Panda! Panzer!’ without their genial leader, one wonders if they’ve had one of their infamous pre-gig scuffles and Smith is lying in a pool of blood backstage.

When Smith finally does emerge, not looking a day older than in the press photos that accompanied their classic debut from 1977 ‘Bingo Master’s Breakout’ (which they sadly didn’t play tonight), looking like your average “Mr Sensible” dressed in a neatly ironed white cotton shirt and navy blue slacks, he barely says anything (well, audibly at any rate) to the crowd, instead choosing to act like an accomplished, professional performer and just get on with the show.

With such an extensive back catalogue to choose from and just over an hour in which to deliver the chosen few, it was perhaps predictable that one or two personal favourites would be missing this evening, although for the record, we do get an impeccable reading of ‘Totales Turns’, a beefy rendition of ‘New Face In Hell’ and a supercharged sprint through ‘Mr Pharmacist’. [The reviewer is mistaken about NFIH, and I have no idea what he means by "Totales Turns" - Stefan]

What was perhaps the most surprising aspect was that Smith didn’t seem aggrieved with any member of his band or in the audience, something of a minor miracle considering his track record, which will undoubtedly make tonight one of the least memorable Fall gigs amongst their diehard fans. Maybe old age has finally mellowed Mark E Smith, yet despite tonight’s almost too polished performance, you can bet your bottom dollar that won’t affect ticket sales the next time he’s in town.

____________________

Zodiac, Oxford, Sept. 27, 2002:

Mick:

Same set list as Nottingham except with the addition of Ketamin Sun (merging from Enigrammatic Dream), Ghost in my house, and one encore, Big Priest. Band played as a four piece apart from three songs when the keyboardist came on.

Support band were Nought who for once weren't bad, playing instrumentals (including a guitar with a power drill) and kept the audience's interest throughout.

As for the Fall - awesome. Not one walk off by MES who seemed to enjoy the gig and at one very short stage, even interacted with the crowd! Cracking set, great venue and it was absolutely packed and despite the gig starting early, the crowd were up for it from the start. Apparently before the gig, MES wasn't happy about the on stage time and was moaning about e-headed ravers!

Certainly worth a 200 mile round trip - but do the Fall know where Dorset is?

Tom:

This is second hand, as I got the match report off James Sedwards who was supporting in the guise of Nought on Friday.

Smith - fresh white shirt, black trousers with plumb-line creases, black boots (not wellies).

Set List (from the actual set list hence spellings) MANSION / 2 LIBRANS / AND THEREIN / CYBER / PSEUD MAG ED / BENS > F'OLDIN > KICK / TOUCH / BOURJOIS / PHARMACIST / ENIGRAMATIC / KETAMINE / GHOST IN MY HOUSE / CLASSICAL / WHITE LIGHTENING (and also, but not on the set list) BIG NEW PRINZ

Verdict: Absolutely fucking amazing apparently.

Smith very focussed. Stayed on stage for the whole set. Lots of ferocious adamant hand movements, including, during 2 Librans, doing a sort of homeboy salute by holding up crossed forearms in front of the chest.

Best stuff Pseud and Bourjois, James said, before going on to list each song postcripted by 'Yeah, and that was fucking great as well.'

Chris:

Also Dr. Buck's and maybe one or two others.

It was indeed fantastic, in a rockabilly fun kind of way. It was good to see young James leaning on the stage with a big grin on his face - he tends to look a bit serious during Nought gigs.

Mansion has suddenly sprouted lyrics - well, I got 'Mansion' and 'Good evening we... ' but there were plenty more.

During Mere Pseud Mag Ed I suddenly felt myself propelled to the front - I was... er... dancing at a Fall gig. First time ever that I can recall. Quite remarkable.

I loved the crossed arms salute, also at the end of Touch Sensitive when Smith popped up like a little grinning imp for a couple more TS's.

A few too many covers but who cares? Five years back at the Zodiac I heard Lie Dream for the first time - this time MPME and The Classical. What will it be in 2007?

Niall:

I came to see the Fall here a couple of years ago, it's a small cosy venue, lots of students about (freshers week so I'm reminded subsequently).

Terrible HM/Pog Rock support band on beforehand but fortunately I came in only to catch their tail end. The Fall came on not long after 9ish, preceded by a long muddy spoken tape, references to soccer and Jimmy Armfield (I think?). Looks like the setlist broadly mirrors Nottingham (not necessarily all in order):

Mansion / 2 Librans / Cyber Insekt / And Therein / Mere Pseud Mag Ed / Kick The Can>F-oldin Money>Kick The Can / White Lightening / Bourgeois Town / Mr Pharmacist / Dr Bucks Letter / Ghost In My House / Touch Sensitive / Ketamine Sun (preceded by a poem) / The Classical / Big Prinz (only encore)

Band looked sharp, not much messing about from MES either. I'd not seen Dave Milner before, but assume it was him on drums, bit stodgy... only cut loose on The Classical really. Sound was generally OK, although I missed any off-hand quips. MES seemed to be enjoying himself, rest of the band very efficient, joined by an extremely fit looking female playing hastily constructed keyboards for The Classical and Big Prinz. It was good fun hearing The Classical and MPME again - and I think the last time I heard Big Prinz played was the farce at Reading Festival a few years back. The 'renditions' of the old stuff were faithful enough although (a bit like with The Joke). Ben has introduced his own touch to the guitar on The Classical, not bad at all. All in all, a good night out, but could do with some new songs now!

_______________

Colchester Arts Centre, Sept. 28, 2002:

Paul: Set list pretty much the same as Oxford except encore was Damo Suzuki. MES seemed to be in good form - on stage most of the time. Worst bit was the appaling keyboards from some woman during The Classical - who is she? Jon: It was a good job the Colchester gig wasn't chosen by Fall documentary filmmakers "looking to interview Fall fans of all ages" because they would have been hard-pressed to find any youngsters. The youth of Colchester failed to show for the gig so responsibility for making up the numbers fell yet again to the largely balding/ greying/ thirty-something male contingent that always seems present at the Fall concerts I have attended recently. I doubt whether the merchandise stall did much of a trade in skinny-size Fall t-shirts tonight.

Many thanks to Jon Anderson for the flyer.

Support was provided by Sneeze who upheld the fine tradition of mediocre/terrible bands getting the coveted Fall support slot - their wacky brand of indie-pop seemed more suited to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. They adopted an unusual band-rotation system with regular instrument-swapping, interchangeable lead vocalists and band members coming on and leaving the stage after almost every song. Perhaps their "Total Music" approach will do for them what "Total Football" did for Dutch in the Seventies but I doubt it.

Excerpts from Pander, Panda!, Panza! preceded the Fall who took the stage shortly after 10.00pm - more or less the advertised time. The Fall as a four piece worked pretty well and they were joined for a couple of numbers by a fifth member who played keyboards. MES was well turned-out - white shirt (in need of ironing?); dark-grey trousers; hair combed; sober and up for it. The band were pretty tight throughout and the new drummer beat the skins as if his life depended on it which I presume it probably did. Amp-fiddling was kept to an acceptable minimum and MES was on stage almost the whole time. A largely crowd-pleasing set - would have preferred fewer cover versions but the inclusion of Mansion, The Classical etc. were real treats. I was pleased that there were no vocal contributions from Fall Management or Roadies - I think that performers should perform and Management/Roadies should manage (Visa applications?) in case they get ideas beyond their station. There must be many people who rue the day Noel Gallagher decided there was more to life than roadie-ing for the Inspiral Carpets. I enjoyed the grumpy keyboard player's contribution to Ghost In My House and The Classical - it added a bit of contrast to the dense guitar, bass and drums sound - Ketamine Sons was bludgeoned to within an inch of its life. The band performed I am Damo Suzuki as an encore and left the stage at about 11.20 pm, leaving us just enough time to get to the nearest curry house for the all-important post-gig analysis. General consensus - good set with MES on top form

Set List included
Mansion / Two Librans / And Therein / Cyber Insekt / Mere Pseud Mag Ed / F'oldin Money / Kick the Can / Enigrammatic Dream / Touch Sensitive / Ketamine Sons / White Lightning / Bourgeois Town / Ghost In My House/ The Classical / Mr Pharmacist / Dr. Bucks Letter/ I am Damo Suzuki

____________________

Concorde 2, Brighton, Sept. 30, 2002:

Ian:

Set list virtually identical to Colchester, Oxford, Nottingham. An absolutely cracking set, though thanks to the glories of the net no surprises.

Support were (I think) British Sea Power. For, maybe, 6 songs, OK in a Radiohead/Bunnymen ilk, but after that 'Don't start improvising' should have been stapled to the monitors. Fall on at 10.30 after false start. Pre Tape seemed to refer to Jimmy Bloomfield, not Armfield - certainly Blackpool and soccer mentioned. He seems to have muddled the ground and its most famous ex player.

MES seems to lose weight every year and there was no meat on him to start with. I think Jim eats what he leaves like parents do with their children. Light blue shirt, grey pleated trews. Most affable and relaxed, even smiling, disciplined and focused. Only worry was before Ketamine when he disappeared for a bit. Jim's head not quite so skyward-pointy, though wearing a biker t-shirt. Ben has the same traccy top on with 2 arm stripes a la Johann Cruyff. I think Ronnie O'Sullivan is the most apt comparison. New drummer knows his part and gratifyingly thin on top.

Saw them at the Forum a year ago, and it was a messy tense affair. This time started slowly with a pedestrian Mansion, and Cyber Insekt didn't really work either. Rather a nice heliumish vocal effect in Foldin, and plenty of well drilled guitar additions which now add rather then annoy. MPME is the pivotal track, much better than the recorded Hex version, after which there's no going back. (Felt just a little smug imagining the youngsters eagerly anticipating this new track on the next album - perhaps I do them a disservice). Ironically I saw them at Scamps (RIP) in Oxford in 1982 when they played neither MPME nor Classical. 3 encores. At end of Classical MES hands mike out to audience member who makes rather a hash of 'I've never felt better in my life' (at least I assume that was what was happening up front). Gratifyingly free of roady interference, the only real blemish being the girl who won an opportunity to play keyboards with The Fall in Jim'll Fix It and despite not knowing how to play them left squiggly patterns all over Classical. White Lightning an encore too far - can't really see the point of this track, it is just Summertime Blues with whisky lyrics and not as good. No Big Prinz. But Bourgeois and Dr Buck rocked big.

Good mixed crowd, plenty of goths, students and middle aged accountants. Sound excellent. This must be the 18th time I've seen them and I'd put it right up there. Would anyone else agree that they are now a more enjoyable and tight band to listen to than anything from the last 10 years? The caveat would be MES's voice which is now a raddled tuneless thing with just the force keeping it afloat. But this must be his 1000th gig or thereabouts, so who can complain?

The information given in the above email and / or attachment is provided without warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied on the part of the writer or the Agency.

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Cockpit, Leeds , October 2, 2002:

Jim:

Just back from the Leeds gig and hmmmm...what a crock of shite basically. Don`t get me wrong I`ve seen the guys live before but this was terrible, they even managed to fuck The Classical up royally (just what is it with the lass trying to play it on the keyboards??). If you`re planning on seeing em - don`t bother save ya brass.

Ian:

Just got back too.........and I have to agree with the overall sentiment, but would like to flesh it out a bit.

Basically I do not feel the band are up to it. They started with "Mansion", and immediately any expectant tension which may have been generated in the audience was dispelled with a totally mediocre play by numbers performance. Enter MES. (Not an instruction.) Again, no feel or passion..........into Two Librans, and And Therein. By now it is apparent that the sound is fine. The vocals are strong. The band is struggling. The audience is flat. This is wrong. A Fall audience, more than any other audience I believe, has turned out desparate to see and hear a good performance and be part of that performance. This performance more than nullified any potential for a good time.

Problems : Poor versions of songs we know should be better, especially Cyber insekt (just how many times can the words film of book, book of film be repeated?----needs to have the f vocal and keyboards.), The Classical, and Dr Bucks letter appears to have lost all the strength which was so right with the Fall last time i saw them at the Irish Centre 2 years ago.

Drums - My 7 year old does better.
Guitar - Oh dear oh dear oh dear.
Bass - You should, and probably do, know better - what happened?
Keyboards - Do me a favour! Come back Julia! (Were you behind me on the balcony, right hand side as you look at the stage?)
Miming - Ketamine sun looked ridiculous.

OK, Moan over. Highpoints. It has to be said (Ok it doesn't have to, but I will) that the band and MES sound best with the older songs (lets leave The Classical out of this for the moment)........Mere Pseud Mag Ed. and Damo Suzuki were excellent. Mr Pharmacist and White Lightning were OK.

Guinness was good though.

And I'll probably be back next year.

David:

I have to disagree. The Fall live at the moment are better than they've been for donkeys years, and the storming version of Mere Pseud Mag Ed is worth the admission fee alone.

Strange audience last night, with almost no 'young' people in sight. Given that in the last two weeks we've had 50000 students coming / returning to Leeds, this seems a bit odd. Then again, I don't remember seeing any publicity for the gig anywhere in Leeds whatsoever.

Jon:

I thought it was really, really good - best I've seen them in ages. Light years away from last year's Cockpit bash which was rubbish - nearly didn't go this time.

Great sound, band got well into it after a shakey start. Smith on really good form and put on a bit of a performance. The lack of album to promote made for a good mixed bag of songs from all over the place and the old ones did shine.

Some of us down at the front were passed the mike by MES to finish off Dr Buck's Letter - audience not part of the performance my arse.

Loved it - roll on next year.

Craig:

Am I the only one who thinks the Fall were SO much better when they were backed by Craig Scanlon and Stephen Hanley, or is this just heady nostalgia brought on by a late night? ... I saw them at the Irish Centre in Leeds last night (the only venue they seem to play in Leeds these days). Whilst MES was on fine form (HOW thin is he now?!!), the band were awful, including a guitarist/session musician with black T-shirt and pony tail. I remember PIL doing the same thing in the mid-80's, hired band in crap clothes murdering classics in front of our eyes. The menace of "Mansion" that should have filled the room during the intro sounded like it was being played by people from the crowd who had been asked to step in at the last moment. They just had NO business being there.

Oh well, we were treated to a number of classics, as seems to be the norm these days (not like it was 10 years ago when you were treated to one song from the archives, "Fiery Jack" being a particularly great moment in 1987). Trouble is, the old songs mostly sound like tributes. Still, "Mere Psed Mag Ed" and "The Classical" were worth going out for, even if we didn't get "Hit the North" or "Jerusalem", like they did in Blackburn. Kurious Oranj remains one of the finest tours after the exhilleration of the first experience in '81 (Hex). Despite my grumblings, am I the only one who thought the (minimalist) keyboard contribution on the Classical was actually rather good and true to the spirit of the Fall circa '82?

A rich mixture of the good and the bad. And of course I'll be back again next year. Got to take the kids to see them before the terminal decline into self parody is complete. Yes, a good night out by Fall standards.

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Guildhall, Gloucester, October 3, 2002:

Paul:

Saw them last night at Gloucester - well strange. the audience more weird than Smith! Plenty of mic-stand stealing and shouting. Smith made the reference "We're not used to paying in cafes".

Standard set-list - Big New Prinz was about the best thing - Mansion was great too as the opener - he had two cracking looking young and heavily made-up birds in toe too. One in black on a children keyboard for two songs and another (her mate) out of her face behind me.

Phil:

Bang on time at the crack of 22:12 MES's brave lads appeared on stage at the Gloucester Guildhall Arts Centre, quite possibly starting with Mansion (although I don't know it). By 23:27 and one encore, it had all proved too much and they melted away.

Since I last saw them at Bristol's Bierkeller, the guitarist has slimmed down (does MES feed them?), but the bass player can now afford to turn out in jeans rather than jogging bottoms. Both seem comfortable with the material, although the band don't seem to interact with each other much apart from the odd wary glance whenever MES starts to wander about. The new drummer didn't really seem to come alive until Mere Pseud Mag Ed, after which he was more exuberant and delivered the sort of momentum I've come to associate with The Fall. Prior to this 'economy of movement' would best describe his technique, although he did nothing wrong. After reading the stirring web-tales of a brace of keyboard players, it was pleasing to at least see the appearance of the Gothic Princess shrouded with a headscarf. Whilst the Casiotone on top of a pub table she employed promised little, she did whisk us back to the Hip Priests and Kamerads version of Mere Pseud Mag Ed. She only features for about four songs it would seem. I'm sure she'd be able to assist with a version of And This Day, thus doubling her stage time each set.

MES appeared sooner than I expected and apart from a couple of occasions when he neglected to use the mike, was generally there, or thereabouts. Did appear to suffer some problems with the stage door at the start of Touch Sensitive and the poetry corner spot for 'Modernity' was delivered from a crouch with back to audience, but he did gift us with a 'We are The Fall' at the start (A Part of America Therein 1981 anyone?) and some acknowledgement of us being there - which didn't happen last year at Bris'l. I think Hip Priest lyrics were injected into Big New Prinz - one of the songs anyway. Knob twiddling was kept to a single isolated incident with the guitarist's amp. No symbols were interfered with during the performance.

The set list seemed to be a somewhat edited version of those posted from earlier gigs. Absentees included Telephone Thing, Hey Luciani, Free Range, Chisellers, Jerusalem, Victoria, My Ex-Classmates' Kids and Hit The North. Ghost In My House, Mere Pseud Mag Ed and White Lightning seemed to go down especially well. I'm certain they played Way Round too. The corporate banner of General Motors was not unfurled at the start of Touch Sensitive. Hope Corsas aren't the official tour vehicles - a big lad like the bass player would have a terrible time.

Crowd was a real mix: from fat, balding middle-aged pillocks to those probably not born when Hit The North was bothering the charts, by way of quite a few of us thirty-somethings. Perhaps 300 people? Most of who seemed to get something out of the evening.

Hi to the two blokes I chatted with after the exodus who were highly satisfied Fall Product customers and to all those wearing Unutterable T-shirts. And to the keyboardatrix.

Martin:

A beautiful cameo from one of the 'fat, balding middle-aged pillocks' during 'The Classical'. Well built, follically-challenged guy at the front loving every second of the gig but making a bit of a fool of himself, trying to get MES to shake hands with him, overdoing the pointing at the band, generally over-zealous. Basically, due to MES getting his leads in a tangle, one of the mics and its stand fell into the crowd. Our friend reconstructs the stand, places mic in the holster and right on cue joins in the singing, a belting 'This is the home of the vain! This is the home of the vain!' during 'The Classical'. I loved him for that. Genius. A bit of a ruck ensued after that as a roadie and a Guildhall employee had a go at him. However , the well built, follically-challenged guy at the front saw them both off with style, pushing the Guildhall employee away in cowboy bar-room brawl style. He remained among us and I thoroughly enjoyed him. MES did too I felt.

Barney:

A much bigger auditorium than I'd expected was pretty much full for that wonderful half-hour or so when The Fall are lurking backstage and the beer is taking effect finally. Big velvety drapes hung round the edges and there were chairs and tables against the walls: like a vast village hall, really. On to a roar as always, and not much later than his now-anonymous musicians, MES looked wise and sober, a different man from last October in Derby to these eyes. His pressed trews and shirt lent him the air of hassled 80s Halfords assistant, though having watched A Part of America Therein earlier in the day by way of preparation, his appearance will always be a shock. Mansion kicked it off, there was Two Librans with the lyrics changes around (Chorus: There were two Librans! Sat on a hill!) and And Therein to follow. I lost it at this point and did my robotic, lurching Fall dance for the rest of the set down at the front. I was disappointed more people didn't come down and groove too - they were probably too busy cursing w##kers like me. So I sweated and cavorted my way through Big New Prinz, Bourgeois Town, Way Round, Mere Pseud Mag Ed, The Classical, an unbelievably good White Lightning (come on, this 'uns a classic!!), and even the unusual swelling beauty of Ketamine Sun. Kick The Can too, Dr Buck's Letter and ... I'm sure you know that feeling. There could have been others, but my hopes and their realisations are now merged. But I'd still like to see Jawbone live, Hip Priest for what would be only my 2nd time, and I'm a Mummy. Time will tell if the chance will come, but this was a stormer of a show, and I still have trouble believing that it came and has now gone!!

Anyone else remember the plaggy bage given away (I think?) by Wolstencroft at Leadmill in about 1994 with Cog Sinister shirt and postcards inside?

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Liverpool University Student's Union, Oct. 5, 2002:

Adam:

Quite enjoyed the gig - I guess it was the usual set - in no order: Mansion / cyber insekt / and therin / 2 librans / Bens/folding/can / way round / touch sensitive / Mere Pseud Mag Ed / Mr Pharmacist / behind the counter / white lightning / Enigrammatic dream / ghost in my house / Classical / bourgoise town / ketamine sun / Dr Bucks letter / telephone thing ....

at least I think they did 2 librans.

MES handed the microphone into the audience at the end where some wag managed to do a great impression of MES "string of shattered hits left in their wake-ah" - that should be on a live LP!

The one thing about the gig is that it was V predictable - the musicians are very competant but theres precious little excitement. MES was still getting up to his old tricks of dismantling the drummers microphones and gettin all tangled up in the wires - at one point he put his mic in the bass drum - its sounded excellent. Wifey played the keyboards on a couple of songs. Poor thing - she's about as good as me on the keys, ie, totally hopeless. You cant help feeling sorry for her - a slight gothy type in her mid 20's being married to that speed ravaged beer monster! Still I guess she must know what she's doing. Maybe she can write songs. Somebody is going to have to!

Mere Pseud Mag Ed and Classical shone through amongst the mire - I always find it odd when poeple say that the band couldnt play in thise days - those too songs are fantastic - Beefheart would have been proud to write them. Telephone Things was good, Ketamine sun too - (nice bass work Jim). Did we really need to hear Mr Pharmacist? 5 rockabilly cover versions - why not do Firey Jack instead?

Didnt encounter any FFs there but there was the usual Liverpool crowd - I think its the same 500 people who have been to all the gigs over the last 20+ years. All the members of all the 80's bands were there - Walking Seeds, Benny Profane, Barbel and so on.

Apparently Flamingo 50 supported - I missed them but everybody said they're brilliant - their first single is just out on Probe Plus.

Grade C+

Jon:

Have to disagree with any criticisms of Saturday night - I've seen them 20-odd times now and this was right up there. The lack of new material most definitely made up for by a tightness and professionalism I'd thought long gone, having seen enough shows ruined or at least detracted from due to Smith's drunkeness/indifference, not to mention the waste of time and money which was a 300+ mile round trip to South Shields in 96. Even the Hanley/Scanlon etc line up never held me captivated like this. From the third track they were simply superb. Not one dud number. Smith was at his best -- totally focused, delivery clean and crisp, not too much pissing about on stage/not even being on stage, and if I'm not mistaken sipping water. This in turn seemed to inspire the band who put in by far the best performance I've seen from this line up. Trying to pick out highlights but would simply churn out the set list bar the first two tracks, which was roughly: Mansion, 2 Librans, And Therein, Cyber, Counter, Mere Pseud, Touch Sensitive, Ben's/Kick/Foldin', Pharmacist, Enigrammatic, Ghost, Classical, White Lightning, Bourgoise Town, Ketamine, Telephone Thing. Good sized crowd also. I know part of the appeal is the unpredictability of what may happen but I've waited a long time for this...mind Jim did storm out at the end into a waiting car and was heard to express his disgust at the way he'd been treated/spoken to. By whom is anyone's guess.

Jim replies: "Whoever it was it wasn't me. I am pretty certain I was the very last soul to leave the venue and I didn't have a cross word with anyone all night. In fact Mark was very nice to me."

Alan:

One of the better Fall gigs I've ever seen, on balance, out of 55+. I mean, I do agree that there was a lack of energy in delivery of some songs, and a bit too much muso guitar fiddling maybe. But it was a quality delivery of a good set overall, which happened to be what I was in the mood for, and certainly was streets ahead of all the other gigs I've seen with the current line-up (except Belfast). After the last few gigs I had seen, which were pretty lame to say the least, this was a restoration of faith - in fact if I was smart I'd quit now and draw a line under my entire fall gigging career and end on this relatively high note. Word and note perfect rendition of Ghost was a revelation, with Mark dispelling any doubts I had about the state of his vox. Great alternative versions of Ketamine and the resurrected Classical (quite poignant, actually, to hear Smith intone the chorus of 'never felt better in my life').

In the 'not up to much' category I would put Mansion, Bucks, Bourgoise, Cyber, Way Round. White Lightening and Pharmacist together with the Kick/F-Oldin medley made for a distinctly rockabilly flavour to the night. Telephone thing was quite a thrill too in its lazy sprawling jazzy hip-hop way, with Jim reluctantlly chanting 'I hate you telephone thing listening in' - even the trite audience participation gimmick at the end delivered some classic comedy moments - a dozen smith wannabes getting their kicks after years of practicing in their cars and showers (yeah come on we've all done it!).

We had Mark doing his usual routines, 'from the start trouble with the mic', feigning confusion with tangled leads, pulling things over, fiddling with settings albeit good-naturedly rather than ominously as with past gigs when he was more 'tired and emotional' - and the oft seen mic-in-the-bass trick to usual good effect. And poor Jim had a bit of a sulk when somebody tossed something at his head, but how he saw it coming and dodged it I can't guess. But the absolute high point for me was Pseud Mag Ed, sans doubt. I only decided after lunch on saturday to pop across the pond and was on the road within an hour, and driving onto the ferry I did have an ominous feeling that this was to be a real dissappointing weekend - but that track alone made the trip worthwhile.

Picked up Panzer and 2G+2 plus a Le Gras t-shirt too. Panzer's ok and an easier listen than was Post Nearly Man, but it's a bit cheeky being composed of only a small volume of new stuff with some straight readings of song lyrics and some re-workings of some tracks from PNM to pad it out. I'm convinced much of the live stuff was from Mark's spoken word gig at Trinity College here in Dublin, although the liner notes credit the recordings to other locations. That Tinners show was very good indeed, and a straight recording of that whole show would have been a better album than PPP turned out to be. But 2G+2 surprised me by being quite a compelling listen on balance. I'm a bit suspicious of the metal sound on some of the live tracks, but overall it's a real nice slice through the several layers that make up the current incarnation of the fall.

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Stephen Bending's replaced the out-of-synch video clip of the Snub TV Dead Beat Descendant with (most of) the Inspiral Carpets (with MES) performing I Want You on Top of the Pops (from March 1994). It's on his site at: http://homepage.ntlworld.com/s.bending/ (9.14 mb).

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latest releases (see the previous edition of the Fall News for details about scads of upcoming re-releases and compilations)

Pander, Panda, Panzer:

The follow-up to "Post Nearly Man" is due to be released by Action Records on September 23. Fallnetter Tom Wootton interrogated John Peel in the pub the other day, as you do, about the new spoken word album. Peelie said he had just received it and although his general impression was vaguely favourable he did say that it was going to be extremely difficult to play on the radio as it was a continuously recorded CD, ie. one track of approx. 61 minutes length!

Sixty-one minutes was being a little generous: actual running time is 42m 55s (one track is correct!). According to the back cover, the CD includes the following:

Mount Street Sermon; PPP/The End; Enigrammatic Dream; Life Just Bounces; Copenhagen "Set-Up"; Dissolute Singer; Lucifer Over Lancashire; Lakeland Opus 1; Sport Duet; Idiot Joy Showland; "Plus 5 Previously Unreleased Sentences"

Recorded: Salford/L.A./NYC/Cambs.

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Pitchfork Media have a rave review of the Totally Wired compilation.

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<fanfare>And Receiver's releasing Fiend with a Violin in DVD-Audio! Due out Sept. 24.</fanfare> Perhaps the most pointless Fall release of all time? How long before DVD-As of Sinister Waltz and the rest?

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Stuart Newman of the Hideous Replicas:

Friday, 18th October, from 7.30 p.m.

THE HIDEOUS REPLICAS
(all music played by The Hideous Replicas is copyright Mark E Smith and The Fall circa 77-81)

plus hi-grade support from excellent guitar instrumental band POCKET:
"If there's any justice in this rotten world, they are going to be enormous" - Clive Bell - The Wire

plus DJs:
    - goodvillage
    - Timeslice
    - Stuart Newman
    - DJ Bad CB

"We're going to party like its 1979".

The Arts Café
28 Commercial Street
London E1
(Nearest tubes: Aldgate East / Liverpool Street)

Admission £5

Full details at http://www.bagrec.com and follow the Hideous Replicas link on the menu.

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Andy Cunnell very kindly sent me scans of several photos of the November 19, 1983 Leicester Polytechnic gig.

And Josef's spotted some green photos of MES from the Feb. 19, 2002 Prague gig, as well as an interview (in Czech).

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International Megastar Mike Major:

Stopped at your page to catch up on news and reinitialize Fall-related mindset for upcoming October US gigs. Spent a few irreplaceable minutes of my life favorably entranced by the article scans from Ian Greaves, and was inspired to dig around my harddrive looking for the Fall Review Kit, to throw any press moles amongst your readership a reminder regarding the correct procedures for writing Fall articles. Several of the key elements are very plainly apparent in those classic archival clippings (in comparison to recent press offerings which sometimes ignore the curmudgeon rule altogether).

Anyhow, http://members.cox.net/internationalmegastar/fall/reviewer.html

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Tom Hingley (ex-Inspiral Carpet) and the Lovers (including Steve and Paul Hanley) tour dates:

Sep. 28    Blowup Metro, London
Oct. 19    Fibbers, York
Oct. 24    Barfly, Glasgow
Oct. 25    Club 204, Greenock
Oct. 26    Drummonds, Aberdeen
Nov. 01    Barfly, Cardiff
Nov. 02    Leopard Club, Doncaster

further details on Tom's website: http://www.tomhingley.co.uk/

Oct. 15, 2002

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. The Freedonia list is out of action.