The Fall online - latest Fall News

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added 25 January

My thoughts on this sunny, dismal morning.

Being an aphant (I have no visual memory nor mind’s eye, just blackness when my eyes are shut), words are particularly important to me. And since hearing the news about 24 hours ago that Mark E. Smith had died, I’ve struggled with the words to say how I feel. But his death, and the end of The Fall, are too big an obstacle for me to surmount and my shaky words that now come to mind will have to do.

The Fall has been part of my daily routine for over thirty years. I was a passing fan when I lived in England (I moved to the USA in 1985), but landing in Boston and tuning into WZBC, WMBR, and WFNX, where The Fall was played often, soon turned me into a fanatic. I started collecting everything I could lay my hands on, scouring the racks of Newbury Comics and In Your Ear and the used record stores of Harvard Square. I was obsessed.

When I logged on to the Internet in 1993, my first stop was the Fallnet mailing list, where I met people like me: fanatics. I started swapping live tapes, amassing literally every Fall gig and radio session I could. I still have all these decaying cassettes in a tall rack screwed into my wall, to be supplanted by CDRs and downloaded Flacs—I have no idea how many there are of these daft things—hundreds and hundreds.

In 1996 I began compiling set lists culled from these tapes into a gigography, which I posted on Geocities. Right away other fanatics started emailing me and we slowly filled in the gaps—an ongoing, never-to-be-completed process. Soon Rich Kidd (Fall News), Jeff Curtis (Lyrics Parade), and I (gigography and bibliography) joined forces to build a comprehensive Fall website.

In 1999 Rich jumped ship and I took over the Fall News. Soon Conway Paton took over the discography and Lyrics Parade, and launched the forum. Mark hired somebody to do an official Fall website, but it never got off the ground, since it wasn’t being run by fanatics. He tried making our site “official” for a while, but when he realized he couldn’t control what was said on the forum or what I posted on the Fall News, we quickly returned to our unofficial status. The website was *always* geared toward Fall fans and, to the consternation of Fall management, not a mouthpiece for Mark. Thus when I met him at gigs over the years, it was uneasy. I wish we could’ve been friends, but it was never to be.

But that hardly matters when I have all this Fall material at my disposal. Hundreds of songs, which never manage to get old despite every chord, every bark and yelp, being long-lodged in my DNA.

When I'm dead and gone
My vibrations will live on
In vibes on vinyl through the years
People will dance to my waves

Requiescat in pace, M.E.S. The world is bereft.

Tributes and obits on the forum.

Stay tuned for an IN MEMORIAM Fall News edition - I'm gathering the best tributes, links etc. Will probably be several days, since more and more is coming in.

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added 30 November

The Bristol gig was cancelled moments before showtime, when the group read an announcement from the stage. Thank you stardream_girl for posting a video on Instagram.

This morning Pamela Vander posted on Instagram that the gig tonight in London has also been cancelled. The message also included some words from Mark. The announcement & message:

FALL NOTICE: Good morning. Unfortunately as with The Fall show last night in Bristol (cancelled last minute) I'm sorry to say the same will be happening tonight. The London KoKo Club show is now CANCELLED. Can anyone who knows people going etc help get the word out... I really don't want people travelling for no reason in this bitter cold. I know it's not as last minute as last night, but it's still last minute in my eyes. And I'm really, really sorry. I can't think of much to say today, as all my focus is on Mark. And we are all a bit gutted. It's been a weird year. But the man himself has a message for you all, so I'm gonna post that right here, under this... Best, Pam V, manager. P.S big thanks to the promoter for both shows, Tobi, for being a real stand-up guy.

A Message to All, to All. From Mark E. Smith/The Fall group. As I, like Pr Rupert leave Bristol with my tail between my legs, I wish to give my great apologies to everybody. This idiotic idea to do both shows was purely my idea, against the advice of Pamela and The Fall group, agent & promoter. Hope to replace shows within 4 - 6 weeks. In the interim we have eight new songs ready to go and will try and let you hear a few before Christmas. From head patient to you, the patients. I love you all but cannot embrace you all, Mark E. Smith

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added 5 November

Saturday, 4 November 2017 Queen Margaret Union, Glasgow

Wolf Kidult Man / Over! Over! / Fall Sound / Blindness / Brillo de Facto / First One Today / Dedication Not Medication / Fol de Rol / Groundsboy / Second House Now / New Facts Emerge / Auto Chip 2014-2016 / Bury // Stout Man

Reviews on the forum; thanks to Graeme Walker for the setlist and Phil Lancaster for the photo.

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added 24 October

Monday 23 October 2017 Boiler Shop, Newcastle

Wolf Kidult Man / Over! Over! / Fall Sound / Fol de Roll / Blindness / Brillo de Facto / Groundsboy / New Facts Emerge / First One Today / Stout Man / Dedication Not Medication / Auto Chip 2014-2016 / Bury // Mr. Pharmacist

All reports say Mark looked much better than in Wakefield, and Pam confirms there's been some improvement in his health. Here are some very good photos of the gig, including support bands Blood Sport and Trudy and the Romance; also Chris Trew's video of Blindness on youtube. Reviews on the forum here and here. Thanks again to Phil for the setlist.

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added 21 October

Friday 20 October 2017 Unity Works, Wakefield

Songs played as planned: Wolf Kidult Man / Over! Over! / Fall Sound / Fol de Rol / Blindness / Brillo de Facto / Reese Sticks / First One Today / Dedication Not Medication / Second House Now / New Facts Emerge / Auto Chip 2014-2016 / Bury

MES looked very poorly and sang from a wheelchair for about 40 minutes before being wheeled off stage to continue. He was in good voice. There's been a big reaction online about whether or not he should have done the gig, should he pack it in to take care of his health, etc. I agree with Chris Goodhead's comment on the forum:

It is, of course, normal to react to illness and disability however you react. Whether that's concern, admiration, whatever.

What's not fine — and I know this because I'm a social worker with adults and I listen to people talking about it every working day — is to start treating that person differently and think that you decide for that person what is "dignified" what is the "right" thing to do. And you'll only fully understand and realise this for yourself if it happens to you.

The man is a terrific singer in a terrific band. And you (and I) are fans of his music. Nothing more.

He decides what he wants to do. Not anybody else. Nothing has changed there, really!

There's much discussion about the gig on the forum, here and also here (reviews), and a post by Pamela Vander on Instagram. Thanks to Phil for the setlist.

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added 4 October

Karaoke time: The Fallen Women play a free gig at the Museum of London this Saturday, followed by a DJ set by The Quietus's John Doran. Details here.

LTC -------------------

added 4 October

Paul Hanley's book, "Leave the Capital: A History of Manchester Music in 13 Recordings" is published by Route next month. Details and links to playlists and advance signed and numbered copies here.

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added 4 October

Cherry Red has two versions of a Fall singles compilation out on 24 November: a 3xCD A-sides collection, and a 7xCD box with a book and almost all of the B-sides (inexplicably housed on their own discs, i.e. no A-side followed by the corresponding B-side).

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added 1 September

Horrible news. I've just learned that the FOF's elvischomsky, aka Richard Smith, has died.

He was behind that brilliant fake MES Twitter account that MES demanded be removed. And he could well be the "Facebook Troll".

Here's the tribute thread on the forum. RIP, Richard.

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added 25 August

On 25 August Pamela Vander announced cancellation of the 7-night Brooklyn residency in September and the Cropped Out festival in Louisville, citing Mark E. Smith's continuing health problems. Baby's All Right has rescheduled the Brooklyn dates for 19-25 February, 2018. Statements from Pamela Vander and Cropped Out follow:

It is with great regret to announce that Mark E. Smith & The Fall have had to cancel all upcoming U.S shows in New York (Baby’s All Right) & Louisville (Cropped Out Festival) due mostly to terrible timing, reality and a mix of bizarre and rare (true to form) medical issues that Mark is currently being treated for. Unfortunately it would be a gamble on his health to fly anywhere over the next couple of months. Mark’s current problems are connected to his throat, mouth/dental & respiratory system… so throwing all the meds together and continuing with the travel/shows would certainly harm any progress that we have made over the past few weeks.

We understand that this is a huge deal for both American/worldwide fans of The Fall and The Fall themselves, Mark & the guys have been really excited and everyone is gutted about the outcome. However, it’s high-time Mark put his health first and that’s what we are gonna do.

So here’s the good news… NYC has been rescheduled already and we are gonna arrange another show in Louisville. Both promoters have been incredibly helpful & fantastic in securing The Fall a safe passage to America, and this will still be happening in 2018. Your Lord and Saviour Markus E. Smith wants to let you all know that even though he can’t play live for a short while, the cabin fever is spitting out a new album already and new music is now (as ever) The Fall’s main focus.

Cropped Out:

There’s no easy way to say this, folks, so here it is: Due to the most recent hospitalization of our fearless leader Mark E. Smith, The Fall have had no choice but to cancel their U.S. dates for 2017 — Louisville (Cropped Out) included. This is something we’ve been working on since just before Christmas of last year. It was one of our biggest feats as an organization to date and still feels unreal that it was ever going to happen in the first place, perhaps even more unreal that it now will not. But hey…that’s life, ain’t it? These things happen. Most importantly, Mark seems to be hanging tough as always, and for what it’s worth, I’ve been told a re-schedule is already in the works for early 2018. Obviously (for those of you doing the math), we won’t have a festival happening at that time, but…who knows what we can pull off by then. They’ll keep you posted on those dates / details as they unfold. For now, we not only wish M.E.S. a quick and bumpless recovery, but also send our best to the rest of the band, who are no doubt as utterly squashed by today’s bad news as any of us.

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added 11 August

Recent MES press:

Fred Perry Subculture with playlist — to read the full thing you have to click the "Read" link in the second photo.

Another Man

Louder Than War #11 (a six-page interview; haven't read it yet)

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added 26 July; updated 13 August

New Facts Emerge — to these ears it's their best since ~~Your Future Our Clutter~~ The Unutterable. Also a great headphones LP. 8/10

Brillo de Facto is the first video posted on "the official Youtube channel for The Fall" run by Pamela Vander, who has some good photos of the group on her Instagram page.

Pamela also did the painting for the front cover.

Uncut (8/10)

The Afterword

The Arts Desk (3/5)

Soundblab (7/10)

Long Live Vinyl (7/10)

Mojo (4/5)

Drowned in Sound (8/10)

A.V. Club

Norman Records (5/10)

Irish Times (3/5)

The Times (paywall) 2/5

The Digital Fix (6/10)

Louder Than War (9/10)

Pitchfork (6.8/10)

Morning Star (4/5)

The Guardian (3/5)

Q (4/5)

All Music (3.5/5)

Get Into This

We Are Cult (10/10)

The Quietus

Sounds

Review thread on the forum

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added 3 July; updated 2 August

NOTE: This event has been cancelled today due to MES's poor health.

Responding to a Rebel: Mark E. Smith Agent of Chaos

Wed. 2 August 2017. Doors open 8pm, performance starts 9pm

In this exclusive performance, agent of chaos Mark E. Smith will respond to Britain’s original rebel artist Wyndham Lewis. The Fall’s formidable frontman will share his personal response to the work of one of the art world's most controversial figures whose ideas, opinions, and personality enticed and repelled in equal measure.

Set in the dramatic Daniel Libeskind designed Imperial War Museum North, Mark E. Smith will lead a performance of speeches, poems and ramblings driven by roaring live percussion, vintage cassette players and large-scale projections from IWM's archive.

Part of Wyndham Lewis: Life, Art, War, an exhibition and events season about Britain's original rebel artist.

More here, including an incongruous photo that garnered some good captions on the forum.

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added 28 July

Thursday, 27 July 2017 100 Club, London

Wolf Kidult Man / Rees / Brillo De Facto / Over Over / Groundsboy / Dedication Not Medication / First One Today / Fol de Rol / Second House Now / New Facts Emerge / Auto Chip 2014-2016 / Snazzy / Blindness (excerpt - with lyrics from Dedication Not Medication) / Fall Sound / Bury // Mr Pharmacist

MES looked very poorly and sang much of the gig from off stage.

John Thorpe: "The band were on top form, including when Mark left the stage after 'Fol De Rol' to sing from the dressing room ('Second House Now' onwards). Unfortunately, the new keyboard player was completely drowned out throughout. Being a semi-invited event there were twenty-something Bourgeois Fred Perry trendy types in attendance among the audience seemingly most likely not ardent Fall fans? As the 100 Club is a small venue, members of the audience managed to take turns grabbing hold of the microphone. Mark's girfriend made an appearance before the start of 'Snazzy' and thereafter. This was a wristbanded event. The Fred Perry badge in the photo entitled everyone to one 1 free drink (much appreciated).

"Mark during intro of Dedication Not Medication: "Christmas LP...(unintelligable word). Until we wait for LP to come out, we’ll get you a fucking drink. Its your birthday. Just like last year (?) / This is the last year (?)"."

Reviews on the forum, and thanks to Andy Yates for the setlist.

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added 19 July

There's an interview with MES in the September issue of Uncut. I'll post it when the issue is off the shelves — there's nothing particularly new in it including contempt for ex Fall members and "The fucking horrible Fall net". Uncut says New Facts Emerge is "perhaps the strongest" since YFOC.

In case you were wondering, the photo was taken on 4 November 2005.

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added 10 June; updated 3 July

The five-night residency in Brooklyn sold out within three or four hours — Friday and Saturday within 10 minutes! I'd imagine they'll add some dates between New York and Louisville, but a friend in California says no west coast dates are planned.

June 23: Two extra dates added with tickets on sale today at noon New York time. Monday, 11 Sept. and Sunday, 17 Sept.

July 3 update: All seven dates sold out.

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added 21 June

I've updated the Fall gigography (21 years old!) after a very long gap with about 150 new images and many amendments. Thanks to all contributors for your patience.

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added 29 May; updated 31 May

Pre-orders of CD and 2x10" LP now on Cherry Red website, which confirms the release date.

Tunes has posted the tracklisting for New Facts Emerge with a release date of 28 July. Cherry Red asked MES if he wanted to change the title of track 4; it will stay.

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added 29 May

Sunday, 28 May 2017 Transformer, Victoria Warehouse, Manchester

Setlist TBD; reviews on the forum and Louder Than War. Thanks to John Rooney for the setlist.

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added 29 May; updated 1 June

Saturday, 27 May 2017 Bearded Theory Spring Gathering, Catton Park, South Derbyshire

Wolf Kidult Man / Reece Stick / Billo de Facto / Dedication Not Medication / Over! Over! / First One Today / Second House Now / New Facts / Fol de Rol / Autochip 2014-2016 / Snazzy / Pledge

Reviews on the forum, and thanks to Mick Allpress for the setlist.

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added 24 May; updated 27 May

Tuesday, 23 May 2017 Belgrave Music Hall, Leeds

Wolf Kidult Man / Brillo / Over! Over! / Dedication Not Medication / New Facts / First One Today / Second House Now / Pledge / Fol de Rol / Snazzy / 9 Out of 10 / Autochip 2014-2016 // Fall Sound

Setlist TBD. New keyboard player. Reviews on the forum, and thanks to kiespijn for the setlist.

The new keyboard player appears to be Mike Clapham, a comedy promoter based in Manchester. He's on this Adam Buxton podcast, briefly, at about 4m40s.

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added 21 May

As they did so ably in London last March, The Fallen Women provide backing for the second Fall Karaoke night, this time at the Night & Day Cafe in Manchester on 24 June. More info on Facebook, and tickets available here.

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added 7 April

The Official Fall Website says the next LP, "New Facts Emerge", will be released "back end of May". Also good news that the Leeds gig has been rescheduled for 23 May.

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added 31 March; updated 7 April

My very best wishes to Keiron Melling, who bravely stepped in to stop two bullies from picking on a young man on a train near Manchester. Apparently Keiron fell asleep on the train and was severely beaten by the two bullies. Here's a news story about the assault.

Keiron is out of the hospital and resting at home. On 3 April, the Manchester Evening News covered the story.

Lancashire Telegram says the two attackers were arrested on 4 April.

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added 31 March

Brian Edge wrote the first book about The Fall in 1989, "Paintwork". He's written about his on-off relationship with the group for Flux Magazine.

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added 5 March; updated 7 March

A very happy 60th birthday to Mark E. Smith!

The Quietus held their party in East London on Friday night, and judging by the clips and photos it was a great success, particularly The Fallen Women backed by various MESs.

The Quietus also had a feature on their site: Happy birthday Mark E. Smith! The Quietus' 60 favourite Fall songs

Dave Haslam on I Love Manchester: Happy 60th Salford music legend Mark E Smith

BBC Music's Twitterperson not having a good day...

(The above story was eventually picked up by dozens of media outlets, including The Telegraph.)

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added 22 February; updated 8 March

Posted on The Official Fall Website:

The Fall regrets to cancel the show in Newcastle on Thursday 23rd February at the Boiler Shop, this is due to lead singer Mark E. Smith contracting a serious case of influenza coupled with a chest infection, of which both are highly contagious. The Fall promise to fulfil this engagement just as soon as Mark E. Smith is well enough to, between 4-5 weeks. The Fall wish to apologise to all our devout Newcastle and Gateshead followers.

The next day:

Unfortunately, due to Mark’s ongoing flu and chest infection, the scheduled concert at Leeds Belgrave Music Hall tomorrow (Friday 24th February) has been postponed. The Fall apologise to fans planning on attending the Newcastle or Leeds gigs. They will be rescheduled as soon as Mark is well enough.
8 March: Dictionary Pudding, who booked the gig at Bristol Fiddler's, posted a statement from The Fall on their Facebook page on 8th March:
The Fall regrets to cancel the show in Bristol on Friday 31st March at Fiddlers, this is due to lead singer Mark E. Smith contracting a serious case of influenza flu coupled with a chest infection of which both are highly contagious. The Fall promise to fulfil this engagement just as soon as Mark E. Smith is well enough too, between 4/5 weeks. The Fall wish to apologise to all our devoted Bristol followers.

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added 20 February

Mark E. Smith turns 60 soon and The Quietus is throwing a karaoke party in London.

HE IS APPRECIATED! Happy 60th Birthday Mark E Smith: A Night Of Fall Related Shenanigans

Friday March 3, 8pm - 2am
The Brewhouse,
369 & 370 Helmsley Place, E8 3SB London

Karaoke with live Fall covers band the Fallen Women, meaning you are Mark E Smith.

Fall DJs,
Fall films
Guest DJs TBA

Closing psych/ post punk/ garage disco

Tickets: £10
https://www.facebook.com/events/1319707894790844/

[ click poster for large ]

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added 5 February

Friday, 3 February 2017 Tramshed, Cardiff

Setlist TBD. Reviews on the forum, and thanks to Huw Jones for the setlist.

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added 2 February

Wednesday, 1 February 2017 The Assembly, Leamington Spa

Wolf Kidult Man / Cowboy George / Zaptrack / Reece Stick / Dedication Not Medication / Fall Sound / First One Today / 2nd House Now / 9 Out of 10 / Auto Chip 2014-2016 / Brillo // Fol de Rol

Reviews on the forum, and thanks to Phil for the setlist.

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added 30 January

Sunday, 29 January 2017 Concorde 2, Brighton

Mister Rode / Cowboy George / Zaptrack / Wise Ol' Man / Dedication Not Medication / Fol de Rol / Fall Sound / 9 Out of 10 / Quit iPhone / 2nd House Now / Auto Chip 2014-2016 // Mr. Pharmacist

Reviews on the forum, and thanks to Mark for the setlist.

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added 30 January

Saturday, 28 January 2017 CLUB.THE.MAMMOTH.ALL-dayer, Kentish Town Forum, London

Wolf Kidult Man / Cowboy George / Zaptrack / Dedication Not Medication / First One Today / Venice with the Girls / Brillo Filo / Fall Sound / 9 Out of 10 / New Facts / Auto Chip 2014-2016 / Fol de Rol // Mr. Pharmacist / Wise Ol' Man

Reviews on the forum and thanks to Mark for the setlist.

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added 28 January

Friday, 27 January 2017 Engine Rooms, Southampton

Wolf Kidult Man / Cowboy George / Zaptrack / Dedication Not Medication / First One Today / Second House Now / Brillo Filo / Fall Sound / 9 Out of 10 / New Facts / Auto Chip 2014-2016 / Fol de Rol // Mr. Pharmacist / Wise Ol' Man

Many thanks to old friend Ajay for the setlist. Reviews on the forum.

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added 23 January

Saturday, 21 January 2017 CLUB.THE.MAMMOTH.ALL-dayer, Arts Club, Liverpool

Wolf Kidult Man / Cowboy George / new song / Dedication Not Medication / Fall Sound / new song / new song / First One Today / New Facts Emerge / Fol de Rol // Auto-chip 2014-2016

Reviews on the forum, and thanks to Phil for the setlist.

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added 13 January

A plea for information from Grigoriy (Grisha) Kolmakov's father, Kirill Kolmakov.

Grisha (who posted as Is This New on the forum) travelled from Russia to Berlin for the Fall gig on 2 November 2016. He was found dead several hours after the gig having been struck by a subway train. The police don't seem to be considering foul play, but Kirill is not so sure. Here're his emails to another forum member who managed to get Grisha a ticket for the show:

I am the father of Grigoriy, a young man (19 years old) who went to the concert of "The Fall" group in Berlin on 02.11.16 (2 months ago in SO36..). Later, early in the morning (03.11.16) around 5 a.m. he died in an accident nearby in the subway under very mysterious circumstances and, unfortunately, his smartphone was not found. I would highly appreciate ANY INFORMATION about his last day and his contacts. For example, when exactly did you last time see him and was he alone or not... Did something look odd or strange about him? I found you on the Fall online forum -- a friend of mine helped me explore my son's computer -- and from the messages therein. I see, you met Grigoriy (Grisha, a very tall and fragile-looking boy) in the pub or something. I know he got the ticket. If you reply I will send you his photo -- maybe that would help... Many thanks in advance for understanding and the information. I am very sorry to disturb you for such a sad reason.

[A second email] In this story the worst thing is that we will probably never know what Grisha had been doing after the gig -- more than 5 hours before the accident -- and where had he been. His last SMS message to his mother was sent at 1 a.m. on 3 November. He wrote he was fine and resting after the concert. A week after the accident I asked people around the blocks -- every pub or whatever on the Oranienstrasse, where he could sit, eat or drink. I left people bills with his photo and also posted many of them on the streets and at the railway station. Sadly, no one replied except the guy who sold him food in "Chickenberg". However, he said it was too crowded, so nothing useful could have been spotted. Also, it is not clear what happened with his smartphone -- was it lost or stolen. The police don't want to trace it because there is no clear evidence that there was crime or violence involved. Now we are trying to push them to do something about that.

Another bad thing is that the accident happened between two stations (Görlitzer Bahnhof and Schlesisches Tor) out of the video surveillance coverage area. So it is not clear how exactly he ended up under the train. The police report leaves too many questions. later I will tell you more details. It could be neither a suicide nor murder -- I know my son well and see no reason. I don't believe he was killed because of the smartphone either. Maybe he was robbed out of it, which made him feel despair, but still not the reason to kill himself... I think, the best thing you can do is to spread the information among the group fans and ask to recall if anyone remembers anything. It is very likely that Grisha found a company after the concert and they went somewhere to get booze and food... Perhaps someone talked to him during the event.... Maybe " the people who met him before the concert" that you mentioned can tell something useful? Attached find a couple of photos.

If you have any information for Kirill, please email him at kirill_kolmakov@mail.ru

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added 13 January

The Official Fall website suggests that the next Fall album is entitled "New Facts Emerge". No release date offered, but there are T-shirts for sale.

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added 13 January

Brix and the Extricated played their second session on Marc Riley's BBC6 radio programme last night. Tracks were Pneumatic Violet / Damned for Eternity / Lay of the Land / C.R.E.E.P.

Available for listening for about a month on this page.

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