Zodiac, Oxford – 1st night, Tuesday, 3rd April 2007

Cracking show. Great start, tailed off a bit in the middle, blinding end. They may have come back on and done Reformation, but the crowd sauntered off before the lights came back. Even the security guys thought they were coming back. Oh well - another night tomorrow. Setlist here:



but they didn't do What About Us of Reformation. The rest looks about right.

No Hungry Freaks, Daddy?

I don't think they were intending on coming back on after Blindness. MES had taken both of his jackets. Yes, both - he was wearing a leather jacket with another identical leather jacket on top

Fantastic gig in general. Very intense, everything onstage felt more on edge than at Reading or Hammersmith. I felt sorry for Rob at times though - he looked a tad worried and/or angry for a lot of the set, not helped by having his amp switched off for a good chunk of it.

Good to see Systematic Abuse towards at the end of the set, it really didn't work at the beginning in Reading. Blindness as was powerful as always, and made a bit different by MES's bass-reduction.

I enjoyed Mountain Energei more than I have in the past, I think it was very well-placed between the two fast-paced shoutalongs.

Wright Stuff was as good as at Hammersmith, Elani seems to be more confident every time and the sound wasn't tooo bad.

The venue staff didn't seem to have a clue though. I'd heard a couple of reports of crap sound at the Zodiac before but the guy behind the desk tonight was a dickhead. Putting the mic back in the bass drum twice (including once mid-song), 'correcting' MES's live mixing, switching off the vocal mic after it was put in the drum..And the security fella took the microphone off the crowd seconds after it was passed down during Blindness. Useless. It was only that and some old woman groping my arse that put a damper on an otherwise brilliant night.

Also, I really enjoyed Safi tonight. 15-20 minutes is just the right amount of time for him. The second support band were oddly enjoyable too, a nice departure from the usual dirge. In a way I felt guilty for liking them (Fall support bands only exist to frustrate, don't they?) but, well, they were fun.

My third Fall gig in seven days. Great finale.

Nice set list grab Pike. Consortium Jr has just checked into base camp. He says this is best gig of tour???????

ooh yes
the first fall gig in years that i've actually enjoyed and not been dissapointed in some way

I absolutely loved the film thing before the fall came on
there was one bit where elvis just looked really evil

and to the fall

that turning off the bass amps was in turn quite annoying and brilliant

I think it was the start of blindness
the clean faced bass player had got the best bass sound
and mark just came past him and turned it off

I felt sorry for beardy man
he looks so nice and he was really getting into the gig
and then mark keeps picking on him

so then he goes back into his shell and looks bewildered

apart from that, the gig was a stunner

blindness was awesome

yeah, the second band were one of the better Fall support groups. I didn't enjoy Safi's set, it would be alright if he just did the Elvis section and segued it with the band coming on.
Anyway, good gig, "My Door" is one of the highlight live tracks IMO.

What Time were they on last night ? going tonight and saw a comment that they may be on earlier than usual because of Student night ?? Any ideas

The Fall came on at 10.20. I expect people wandered off after Blindness because it was 11.15 and the curfew is normally 11.00.
A lot of hostility towards Safi Sniper, but when you've seen it once and it's eating in to The Fall's slot, you don't really need to see it again. And, let's face it, how many of the audience were seeing The Fall for the first time in the last year?
A couple of other comments: that second support band were fantastic; no Hungry Freaks; MES started singing at least two songs without the mike (White Lightning was one); Systematic Abuse didn't do it for me - it just droned on without the power of Blindness, which was excellent: Dave Spur's bass sound really great before MES's amplifier manipulation.
Maybe I've set my expectations too high, but I thought it was a good performance and no more.

was pete playing?

No, Tim.

Hope Beardy doesn't go... I think he is a good asset and obviously loves the music....

Yeah, that was my fault: well, normally the venue have a club pretty much every night from 23.00, which means gigs finish by 22.30. I know because I promote gigs there myself. But, as it's a chilly Tuesday I guess they just didn't bother with the club last night, whcih meant everything was an hour+ later than I'd expected.

Not sure if there's a club tonight. Normally Wed is student night, but I think it may be out of term time, so again it may be later.

Anyway, pleasure to see Andrew Callsign & Mark again, had no idea you were coming, gents . Sorry I ran off at the end, but I had to get me bus back home & get to bed! I'm told that Cupid Shayne was present too, but sadly I didn't bump into him

N0ught were on 1st. I normally really like these local boys, but I've seen them play far better, I have to say. It seemed a bit generic after the 1st tune. But I'd recommend them in general (& I like their LP very much), & perhaps I was just not in the mood.

Faro surprisingly entertaining: sort of classic rock with UK hip hop over the top; hardly life changing, but a decent listen. Reminded me of a band called Fugazirum (no relation to Fugazi!) that a friend of mine recently booked. Anyway, a shedload better than Resist, whos upported last time The Fall came to town. Probably 3 or 4 shedloads.

My 1st Safi experience...& I loved it! I thought his manipulation of his material was v subtle & the overall effect was exhilirating & disorientating. I’ll admit that 15 mins dilutes the effect a bit, & it works better as a short confusing intro to the band (ie just Sinead O’Connor & Elvis, he could have left out The Eurythmics/Madonna). But anyway, I reckon some of you guys know nothing & that he’s a fantastic Fall intro...& I’m amazed by how many people shouted “fuck off” etc. Anyone who upsets that many people has got to be celebrated...esp as a Fall support!

So, The Fall. It was my 1st live experience of the new boys. And I was very happy indeed. A surprisingly relaxed affair, I thought, v low on bile, but still taut & well controlled. I made notes but left the book at home, so I might chime in with more at another date. But I liked it enormously. Eleni pulled off her vocals very convinvingly, & there was a good elastic spring to the playing, whilst retaining heaviness. I even liked most of the amp twiddling, some nice bass tones. Oh, I was watching most of the gig from behind the sound desk (it’s often where the sound is best, cos you’re hearing what the engineer hears, whcih is often a nicer mix than upfront, esp in a big old cavern like The Zod) so I couldn’t see everything , but it looked as tho both bassists got pretty equally fiddling. I bow to superior knowledge here, I guess.

A quick note to Ollie: I’d say that running onstage to correct mic placement & alter settings is the mark of good, attentive, well drilled sound engineers...that may or may not be the best approach to engineering The Fall, of course, but in general that’s what they’re supposed to do. I can also vouch that the FOH engineer (the chap you saw would have been the monitor engineer) was working like a madman trying to make sure the sound was good, constantly tweaking channels, adjusting the EQ & flipping headphones on & off. Again, perhaps the best way to engineer The Fall is just to whack everything up & let Mark dig his own hole, but anyway. I'm not after a fight with you, Ollie, I think your opinion on the sound is very valid, but I don't think the engineers are "dickheads", they're just doing their job, even if this isn't necessarily compatible with Fall Sound. Anyway, on 17/5/07 the venue closes for a 3 month serious overhaul, & should come out the other end sounding a lot better...& let’s hope with a bigger bloody bar.

So there you go, a great gig. I still felt that this band have got another notch we didn’t see, I’d like just a smidgin of ire in there to lift things off. Perhaps they’re having a good fight right now outside the Radcliffe Camera, & tonight will be a blinder. A tiny bit more improv on the vocals would go down well, too.

Anyway, I’m looking forward to tonight already.

Talking about the soundman replacing the drum mics, what amused me was MES tidying up his mess before leaving the stage: picked up the two mic stands, untangled the mic cables, and placing the mics carefully back on the stands! What was that all about? First time I've caught them this tour, and they seemed very tight, especially the first half. Mark also looked very healthy - is he cutting down on the booze? Thought Eleni could have done a better job ironing his shirt before the gig though.

OHhhhhhh! Where does that thought come from?

did anyone take pictures, i saw loads of people with cameras but none have posted any on here as yet I just wanted one pic of eleni in her silk kimono like top
thats all i ask

yes, good stage presence too, as others have mentioned.

Great show. Stunning, blinding etc. Nice to see you, tobydynamik and good luck with your new job. Hope some pics will surface showing MES with green laser/strobo effect (ESC) on his shirt (from the computer projection that was). Great hearing the word 'spectre' in a Fall song again. Looking forward to tonight's show.

Logging off. I repeat. Logging off.

yes, fantastic seeing you too Unseen
and brother Unseen, a great bloke

Best gig of the tour, IMO, as my press officer has already told you all

Blimey - are you still here mate? Nice one!

Fair enough. "Dickhead" was a bit strong but it's a word I've been using far too liberally lately. I know what was done was good soundwork, strictly speaking, but my point was that they should cater for what the band wants to do and when knobs have been twiddled and microphones moved like that, it's clearly deliberate and nothing to do with anyone offstage. You don't see venue sound engineers tuning guitars or switching pedals on and for The Fall, this issue seems pretty much the same to me.

That said, I could be wrong and maybe if it wasn't for that chap last night I would've heard nothing but feedback and come home with burst eardrums. I guess you're probably in a better position to comment if you work there..

dmannn this one sounded good, wish i came to it now

Fair enough. "Dickhead" was a bit strong but it's a word I've been using far too liberally lately. I know what was done was good soundwork, strictly speaking, but my point was that they should cater for what the band wants to do and when knobs have been twiddled and microphones moved like that, it's clearly deliberate and nothing to do with anyone offstage. You don't see venue sound engineers tuning guitars or switching pedals on and for The Fall, this issue seems pretty much the same to me.

That said, I could be wrong and maybe if it wasn't for that chap last night I would've heard nothing but feedback and come home with burst eardrums. I guess you're probably in a better position to comment if you work there..

Excelldent - all freinds again

It seems that MES shared your concerns, but felt pretty amicable towards the engineer: witness MES having a pally wrestle witrh Spike, the monitor engineer, as he tried to come onstage & fix something tonight

Oh & my eardrums are bursting, which is why I'm not in bed yet, but I'm far from unhappy. Best Blindness ever tonight?

Anyway, a proper review on a proper thread tomorrow, maybe...

Very good gig. Nought excellent. Blaney band FARO utter crap, but quite endearingly so. Safi Sniper VERY GOOD actually. I must admit seeing him standing at the back of the stage looking like Banquo at the feast didn't fill me with pleasure, but his set was very good. And especially enjoyable once people started shouting at him to fuck off when he clearly wasn't going to do that.

Fall seem to be a band at the top of their game. Much better than Hammersmith (although the crowd were so bovine at that one it was difficult to tell) with The Wright Stuff very memorable indeed; Eleni pouting and the like.

Blindness the best I have seen for a while and Systematic Abuse seemed to me as righteous an expression of truth as The Bible; it was brilliant.

It was all bloody good in fact. Really bloody good.

Felix

Did anyone spot any tapers? All the other gigs this tour seem to've gone up on dime almost within 24 hours but this one doesn't seem to have surfaced yet. It'd seem a bit of a waste not to have such a great gig not committed to recording..

A recording will surface within the next week with any luck

A very good one, I might add