18 Oct	Von Südenfed at Heaven, London. Ticketweb, Seetickets
2 Nov	Albert Halls, Bolton. Tickets on sale on Wegottickets, Ticketline, Seetickets and from Alan Wise (see below). Support: Gabrielle's Wish.
22 Nov	The Barfly Club, Birmingham. Tickets from Wegottickets, Ticketweb, Ticketline, Swordfish and from Alan Wise (see below). Support: Miss Halliwell (myspace page)
30 Nov	The Galtymore, Cricklewood, London. Tickets (£16 + fees) from Wegottickets, Ticketline, Ticketweb, Seetickets, Star Green, and Rough Trade. 200 tickets will be reserved for sale at the door. Support: Safi Sniper, Gabrielle's Wish, and "surprise comical guest."
6 Dec	Von Südenfed at the Festival des Transmusicales de Rennes, France, according to their myspace page (note: previously listed as 8 December). Cancelled.
7 Dec	Von Südenfed at Apolo, Barcelona, according to the VS myspace page. Mouse on Mars will play instead.
17 Jan	Xylourgeio Mylou, Thessaloniki, Greece
19 Jan	Gagarin 205, Athens, Greece. Advance tickets (€25) from Ticket House (Panepistimiou St. 42) and ticketpro.gr); €30 at the door.
28 Feb	Von Südenfed at the Borealis Contemporary Music Festival, Bergen, Norway. So MES didn't get the sack from Süd after all.
4 Mar	The Robin, Bilston, near Wolverhampton. 01902 401211. With I, Ludicrous supporting.
5 Mar	Union Society, Newcastle University. 0191 263 5000 / 0191 233 0444. With I, Ludicrous. seetickets, ticketline. With I, Ludicrous supporting.
6 Mar	Corporation, Sheffield. 0114 276 0262. With I, Ludicrous. seetickets, ticketline
7 Mar	Carling Academy, Liverpool. 0844 477 2000. With I, Ludicrous and Bobbie Peru. seetickets, ticketweb
9 Mar	The Point, Cardiff. Box office: 02920 460 873
12 Mar	Astoria, London. Tickets: 0870 4000688. With I, Ludicrous and Bobbie Peru. seetickets
16 Mar	Tripod, Dublin. Box office: 0818 719 300
17 Mar	Carling Academy, Oxford. 0844 277 400. seetickets, ticketweb, wegottickets
19 Mar	Roadmender, Northampton. 01604 604020. With I, Ludicrous. seetickets, ticketweb, wegottickets
20 Mar	Stylus, Leeds University Union. 0113 3801 373 (Uni.) / 0113 245 5570 (Jumbo Records). With I, Ludicrous
21 Mar	Maxwell Hall, University of Salford. Balcony seats (200 @ £19 plus booking fees) available through Ticketline only (0161 832 1111). With Bobbie Peru. Standing floor tickets (1000 @ £17 plus booking fees), available through Ticketline, wegottickets, Salford University Union; Vibes, Bury; Endless Music, Prestwich; King Bee, Chorlton; Piccadilly Records, Oldham Street; and with no booking fee from Alan Wise, 26 Lockett Gardens, Manchester M36BJ (enclose an SAE and check for £17).
24 Mar	The Welly, Hull. 01482 221113, buywellystuff, seetickets
26 Mar	The Dome, Morecambe. 01524 582803
28 Mar	Fat Sam's Live, Dundee, according to ticketline and ticketmaster
29 Mar	The Ferry, Glasgow. With Bobbie Peru
30 Mar	The Ferry, Glasgow. With Bobbie Peru

I, Ludicrous and/or Bobbie Peru (former Fall bassist Ding's new band) supporting on several dates of the UK the tour.

Does anyone know if the band played Thessaloniki on the 17th?

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added 21 January

I've added an RSS newsfeed for the Fall news. If you want to subscribe, click the little orange icon at the top of this page.

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added 20 January; updated 21 January

Saturday, 19 January     Gagarin 205, Athens

Tommy Shooter / 50 Year Old Man / Wolf Kidult Man / Theme from Sparta FC / Fall Sound / I've Been Duped / Pacifying Joint / Senior Twilight Stock Replacer > walk off / Wings / Mr. Pharmacist / Blindness // White Lightning

Thanks to Costas for the setlist and Mark for the bizarrely wonderful poster. Reviews and photos on the message board.

 

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added 18 January

Jonathan Tingle wrote in to mention a benefit gig he's organizing that may appeal to Fall fans in the London area.

I am hoping that through the Fall website you might help me promote a special charity gig I have organised for a children’s charity called Voice who help vulnerable young people in care by providing an independent advocacy service. It is definitely a gig a lot of the Fall fans who look at the website will like.

Saturday 2nd Feb 2008 @ The Dirty Water Club

Vic Goddard & Subway Sect
The Wildebeests
The Creepy Morons
Spider Webb special guest DJ!

Only £8 http://www.wegottickets.com/event/24209 8.30pm - 3am!

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added 1 January; updated 18 January

Ian Kershaw wrote in to mention a series -- Start! -- that he's written for Radio 4. MES appeared in the first two episodes, playing the part of Drunk. Part one was aired on 10 January and part two was last night. Info on the BBC page.

I'm into CB on the forum has posted clips of the two MES bits: part one / part two.

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added 16 January; updated 20 January

Nick Stone has had the good fortune to read Renegade: The Lives and Tales of Mark E. Smith and says it's "the best music autobiography I've read since Charles Mingus's Beneath the Underdog." More on his blog.

And now Strontium Dawg on the forum's got his paws on a copy:

I've been lucky enough to get a copy, and I'm about a third of the way through. So far it's an absolute doozy, everything a Fall fan would want from a Mark E Smith book. I say 'Fall fan', because if you didn't know a lot about their history and weren't up to speed with recent Fall happenings, you simply wouldn't understand what he was talking about. It chucks away all the normal rules of autobiography, beginning not with an introduction to him, the band, his childhood etc, but with a rant against Ben Pritchard. (Specifically the interview that appeared on here. And this site is mentioned in line 18 of the book, boys and girls, so we best have a quick tidy round and get the biscuits in before the publication date, as we may have guests.)

For a fan it's an incredible opening and certainly makes you think twice about the content of the original interview. Indeed, the book so far really humanises Mark in a way that I've not seen done before. He virtually admits that a lot of the MES the world sees he partly puts on for protection, and there are loads of little eye-opening revelations like that, alongside -- as you'd expect -- hilarious observations about everything from Hammer horror films to Big Brother, a ton of one-liners and some brilliant insight into his work ethic. All of it done in a way that really rewards long-time followers of the band because it simply doesn't bother fleshing out details for newcomers.

I'm only a third of the way through. Exhaustion got the better of me last night, but if it hadn't I could easily have read it one go, it's that kind of book.

Amazon UK says it's out on 24 April; HMV UK says 1 Feb; Play.com says 28 Feb. Any other dates going?

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added 16 January

"Good evening, we are The Fall" is the first of (hopefully) a series of musical evenings made up of The Fall's vinyl output.

Dave Guttridge (who usually plays only shellac as DJ78) will be playing a personal and quite random selection of The Fall's music from 8pm - midnight at The Birdcage, 23 Pottergate, Norwich NR2 1DS. Admission is free and Dave is planning to produce a small fanzine for the occasion.

It's a small venue, so numbers will be limited (40 - ish) - get there early for a seat. Requests will be considered on the night.

For any more info, please email dj78rpm@gmail.com or see myspace.com/dj78rpm

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added 11 January

Sad news: the finest banjo player in garage rock, Dave Day of the Monks, died yesterday.

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added 7 January

There's a terrific documentary on the Flying Nun record label on youtube. It's split into nine parts and "The Fall debacle" is briefly mentioned at the end of part three.

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added 4 January; updated 5 January

Cog Sinister on the forum has revealed the title of the next Fall album: Latch Key Kid.

CD Baby has a sneak peak, perhaps. And there's a bit about it in the latest Mojo:

Title: TBC
Due: March/April
Songs: Wolf Adult Kid / 50 Year Old Man / I've Been Duped
Production: Mark E. Smith and Grant Showbiz
The Buzz: "I did it in May and June last year in Von Sudenfed's studio in Dusseldorf," says indefatigable Fall kaiser Mark E. Smith. "There's a different band from last time, three English lads -- the guitarist was in Pubic Fringe and the rhythm section from Ramsbottom -- and Elenor (Smith's keyboardist wife). The American band who played on the last one had their own stuff to do. It's not electronic at all. It's got that 'metalicness' you get in Germany. And I got Grant Showbiz to do some in Chelsea. There is a theme, yes, around age, sort of thing... ha ha! It's fucking great, but we've got to get a deal since Sanctuary got bought out."

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added 4 January

There was a clip of the Fall's 1 April 2007 performance on the BBC4 documentary "Last Man in Hammersmith Palais," which aired on 24 December. It'll be repeated on BBC4 at 2:10 a.m. next Tuesday (8 January), of if you're in the UK you can watch it on the BBC site.

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added 20 December

The BBC has a video of MES reading H.P. Lovecraft's "The Colour out of Space".

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added 19 December

Conway has revamped the site's discography and he's done a really great job, I think. Have a look!

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added 17 December

Suzanne Smith is selling signed, limited edition (100), prints of two Fall singles covers: There's a Ghost in My House and Hey! Luciani.

• Ghost print is 40 x 40 cm, price £35
• Luciani print is 56 x 30 cm, price £35

Postage, including recorded delivery, is extra:

• UK: £4
• Europe: £5
• Elsewhere: £6

She's also taking offers for her original paintings of the above. Ghost is 12x12 inches and there are two Luciani 7x7 paintings (front and back of cover).

Paypal is the preferred method of payment. You can reach Suzanne at suzanne.smith37@tesco.net.

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added 14 December

David / Cog Sinister has posted a message from Mark on the forum:

I am very pissed off with a minority of back stabbers/slaggers who accuse me of pulling gigs owing to being "drunk".
I find this personal and very offensive. Check the last 30 years and find out the cancellation rate... minimal.

For your information, I have been suffering from a throat infection and my wife down with a full blown flu virus. We received the itinerary of the sudenfed gigs during this, which if you connect the dots with straight lines, resembles a knitting pattern for a fair-isle fucking jumper.

Manchester-Heathrow-Paris-3 hour drive Rouen-do gig-back to Paris-Paris-Munich-Madrid-Barcelona-do gig-Barcelona Madrid-Munich-Paris-Heathrow-Manchester----???????? of course we couldn't make it.

To the rest of you, behave yourselves, and have a lovely xmas and a good good new year.. thanks Cog for the use of your space.

Mark

PS. I got the sack from sud

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added 12 December

MESSING UP THE PAINTWORK

A Conference on the Aesthetics and Politics of Mark E. Smith and The Fall

Mark E. Smith remains one of the most interesting and idiosyncratic figures in popular music after a recording career with his band The Fall that spans 30 years. While The Fall were originally associated with the contemporaneous punk explosion, from the beginning they pursued a highly original vision of what was possible in the sphere of popular music. While other punk bands died out after a few years only to reform twenty years later as their own cover bands, The Fall continued evolving, while at the same time retaining a remarkable consistency despite frequent line-up changes that soon left Mark E. Smith as the one permanent member of the group. More than this both Mark E. Smith’s lyrics and the music of the group itself seem to reincarnate many twentieth century currents from modernist aesthetics to pulp fiction, for example in Smith’s well-known fascination with “Weird Tales” and writers as diverse as M. R. James, H. P. Lovecraft and Wyndham Lewis. At the same time, Mark E. Smith never wanted to be known as even a punk poet and his lyrics have always been inseparable from working with or rather against the changing members of his group. These antagonistic relations bring us to the difficult question of the politics of Mark E. Smith that have been interpreted as everything from working class conservatism to extreme radicalism and have seemed to constantly shift and mutate over the years. Perhaps the key aspect of the group that the conference will bring out is precisely the centrality of antagonism to Mark E. Smith and The Fall as a strictly maintained critical attitude to everything from musicians within The Fall to the wider musical and cultural sphere.

Paper proposals are being solicited for this conference, which will aim to address some of the following issues in relation to Mark E. Smith and The Fall:

• The Fall in relation to the Manchester music scene from 1977 to the present
• The Fall and their punk and art-punk contemporaries (The Buzzcocks, The Mekons, Joy Division etc.)
• The Fall and antagonism both within the group and with the wider musical and cultural field
• Mark E. Smith and ‘Pulp Modernism’; The Fall in relation to 20th Century aesthetics
• The cultural politics of Mark E. Smith and The Fall
• Mark E. Smith and (Northern) working class culture
• Ghosts and hauntings in The Fall, from pulp horror to rock music to radical politics
• Extra-musical projects and collaborations (Michael Clarke, I am Curious Oranj etc.)
• The Fall and contemporary music; influences and further antagonisms

Keynote speaker: Mark Fisher—regular contributor to The Wire, Sight and Sound, Fact magazine and Frieze and a Founding member of the Cybernetic Culture Research Unit but best known for his Weblog, k-punk.abstractdynamics.org. which recently featured an innovative series of essays on The Fall and Pulp Modernism. Currently he is a visiting fellow at the Centre for Cultural Studies, Goldsmiths, University of London.

The symposium will take place at the University of Salford on the 2nd 9th of May, 2008 and will be hosted by the Communication, Cultural & Media Studies Research Centre (www.ccm.salford.ac.uk). If you are interested in participating, please send abstracts and a short bio to Michael Goddard, m.n.goddard@salford.ac.uk, to be received no later than 16 January 2008.

Registration for the event will be £30.

Dr Michael Goddard
A102, Adelphi Building
University of Salford
Salford
M3 6EN

Tel: 01612956076
Email: m.n.goddard@salford.ac.uk

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added 1 December

Friday, 30 November     The Galtymore, Cricklewood, London

Senior Twilight Stock Replacer / Tommy Shooter / Fall Sound / Can Can / 50 Year Old Man / Pacifying Joint / I've Been Duped / Wings / Alton Towers / Strange Town / Systematic Abuse // No Xmas for John Quays

Thanks to Mark and Johnnymills for the setlist. Reviews and a link to a clip of NXFJQ on the message board.

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added 26 November

Michel Bulteau and Pascal Le Gras are showing their book Contreblasons in L'espace Galerie Jean Touzot in Paris (22 rue des Quatre Vents: Tel. (33) 01 40 46 94 09).

The exhibition runs from 28 November through 5 December and there's an opening reception on 28 November with Michel and Pascal.

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added 23 November; updated 26 November

Thursday, 22 November     The Barfly, Birmingham

Tommy Shooter * / Wings > Wolf Kidult Man / Fall Sound / I’ve Been Duped / Can Can / Pacifying Joint / Blindness / What About Us // Systematic Abuse / Mr. Pharmacist

* previously went by the title "I'm Me, Mark"

Setlist TBC. Reviews on the message board. Thanks to Derek for the ticket and Mark & Toby for the setlist. Andy has some photos on Flickr.

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added 5 November

A "classic" album review from 28 October's New Zealand Sunday Star Times' magazine. Thanks to Conway for sending it in.

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added 3 November

Albert Halls, Bolton    2 November 2007

A preliminary stab at the what was actually played:

Reformation / 50 Year Old Man / Theme from Sparta FC / Wings > Wolf Kidult Man / Fall Sound / Alton Towers / Over! Over! / new song (Can Can?) / new song (I'm Me Mark?) / Systematic Abuse / Blindness

Reviews on the message board, and some good photos with many thanks to Kieron. And thanks to David for the setlist.

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added 3 November

Claus Castenskiold has a few of his signed Perverted by Language - Tour posters left. They're 30 x 24 inches on thick paper stock.

$25 for US orders, $30 overseas, postage and sturdy cardboard tube included. Paypal recommended : email is clauscastenskiold@yahoo.com.

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added 29 October; updated 1 November

Parts 1 - 4 of a very entertaining interview with MES from vbs.tv's Soft Focus programme, recorded earlier this year.

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added 26 October

This interview with MES from the 9 March 2007 Edinburgh Evening News slipped through the Fall News cracks. Thanks to Jason for spotting it.

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added 23 October

As you might have noticed, Conway and I have decided to change the name of this site from the Unofficial Fall website to The Fall online. You may remember we adopted the "unofficial" tag when Mark gave us the boot early last year and set up shop at www.thefall.info. However, the Official website has been kaput for a couple of months now, making our "unofficial" name a bit redundant. Thus the new, snappier, The Fall online.

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added 19 October

Friday, 18 October     Von Südenfed at Heaven, London

In no particular order:

Speech Contamination/German Fear of Osterreich > Rhinohead > Fledermaus Can't Get Enough > Serious Brainskin > Family Feud > Flooded > The Young the Faceless and the Codes > That Sound Wiped > (ENCORE) Slow Down Ronnie?

Reviews on the message board.

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added 19 October

Derek Erdman:

I'll be playing another 4 hours of The Fall with filmmaker Amy Cargill on Tuesday October 30th.

It's from 10pm-2am at Danny's which is at 1951 W. Dickens in Chicago, IL USA.

I have plans for 2 more before the year is up, one in NYC and another in Los Angeles. In January I plan on doing a 24 hours marathon with different DJs at my house, which is just similar enough to a bar, though people will have to bring their own booze because I'm not going to jail.

The 7 hour Fall Night is Seattle was great and a lot of people came and everybody had fun.

www.derekerdman.com

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added 16 October

Thanks to da fox for forwarding this bulletin from The Residence (in Hackney, London):

S p e c t r e . v s . R e c t o r

FROM: Rev. MARC VAULBERT de CHANTILLY
TO: Dear Parishioner

ALL HALLOW'S EVE. I'll rip your fat body to pieces. Do NOT lock me out. I was NOT born in Hampshire. I am NOT M. R. James. I am THE RECTOR. Do NOT lock me out. I am a BONONIAN. My HATE is CRISP. I am SOAKED in BLOOD. I AM The Rector and I AM SOAKED IN BLOOD. Douglas Park is THE DEACON. Ranga padem. I am The Rector. Unlock your doors and bring me FLOWERS. I wash EVERY DAY and I AM THE RECTOR. You are UNCLEAN. Bring me FLOWERS. Do NOT lock me out. I am The Rector AND I am THE CURATE. Raúl Piña Pérez is THE SPECTRE and Mark McGowan is THE INSPECTOR. Simon Ould is THE HERO. Ranga padem. I am The Rector. You are UNCLEAN. You are THE DRUDGE NATION, A NATION OF NO IMAGINATION. Take those flowers away. You are UNCLEAN. Your DECADENT SINS will REAP DISCIPLINE. I am a BLACK BONONIAN BEAST. Do NOT lock me out.

HERE IS FUNERAL DECORATION FOR THE DRUDGE NATION. HERE IS MY CURE OF SOULS:

Elaine Arkell / Majed Aslam / Anna Barratt / Luke Brennan / Vanessa Brown / Sam Burford / Gail Burton / Blair Butterfield / Luis Carvajal / Cedric Christie / Toby Clarkson / Patrick Coyle / Clem Crosby / Richard Crow / Sohrab Crews / Adrian Dannatt / Dædalus / Daisy Delaney / Oliver Dungey / Jack Duplock / Deej Fabyc / Bern Roche Farrelly / Jon Fawcett / Tim Flitcroft / Laura Oldfield Ford / Karl French / Gaia Giacometti / Jason Gibilaro / Polly Gould / Anthony Gross / Mark Hammond / Michael Hampton / Pauline Hoare / Lucinda Holmes / Jenny Holt / Robin Holt / Marc Hulson / Calum F. Kerr / Damian Le Bas / Delaine Le Bas / Adrian Lee / Harry Levene / Alan Liddiard / Cathy Lomax / Mandy McCartin / Mark McGowan / John McLeod / Lee Maelzer / Micalef / Alex Michon / Alex Gene Morrison / Jurgen Ots / Simon Ould / Russell Oxley / Douglas Park / Tony Peakall / Cath Pearson / Raúl Piña Pérez / Brendan Quick / Zak Reddan / Claudia Reyes / Jill Rock / Aeon Rose / Geraldine Ryan / Kurt Ryslavy / Paul Sakoilsky / Steve Schepens / Liam Scully / Niki Sehmi / Bob and Roberta Smith / Dave Smith / Rose Smith / Sarah Sparkes / Matthew Stradling / Jonni Stutterer / Peter Suchin / Damian Swarbrick / Carina Thorén and John Chantler / Mike Watson / Katsunobu Yaguchi / Yog Sothoth (David C. West) / Ingrid Z

FROM: 1 NOV. to 1 DEC. 2007, every THURS, FRI, SAT and SUN, 1 TO 5 PM. R.S.V.P. for OPENING PARTY (with EXORCISM) on HALLOWEEN (31 OCT.), 6 till 10 PM. YOG SOTHOTH WILL LURK. THE APATHY BAND WILL PLAY. LUIS CARVAJAL WILL FEED THE FIVE THOUSAND. TIM FLITCROFT WILL SLEEP OVER. Accompanying booklet and CD.
THE RESIDENCE: NOT at Whitminster, but AT THE VERGER'S COTTAGE, through black wooden gate to the RIGHT of St Mary of Eton Church, Eastway, Hackney Wick, LONDON, E9 5JA. PHONE: 020 8986 2324. BUSES: 26 (Waterloo), 30 (Marble Arch), 236 (Finsbury Park), 388 (Blackfriars). TRAIN: Hackney Wick.

FROM: CHORAZINA
FOR: THE UNFALLEN. And meanwhile and meanwhile. You can only tell stories nowadays if it's all down on paper, so we're breaking it in easy for you. Listen to the song 'Spectre vs. Rector' by Mark E. Smith and The Fall, on the albums 'Dragnet' (1979) and 'Totale's Turns' (1980). It concerns Montague Rhodes James (1862-1936), Provost of Eton College, and author of "Ghost Stories of an Antiquary" (1904). Eton College founded the Eton Mission at Hackney Wick in 1880, to bring Christianity and Charitable Works to the poor of the East End. The result is there for all to see. In 1890 the foundations of the Church of St Mary of Eton were laid.

I HAVE WAITED SINCE CÆSAR FOR THIS.

HAIL THE NEW PURITAN.

RIGHT.

RAPE ME, LORD.

 

 

 

 

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