so i just saw the fall

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i am not an educated 'fall' fan. so i just saw the fall at the hollywood knitting factory. the sound was bad, the riffs were repetative and didnt always hold my interest and i couldnt understand a thing mark e smith was saying and he didnt move around at all except to fuckwith the musicians amps. however,it was really good and fun! my question is this: has it always been like this?

― chak, Thursday, 15 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Did they actually finish the set?

― Alacrán, Thursday, 15 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

That's the beauty of the Fall, my friend!

....and who needs monitors?

― Dave225, Thursday, 15 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Always!

― Dr. C, Thursday, 15 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Sometimes the sound is decent.

― Sterling Clover, Thursday, 15 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

wait a minute...are they touring the states now?

sounds like m.e.s. was rather calm which was probably a good thing.

― alan, Thursday, 15 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

See, here's my little dilemma... Oxes and Last Of The Juanitas are playing a show here in Seattle the same night as The Fall... and while I certainly hold high regards for The Fall and their influences on all rock damaged and underground, I can't muster the faith to spend the extra money just for a chance that The Fall might put on a great show, when it's pretty much guaranteed Oxes and Juanitas will rock the house regardless.

There might be a chance that the Oxes show will end early enough such that, if friends are present and willing, will whisk on over to catch The Fall start their set... in which case, owl ist guut. Otherwise, has anyone seen The Fall shred live in their current U.S. tour? I'm very curious, and I'd be very sad if I missed a spectacular Fall gig.

― Brian MacDonald, Thursday, 15 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

m.e.s. is a bloody genius-ah. no regard for any fuckfaces but himself-ah. pockets full of papers full of words-ah. mumbling and whining and occaisionally yelling but never singing-ah. scared the bloody bleeding proletariat shit out of me with mr. pharmacist-ah. the band play well and treat him like a goblin grand father-ah. lots of balding men at the concert-ah, including what must have been-ah john peel's grandad-ah. i am. damo-suzuki-AH.

― Paul Barclay, Thursday, 15 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I didn't get to see them the last time around, 'cos the train wrecked before they could make it my way. But the question is, do 'they' still rock?

― Kerry, Thursday, 15 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

brian, you will go see oxes and the j's, if only because you could have opted to see, say, uh, can in 1980-81 instead of the fall, thereby missing now "classic" fall to see a then "classic" band near death. moral: fresh and new will always triumph over old and, uh, unfresh in the ever progressing oedipal battle that is rock und roll!

― jess, Thursday, 15 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Thank you, Jess. This certainly helps your ILE award campaign, might I add. Not to mention your candidacy for being my ILE arm-around-arm comrade in the Pacific Northwest... right? RIGHT?

― Brian MacDonald, Thursday, 15 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

aye. we shall stand tall like viking loggermen, cutting a swath of style and PURE ROCK POWER throughout the pines.

― redbeard ragnarok, Thursday, 15 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

one year passes...

Me and Sarah went and saw the Fall at Knitting Factory in NYC on Sunday night. We only stayed for the first hour or so because it was fucking packed and fucking hot and I was semi-claustrophobic. It was pretty fun. MES was more eccentric than problematic. He sang without the mic at a fwe times and switched between mics apparently at random, trying to find one he liked. He did spend some time hunched over by the guitar amp with his back to the audience, apparently scribbling lyrics on a piece of player which he gave to the keyboard player to sing while he went offstage for awhile. He fiddled with the bass amp but it didn't seem to affect the sound. At one point, as one song ended, he grabbed the head of the bass and started pulling the bass player offstage. The rest of the band followed and they were offstage for about 5 minutes, then they came back and played more. The band seemed like wankers, but they seemed to know what to expect from MES and didn't get pissed off or anything. Sarah pointed out that he looks like the mysterious midget from Twin Peaks, which is true.

― NA. (Nick A.), Tuesday, 8 July 2003 12:50 (twenty-two years ago)

I'm going to see the Fall TONITE! I am very excited.

― adam (adam), Sunday, 13 July 2003 18:20 (twenty-two years ago)

I'm sad that I've never seen them live. But I have a live bootleg video thing from Perverted By Language that's superawesome.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Sunday, 13 July 2003 20:01 (twenty-two years ago)

Excitement crushed!!! They moved the show w/out warning to TOMORROW night and I already took off work SPECIFICALLY FOR THIS SHOW TONIGHT for there is NO FALL FOR ME. NONE. 'Cause I am working tomorrow night. Damn you MES!

― adam (adam), Monday, 14 July 2003 04:12 (twenty-two years ago)

I really wanted to see them on this tour (damn not being 21). But I honestly can't imagine their recent shows being very great, no matter how much I love the records and idolize MES. He gets nothing but respect from me for refusinig to play "the classics" live, though.

― Clay, Monday, 14 July 2003 04:15 (twenty-two years ago)

i hear the new shows actually are pretty great (though they're no pre-riley-departure lineup). the keyboard player is allegedly MES' new wife, and at most she plays with one hand. hell, i'd go. what do you think the chances of them playing singapore are?

― Dave M. (rotten03), Monday, 14 July 2003 06:43 (twenty-two years ago)

Yep. That's their deal live. The Sound was good in Chapel Hill. I just saw them last Friday.

― doombilly, Monday, 14 July 2003 15:15 (twenty-two years ago)

Miccio, is that the new DVD thing on Cherry Red? I just ordered that and am psyched to see it.

― NA. (Nick A.), Monday, 14 July 2003 15:25 (twenty-two years ago)

the keyboard player is allegedly MES' new wife

Heh, I was wondering about that. She looks pretty young. And bored.

― jaymc (jaymc), Monday, 14 July 2003 15:58 (twenty-two years ago)

Those were my exact thoughts on the matter.

― NA. (Nick A.), Monday, 14 July 2003 17:49 (twenty-two years ago)

Saw them in Chicago. The band's tight enough and all but couldn't really roll with Mark slipping on and off beat; the old rhythm section is totally missed, esp. on loopy epics like Damo.

But Mark sounded great, seemingly fully back in his voice-in-the-wilderness element. A couple of the newer songs sounded best--"Bourgeois Town" (think it's off the second-to last LP) and some odd Burroughsy rant thing. The obligatory "New Big Prinz" was nice, so was "Mr. Pharmacist." Their version of "Mere Pseud Mag Ed." proved, once again, that this song is completely unplayable live. Every version I've ever heard other than the one on Hex Enduction sucks; so did this one.

They played at Empty Bottle, and the basementy set-up helped. Certainly beat the two shows I saw in the 90s, which except for Brix being at the second, were song-for-song identical ...

― brian nemtusak (sanlazaro), Monday, 14 July 2003 18:13 (twenty-two years ago)

BTW, anyone know what Brix's been doing since she quit again?

(Mark's only bit of onstage patter: "It's great to be here-ah ... in the home ... of the blues.")

― brian nemtusak (sanlazaro), Monday, 14 July 2003 18:15 (twenty-two years ago)

I still don't know why I loved his Minneapolis show. His vocals were turned up to loud, but it was great. I heard a security guard's walky-talky in the bathroom when the fuse blew, and it sounded exactly like Mark E. Smith.

― Pete Scholtes, Tuesday, 15 July 2003 03:53 (twenty-two years ago)

i want mes to do a whole show via walky talky. he could be sitting upstairs in the club owner's office, piped through the PA. it would be genius.

― Dave M. (rotten03), Tuesday, 15 July 2003 05:40 (twenty-two years ago)

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