The Ritz, Manchester, Sunday, 1st July 2007 (merged)

3 New numbers

No Americans

Pete Greenway, Rob Spurr, Kieran ??

Very good gig

Set list...from memory

New intro
Pacyfying Joint
Fall Sound
Sparta
Hungry Freaks
My Door
Mountain Energie
New Song (Elenor lead - I Miss You???)
RPRT
New song
encore
Blindness
Reformation
encore
Senior Twilight etc

I could have forgotten something

All together jolly good

just got back. arr 8.30ish - s.Lee reading from book. then a couple of other authors reading against increasing crowd noise. A.Wise up next to tell us that MES does not endorse book and thinks it 'self-indulgent twaddle'. says he (wise) writes himself in ancient swahili or something... anyway, safi, zaffi up next. 20 mins of increasingly unbearable video scratching of Black Sabbath's 'Paranoid'. short break then fallgruppe. new line-up. MES, Elanor. New bass, guitar and drums. MES in dark jeans, shirt, jacket and one glove. jacket comes off and is put back on a dozen or more times during gig. set list is something like this:
dunno (lots of 'good evening, we are the fall')
reformation (lots of knob twiddling - makes bass sound better)
fall sound (lots of feedback)
over! over!
sparta fc (some bashing of mics against each other)
hungry freaks (sounding much more like orig)
wrong place, right time
my door (increasing mic tangle chaos - MES does little twist dance whilst roadie sorts out cables,etc)
(walk off)
dunno (elanor lead vox with MES joining later, though his mic doesn't work)
mountain energi (nicely stripped down - feedback - lots of cigs thrown onstage - lots of 'onstage mixing')
(walk off)
(had piss next to S.Lee)
blindness (turned up bass amp mid-song. really took off!)
reformation (MES ends playing lone cymbal - fantastic)
(walk off)
(back on for...)
senior twighlight stock replacer (man gets dragged out of crowd for smoking)
...ends

looking forward to hearing who the new band are
'night.

Could do with merging this with my review in reviews section

Group was lacking US contingent.

But was Pete Greenway, Rob Spurr and Kieran (on drums - not totally sure about this)

New people ??????

Or stand in people?

No, they have played before (Bilston, Boddie Brewery etc) only one I'm not sure about is the drummer - could be a new guy - someone will have recognised him though

Three animations beforehand,

Readings were talked through by audience! Stronty seemed a bit giggley! Stewart Lee was amusing, but then again that was the bit that isn't in the book.

Alan Wise's dismissal of the Festival was a bit venomous, he seemed to be complaining that John Cooper-Clarke couldn't be the support act!

But Safi was! Glad I went to the bar during that! Same Ozzy face on screen when I got back to my place as had been there when I left.

Altfish {hello, nice to meet you again and all others that were there} got the set list about right

One of the new ones (the one with Eleni singing and every one else joining in the chorus) seemed to be called "I've been Duped".

Mix had a odd dub/disco feel to it at times. Lots of wire tangling to rub the roadie up the wrong way, some knob twiddling. No smoking on stage!!

Highlights (for me):

Mountain Energie
Blindness
Reformation

As for the line-up, I'd say this is the new regeneration, the one that'll do the next album. A new backdrop - was it three of Eleni's handbags? Another huge one on stage again, she mustn't trust security!

Twas splendid indeed, I reckon 11 years since I've seen them at the Ritz, it seems to have shrunk (or have we got bigger!!)

Very loud! Looked like Grant Showbiz doing the sound too.

Mike,
Your memory is nearly perfect but my (sober!) notes suggest:

New Instrumental
P Joint
Fall Sound
Over Over
Sparta
Hungry Freaks
Wrong Place Right time
My Door
New one (Elena vox plus joint ensemble shouting of 'I was 'Cured' or 'Duped' or something)
Mountain energie
Another new one
Encore 1: Blindness
Reformation (ropey!!)
encore 2: Senior Twilight.

Tock and I did not tape it, did you? We met a man who used to see the Fall a lot who did however, but unlikely to see the light of day without some mithering!

(I'm not sure about the drummer either - too much beer at the Old Brewery!)

Yes, that was just about right.

Good gig, overall, but LOUD, given I was standing at the back by the mixing desk. Floor bouncing by the end. A friend who saw the readings said that Alan Wise disowned that bit on behalf of Mark. Stewart Lee said it was the most nerve-racking gig he had done, but he enjoyed the gig itself. Marks mum was spotted by the door at the back.

Spot-on version of Sparta; guitar riff good (I always felt Tim never quite got it right). Lot more guitar effects. Blindness very good. Mountain Energei a little subdued until the bass amp got twiddled. Couple of mic stands following MES around at the end; sure one of the stagehands almost clobbered MES with one. Again, he seemed very focussed and on form. Didn't catch any comments about fags & not smoking now its the law not to light up in indoor public places in England.

Band fairly tight, but someone commented that the drummer was looking to Dave Spur at times, seemingly for guidance. Pity not to see Tim, Rob & Orpheo, but thats The Fall.

And he was bashing the crap out of a cymbal like something demented at the end!!

Safi still filming gruppe & audience.

One of the new ones had a bass line not dissimilar to Stepping Out, I think....

Good to see folk there & before. Hope you all get/got home safely.

Showbiz at sound board? This could be very good news indeed.

tonights drummer was keiron, and he's recording the new album with them.

alan wise announced it as 'yet another new line up' so it looks like the americans may be gone for good. Thats a shame as I thought the fall potentially had another scanlon in the making with tim presley, and orpheo was one of the best drummers the fall has ever had, full stop. barbato i could take or leave.

keiron was a bit loose but seems to have the potential to be a good fall drummer, dave i always think is excellent, pete i'm not sure about. he seems intent on making jonny greenwood/thurston moore esque noise but isnt quite sure on how to do it so just runs his hands up and down the fretboard hitting his whammy bar, sounding a bit shit. I prefered him at the brewery gig where he was a bit more nervous/light handed.

i was impressed by the new songs, they sound quite pixies-ish somehow. one thing that surprised me is they seemed to have a few changes in, instead of hammering away at one riff, the last new un had a tempo change which i felt worked rather well and has been missing from the last few albums.

the worst thing about this gig was the prick who kept coming on to rearrange the mics about every 30 seconds, every time MES got some chaos flowing the same twat came on from the left to sort stuff out and ruined the vibe totally, it did provide some very amusing moments later on though when MES repeatedly kept handing the mic to the crowd and the same guy had to wrestle it back.

overall i wasn't blown away by this gig, but it wasnt terrible by any means, the highlights for me were pacifying joint and sparta, and the new songs, reformation and blindness were quite poor versions, no dynamics, they seemed to fuck up the changes on fall sound, going out of time with each other, senior twilight stock replacer started off okay but ended up shite, it just never got going, i got the impression MES realised this and decided to cut it short. also they will never top the americans version of wrong place, right time, they should drop it. nonetheless there were moments of greatness and i'm excited about the new album.

Since this gig was kind of a one-off between the one a month ago in Spain and the ones scheduled for later this month, I'm hoping that the absence of Tim, Rob and Orpheo is temporary and that MES didn't want to pay to have them cross the pond for just one gig. I'd like to hear one more album from this particular incarnation, since I think they're capable of making an absolutely killer LP.

Hi. I got a set list so can clear up the song titles.

WOLF KIDULT
PACIFYING JOINT
FALL SOUND
OVER OVER
SPARTA FC
HUNGRY FREAKS
WRONG PLACE
MY DOOR
I'VE BEEN DUPED
MOUNTAIN
STRANGE TOWN
BLINDNESS
REFORMATION
SENIOR TWILIGHT STOCK REPLACER

Enjoyed it. Nice to meet up with so many people.

Knackered now.

Bed.

don't get your hopes up, alan wise announced it as another new line up, and on newsnight it showed these lot recording/rehearsing in germany.

nice that we're hearing about the Fall again, not just our chit chat to fill the gaps...
thanks

don't get your hopes up, alan wise announced it as another new line up, and on newsnight it showed these lot recording/rehearsing in germany.

True, except, I would guess that that lineup did maybe a week in Germany if they had to make the Manchester gig - not enough time to record a new one, well, at least one that wouldn't be Missing Winner pt deux.
Also, MES' typical MO after firing a handful of musicians is to declare the last record he did with them to be shit, but in the Newsnight interview he said he thought it was "brilliant." Of course, I too am holding out hope for at least Orpheo to stay in the band. I love his drumming...

don't get your hopes up, alan wise announced it as another new line up, and on newsnight it showed these lot recording/rehearsing in germany.

True, except, I would guess that that lineup did maybe a week in Germany if they had to make the Manchester gig - not enough time to record a new one, well, at least one that wouldn't be Missing Winner pt deux.
Also, MES' typical MO after firing a handful of musicians is to declare the last record he did with them to be shit, but in the Newsnight interview he said he thought it was "brilliant." Of course, I too am holding out hope for at least Orpheo to stay in the band. I love his drumming...

I guess so, either way the duo from darker my love I can't see sticking around for a long time. I would love to hear another fall album from them though, at jillys they were seriously fucking good. it would be a massive shame to lose orpheo, especially as by MES' own words he had burnt a lot of bridges to join the fall. like i say keiron's got potential but orpheo was already there and then some.

Yeah, I think the Dusseldorf clip was of the UK lineup rehearsing for the Manchester gig (and maybe adding some things to the new LP). But weren't there other sessions back a month or so ago, before Barcelona? Darker My Love has a US date on July 6 (and we have a national holiday this week) so my guess (my hope) is that they decided to skip this last gig and probably the festival on the 14th. But will return for the London shows. Fingers crossed.

Looks like I'm the only one who thought it was shit then. Saving grace being the new material. Might seem a bit harsh but thats testament to how good the dual bass/American line up are. Will definitely be checking the team news first next time round.

Thoroughly enjoyable day. Marble Arch and Hostel 2 in the afternoon to keep out of the rain. Nice to meet up with a few folks in the Britons Protection before the gig (Altfish,Mohican Karl, and the very tanned Telephone Things among others). I also spoke to a bloke who was at the very 1st Fall gig. Luckily we missed Safi, thanks to Altfish getting a text to say he had finished-why the hell is this guy still allowed at Fall gigs (that's Safi not Altfish!). I thought the gig was great, good sound from where I was, big turnout, and good to hear some new songs (wasn't keen on the one Eleini sang though). Was it Greenway on guitar? No one seemed to know who the drummer was. Kieran's been mentioned a couple of times but it didn't look like the same guy who played at the Brewery last year and his pic has been removed from the official site. After the gig I had a couple more pints with the Telephone Things and Spencer B, who enjoyed the gig and seemed like a good bloke.

I came out of the gig thinking a bit like you, but I've listened to it a few times now on my 6 hour journey back to some southern sunshine.

Bloody hell!

I could write a university thesis on live Reformations (for example), and believe me mate, this is a stunning version. The new lad on drums might be no American ‘machine gun smiley face’, but this gig is something to savor. These boys were nervous, and pretty well every song has glorious mistakes. This is the Fall fresh and rough, and this is The Fall at their best.

Smith on drums. Worth the trip just for that!

Nice to meet everyone btw. Even the secret funnyFrenz clan.

Reformation was indeed brill.

Nice to see a few of you in the Britons Protection.

I thought this band sounded more 'Fall -like', if you understand what I mean.

I also like the American version as well, though. Perhaps new album can include all these musicians / influences?

Ah, so many opinions, so I'll throw mine in the ring too and add a few passing thoughts.

New line up? No it's not, it's the EXACT SAME English line up that played Dublin last year, and all three of them have graced the stage with the Americans ever since to a greater or lesser extent. Don't think they're as good as Rob, Tim and Orpheo, can't put my finger on why though. So I'm hoping the Americans come back, but that The Eagle, Pete and Keiron continue to add to the mix.

Didn't think last night was great, (see above for why) but certainly it wasn't awful. Didn't like the new songs much, they struck me as a bit lumpen. Maybe they'll improve with practice. Only 'Blindness' and 'Reformation' truly worked for me...I think I'm in something of a minority there.

Has no one in the Fall ever heard of radio mics? Seriously, they need them now. The sight of a jobsworth roadie trying to fix MES's re-ordering of the microphones is frustrating. Stay off the stage, you oaf! Wait until MES is well and truly in a mess and then you can do your bit like a stern dad; 'oh, you want my help now, do you? I told you if you played about like that you'd break something'.

D'yer reckon MES is like that at home? Much amusement in the car back wondering if he'd do his 'live mixing' when he's cooking the Sunday roast, say; turning the gas up and down all the time, rearranging the saucepans, perhaps whipping the spuds out the the oven and plonking them down on the hob to see if that has any effect.

Safi's set was described to me by someone who never witnessed it before as like trying to watch a video after letting a cat play with the tape. Yes, I thought, that's exactly what it's like.

Well, that's my two-penny'sworth. Just opinions, after all. Looking forward to see what they're doing in London, of course. And who they are!

Always a pleasure to meet up with you folks, however briefly. Hi again to Altfish, Max, Toby, Cupid's Bullet and Mohican Karl - funny who you bump into sheltering from the rain. Sorry I didn't have a chance to introduce myself to more of you.

thats by the by. the point is its a definitive new line up.