Irish Centre, Leeds, Wednesday, 21st March 2007 (merged)

Wow, was this really the same band I saw at Blackburn? Blinding gig, massive turnout and a very enjoyable reggae CD instead of safi (let’s hope he’s gone for good). On at 10.15 Reformation/Pacifying/Over/Fall Sound/Sparta/Hungry Freaks/Door/Wright Stuff then off. No applause, strangely, but they come back and do Blindness/Lightning/Systematic off again and back for Mountain Energi/What About Us. MES was more focussed than I’ve seen him for ages and even indulged in some good humoured banter with the band. More of the same tonight in Holmfirth please Mark. Hope to see some of you in The Rose and Crown before the gig.

What a great gig!!! Those not seen 'em yet are in for a real treat!

'Can we have a normal mix please, not a Yorkshire mix'.

I nearly stopped laughing at the roadie's hair (I'm just jealous really) when MES muttered that.

Storming set, don't know why they walked off after 30 or so minutes, really glad they came back. Set list looks about right, I did try and note it down, but then they went into 'Sparta' and all off a sudden I'm down the front, bellowing along with the rest of the crowd.

Highlights? It was all a highlight. Twin bass works so well, the guitar style seems to be working too (or maybe I've just mellowed to Tim's more subtle style). Orpheo's a great drummer, not flashy, not dull, just right.

Only downside of the night for me was missing most of 'Blindness' by using the facilities while the group took their mid-set break. Rather damp in the gents - urgh.

Till tonight!

Decent show IMO, much better than the recorded versions. Systematic Abuse in particular. Liked the support band also. Just about made the tortuous train journey home worthwhile.

Good to see the Smith familiy in attendance and looking well.

MES seemed particlarly pleased at re-discovering his ability to go "Drrrrrrrrrrrrrr".

Bless him.

Agree with ExiledManc, this was a better show than Blackburn. I've got nothing but praise for last night's show. (I'll just ignore the fact that they did White Lightening, it seemed to please the crowd).

The big improvement for me was MES himself. I thought that the best bits of Blackburn were when he was singing. Well, last night, you couldn't shut him up. He was even talking between tracks - did he really say 'thankyou' after he got applauded for one track, and possibly again later. He even came on and sang a couple of verses in Wright Stuff. Incidentally, Elena delivered a very Smith like verbal rant during this track.

Funny as hell to start. Rob walked on alone while Das Boat played on the intro tape. He was there for a good couple of minutes on his own looking very uncomfortable. We speculated as to whether MES had let him walk on and then kept the rest of the band back for a couple of minutes. Reformation was the opening track, which was odd because it was the finale in Blackburn. Actually, I preferred the Blackburn version of this, and also preferred the Blackburn intro of Insult Song/Bad Stuff, but that's not a criticism. just want to point out that Blackburn had its highlights as well.

My Door was exceptionally good, and Systematic Abuse was all that it should be. Throughout the set, MES seemed to be adlibbing, mixing the lines in Mountain Energei for instance, and all to good effect. He did indeed look a legend last night.

I went through with Toby Dynamik, and we met up with Pomfob and his mates in the Scarborough beforehand. Then we linked up with Chris Goodhead, Josef and his wife at the do, and had a very brief chat with Nordwest before leaving. It all added to a good night. The best thing though was the crowd. It looked full in there. When me and Toby arrived on the car park, it was chocka. We wondered if there was also a Bingo night on or something. Nope, it was all for The Fall. MES knew he'd got a good audience and responded, I think.

To finish, they did a spontaneous number. Having come on for a second encore (after a wardrobe change!) it looked like they were going to have to do more numbers than they'd rehearsed. MES gathered the band round the drums. "We need another song, what do we know? I know, What About Us, we can do that." So they launched into said Shipman track. I expected it to be half baked as it was a last minute decision. In fact it was as tight as a duck's chuff, went on for ages, and MES stayed till the end. Top night.

have to agree with the above reviews, Mark did seem to actually be enjoying it, the sound was tight all night. much better than the last time they played up here, when he ordered ben off stage at one point.

I htink they walked off due one of the bass amps breaking after mark had been playing with it.

anyway great show-really this american lot need to stay on for a while.

Yeah it was a very good Fall show. I think the band are really on top form at the moment. Apart from the drums having a very dull sound the rhythm section sounded great. It seemed that Rob was the beefy bass player. Dave Spur was barely audible at times, maybe having amplifier problems which were definitely sorted by the end of What About Us with a thuddy repetition of the last note over and over.

Repetition was quite a theme really of last nights set really, and the Fall Sound in general at the moment. I think it works very well. Lots of lenghty repetitive riffs. They do allow the guitar to be choppy or sublimely rhythmic. Mountain Energei was kind of dreamy and Systematic Abuse was astonishing. The repetition of the song and the lyrics... it is the same.... quite powerful really. Systematic Abuse definitely the highlight. Although mention must go to a great Wright Stuff and Hungry Freaks Daddy (where in the "break" I realised Rob sand a snippet from a Beefheart number... something off Safe As Milk... "that ain't no (?) for me bossman let me be" - although I thought it was Bo Diddley at the time).

One thing though, and I don't usually count myself as a look back bore, is that although the Yanks play the new stuff really, really well - the Fall Heads Roll stuff isn't quite on a par with the best of the previous band. Mountain Energei, Blindness (very short version this), What About Us and Sparta just not as... what's the word... I dunno... not as there as the Fall Heads Roll group could be at their best. I reckon they just drop these "oldies" because the new songs are better anyway, and they're the better band overall.

And thank fuck no Mr Pharmacist, which is what I thought we'd get when Smith turned to his band at the end and said, "Do we know any other songs?"

WAS I AT THE SAME GIG AS YOU LOT ?
THIS WAS MY 21ST FALL GIG AND ONE OF THE MOST DISSAPOINTING
A COUPLE OF MATES WITH ME THOUGHT IT AWFUL WHICH IS HARSH
I WOULD DESCRIBE IT AS AVERAGE
THE LAST TIME I SAW THEM WAS AT THE BOARDWALK,SHEFFIELD WHICH WAS AWSOME
I THOUGHT LAST NIGHT WAS BLAND AND UNINTERESTING
EVEN THE AUDIENCE,WHICH WAS THE BIGGEST IVE EVER SEEN AT THE IRISH CENTRE ,SEEMED SUBDUED ( PROBABLY BECAUSE IT TOOK 20 MINUTES TO GET TO THE BAR)
IT DID IMPROVE TOWARDS THE END AFTER A SLOW START
MY DOOR,MOUNTAIN ENERGEI AND SYSTEMATIC WERE GOOD
THE REST,WRIGHT STUFF APART,SEEMED TO ALL BLEND INTO ONE
A MATE SUMMED IT UP BY LABELLING THIS BAND A 'ONE TRICK PONY'
IM INCLINED TO AGREE
WE WANT M.E.S. TO START WRITING PROPER FALL SONGS AGAIN,GREAT STORIES,GARDEN,SPECTOR,DR BUCKS,J TEMPERANCE ETC
SORRY TO PUT A SPANNER IN

Picky by name, picky by nature....

Actually, I do agree with you to an extent, but your criticism is true of the current state of play in The fall. I'd like to see a bit more thought go into the lyrics, but I thought that the gig itself was fine. One of the reasons that I thought it was so good was that MES actually seemed to be adding lines to the songs, so there were more lyrics. Maybe that was just a perception.

Still think that there are a lot of earlier numbers that this band could do really well. Drop White Lightening and do Crop Dust for instance.

MAYBE I AM BECOMING MORE PICKY IN MY OLD AGE
BUT,I KNOW THEY ARE MUCH BETTER THAN THIS
BOTH LIVE AND IN THE STUDIO
WEDNESDAY NIGHT'S PERFORMANCE WAS A REFLECTION ON RPTLC....AVERAGE.
M.E.S. IS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING GENIUS
I STILL BELIEVE HE WILL AGAIN
LOOKING FORWARD NOW TO THE NEXT BAND,THE NEXT GIG, AND THE NEXT LP
LETS HAVE THE CREATIVITY OF TNSG OR THE UNNUTTERABLE
INSTEAD OF THE DULLNESS OF SHIFT WORK

There's glimpses of his former genius on RPTLC, in The Usher and Scenario for instance. You're preaching to the converted here. I'm a look back bore and happy enough about it. I still found the Leeds gig quite re-assuring though.

When you hear the Von Sudenfed album, you will realize that you are absolutely right. It is top notch.

On Dime.

About time

Thanks!

...dont suppose anyone has any recordings or pics of the gig?! ive a few pictures if anyone wants 'em posting?!