Berlin, Maria am Ostbahnhof, Thursday, 6th September 2007

Guten Morgen!

First off...set list:

- Reformation
- Senior Twilight Stock Replacer
- Wings > Wolf Kiddult
- I've Been Duped
- Pacifying Joint
- My Door
- Fall Sound
- Strange Town
- Sparta F.C.
- Alton Towers
- Mr Pharmacist
- What About Us
-----------------------------------
- Blindness
- White Lightning
(long 'spoken word' outro)

Yet another stunning performance enjoyed by all. Rowdy, drunken crowd. High point, clearly: fully-fledged stage invasion! Well at least 3-4 people dancing on stage towards the end. New song (Alton Towers - the famous British theme park), featuring, among others, Egyptians, and, well, 'mongs'. Good to see Mr P make a welcome comeback! Low point of the evening: MES scratching his thigh (bottom) for at least half a minute. New song was delivered with MES sitting on top of an aluminium case, reading off his lyric sheets. Had changed the years in 'Wings' and Eleni went: "The moon gains over me." Well. Some punters were handed the mic for 'What About Us'. What else? Amp fiddling, hugging of guitarist, punters on stage joining MES in the knocking around of mics. Great! Good thing Safi was cut short (during his Eurythmics bit). His Pavarotti bit...on the day he died...whoa I mean come on!
Anyway, from the wind-swept streets of Berlin...
I'm the unseen.

One of the stage invaders even did the worshipping-pose. He knew why. Fantastic gig, tight and packed. "We've seen The Fall" I've said outside. The music is always getting better. Yes, it does!

good stuff

Who was on stage?

I walked out just before the end. What's this with the 'spoken word outro'? What happened? I was exhausted. Had been walking around Berlin all day, got to the venue at 9 to be told they wouldn't be on stage until 11.30. And then I had to suffer that fucking horseshit video cut-up crap again. Get rid of him!

The Fall were brutal, unsubtle. Long gone are the days where you could pick out sharp, catchy, intricate guitar work amidst all the fury. This was sledgehammer stuff - THUMP THUMP THUMP - and it meant nothing was distinguished. There was no variety in style whatsoever apart from that new song, and that was nothing to write home about anyway.

Mark was great, tho' - focussed, snarling, the whole first two or three verses of 'Wings' recalled without reference to a lyric sheet. He's a genuine hero, still. But I don't need to tell you that, do I?

MES, Elena, Pete, Dave, Keiron.

Safi was great! Fitted fantastically, I'd say.

Yes, given a bit of time I think some of us are beginning to see the point of his appearances.

Hey. Whoa. I can do that. Does that make me a genuine hero?

Guess it does. Hup.

Just got home...puh!!!
Hi freaks!
What a fantastic gig that was!
And what a strange audience that was, very energetic, brutal...
corresponding to this kinda new Fall Sound!
They changed some arrangements...
"I've been duped" is different now, with other chords, much longer & over 4 1/2 min
long...great when Mark was wondering around on stage the whole song, near the end one single "ch ch ch"...and Eleni doing "chaka chaka chaka" now at the end!
MES and the band were in superb mood!
Have seldomly seen him in such a relaxed and fine state, he made jokes with the guys, touched Pete's hair and was smiling a lot.
It was so great to see Mark with the 3 or 4 crazy people on stage dancing - he did not care at all (during "white lightning") - no security!
But after the gig - they were there, while some people invaded the stage to get some presents to take home...
STRANGE TOWN with more "elves/wanna be your dog" tunes than ever!
And- even PHARMACIST was great and WHAT ABOUT US - played in a heavy, heavy new style.
Pete is adding some interesting sounds, too...
And - forum member Volkmar stripped down to the waist!
Later more about that!!!

i am the deej

The gruppe or the fans?

The usual PANDER PANDA PANZER bits, with some noises added by Safi...

MES, Elena, Pete, Dave, Keiron.

Well that's just depressing.

Hi Diceman ! Thanks for the smoke ! Sorry had to dash off, maybe see you at Billy Childish.

Full report of the gig tomorrow, gotta split. I have inneresting tales to tell !

"Good evening, we are The Fall, from the long long days of various cheeses."

Priceless. Don't you think?

Cheers Bowie! Was great we could finally meet. Billy Childish - but of course. You know he plays on two days? Anyway, ears still ringing from Wings, Wolve Kidult and all the others. Curious for the tales...

indeed. I just took my shirt off during my only appearance on the dancefloor - blindness.

more detailled comment from me soon to come - I'm still resurrecting.

Alton Towers sounds promising !

The Alton Towers bass riff sounds SPOOKILY like the incidental music of Scooby Doo when Shaggy and Scoob are creeping around avoiding spectres...

Maybe they named it after the Alton Towers haunted house, which is now actually a laser quest style rollercoaster called Duel.

And...Mark made some eerie noises during 'Wolf Kiddult' (think 'Bombast'...uh-ow-ah, uh-ow-ah). Sorry words fail me here. And, of course, the 'rolled R's/trills again. Beautiful girl dancing on stage...they should have that more often. What is the local poser in any other town seems to be the norm here in Berlin.

I'm the unseen.

A recording is available on The Trades' Den. V. good it is too.

The bass line sounds like the music from an Alton Towers advert years ago...

yes, spotted a poster yesterday on bergmannstrasse, billed as billy childish and the chatham singers. Here the info for anyone...
Band : billy childish
Club: monarch
Adresse: skalitzerstr. 134 10999 berlin 1. stock eingang gegenüber dem dönerladen (1st floor opposite the kebab shop) !
Uhrzeit: 20:30
Mitteilung: billy wir als trio mit julie hamper und dem buff medways drummer eine blueshow in intimen ambiente spielen. danach dj doc schoko. ( we will play as a trio of me, julie hamper and the buff medways drummer a blues show in an intimate atmosphere, afterwards dj doc schoko)

see you there.

Hello all. Yes Safi was kinda good ! It didn't go on a godawful long time and the elvis bit, the black sabbath bit worked real well. Not everyone is going to like him but theres no pleasing everyone. Much preffered it to some rotten local band.

The Fall were confusing. I've seen them the last three times in Berlin and I left the concerts knowing how great they were. This time I left in a right state not sure if it was just a workaday runthrough or the beginnings of a more direct stripped down outfit. I still don't know. BUT it felt like they meant business. No faffing around.

What I do know though is this: Mark E Smith and The Fall still know what they're up to, and they're still up for it. It was not the subtle Johnny Janet and James strange cabaret from a year back, it appeared to be some real sort of reformation, some sort of renewal, some sort of reaffirmation. All that have been predicting demise and disaster and dismalness are wrong. They proved it in Berlin with hard tough lean workings of all the songs. Mark was wearily wired as befitting his age, the band was tight, Elena stood up straight for the singing, it was wonderfully defiant before a jubilant audience that wanted rockstar moves and fancy airs and they got none of it. It was the audience that had to play the role, Mark and band remained aloof and contrary. I saw people in the audience who ten years back laughed at the very idea that The Fall still existed and there they were bandwagonning or gleefully admitting their mistake. Iggy Pop, when he goes, can slumber peacefully with a worthy successor in his wake.

Curious inconsequential details include:
Mark in fresh-out-of-the-packet-with-sideways-creases shirt.
Threw over the cymbals halfway through.
No cigs smoked though allowed.
No beer drunk ditto.
Had-to-be-there-sentimental-moment: Me spotting Diceman and saying "DICEMAN" and him saying "Who are you ?" and me saying "A LA BOWIE" and us spontaneously hugging, then not knowing what to do except stare more at Safi.
Mark walking onstage in my leather jacket that I'd handed over to Kieran (with a letter stuck in the pocket detailing the Fall-sing-whistling habits of my two caged birds I'd bought recently) in the lobby of their hotel, confusing him with Dave (oh you play fucking superb bass, well I'm the drummer, oh, yes, right, fuck, sorry). Mark onstage pulling out of his leather jacket apparently the sekt-sodden letter and singing / reading / perusing the lines during Alton Towers.
(It is a very strange thing to see Mark E Smith wearing what used to be your jacket up till a couple of hours beforehand.)
Handed the microphone to finish up What About Us.
Volkmar flying past my nose onto the stage (Knowing now its Volkmar because of bared plucked-chicken-white-flesh chest).
White Lightning perhaps impromptu after seeing Mark whispering / chuckling mischeviously in Dave's ear.
NO and I mean NO NO NO roadies trying to disentangle deconstruct the madness of the mess of the mike cables. Mark dealing with it like a true proffesional.

THE FALL

What's this "punch & judy" thing again in this song?