Corporation, Sheffield, Thursday, 6th March 2008

It was great

One of the best version of What about us I've heard, very good Sparta, last few tracks a bit sloppy, but a very good Fall gig.

I'm happy.

The Fall are dead; Long Live The Fall

Set list - something like....

Exploding Chimney
Fall Sound
What About Us
Alton Towers
50-Year Old Man
Tommy Shooter
Sparta
Pacifying Joint
I've Been Duped
encore
Blindness
encore
Wings
White Lightning

Very good indeed

FANTASTIC! And we nearly did'nt go. They sounded great,Eleni looked gorgeous, her dress was lovely, no wonder she was so angry at the moron that threw beer over her, she really was brilliant on her keyboard tonight,what about us just got better and better, Blindness Well done to all the group, you've proved that THE FALL are still MIGHTY.

The best ever live rendition of White Lightnin ...and theres been a few.

Tommy Shooter stands out from the new stuff.

Another enthusiastic Sheffield crowd

Totally agree

wonderful, wonderful, wonderful!!!

to the person who threw their pint on eleni - you're a COCK you're a COCK you're a COCK!!!!

loving the new stuff esp tommy shooter...blindness and i've been duped were awesome, and when i heard wings i nearly fainted....

was good to meet you guys last night too, thanks for letting me tag along!

More like a cunt really.
How sad.

Sounds like everyone had a good time . Any pics....?

Buying beer in 2 pint pots seemed like a really good idea at the time. Afraid I now have to add this one to Fall gigs I can't actually remember, which seems like a real pity in light of the above. Still the wife says I was enjoying myself.

Rating on the Clownometer - 6.5 / 10 - nah make that a 7 cos they didn't do Mr Pharmacist!

Tommy Shooter & I've Been Duped definitely the best of the new stuff last night

My learned friend LittleGrafter quite rightly observed that the opening instrumental sounded like Yes..

Mosh pit was a bit lary at times - at least two near fights that I saw.

MES playing percussion at one point on one of the spotlights above the drummer

I'm really not into the new bass player though, he breaks every bass-playing rule in my book

1) plays with his fingers not a plectrum
2) got one of those funk basses that you expect to see in a nu-metal band. Someone buy him Precision or a Jazz (and a plectrum) NOW
3) Hold aforesaid bass too high and at the wrong angle - head stock is nearly up by his head. His hands are pretty much level with his nipples when he's playing. Not good.
4) Pulls really horrific "sex faces" whilst playing. Spent at least 95% of the set playing with his eyes closed and lips pursed

Sorry I'm a bass nazi - i'm sure he's a lovely bloke

you're missing - I've Been Duped

you're missing - I've Been Duped

Yup, added - far from sure about the order - the Consortiums tape will confirm

glad to hear people enjoyed the gig. some of the reviews of Bilston were so negative.

Also I should have mentioned how utterly great I, Ludicrous were!

They made a comment about people on the Fall forum saying they were crap ("we know we are..") but they were superb if you ask me..

the new stuff is as good as they've ever done - I just don't understand why they were getting so much stick. what were people expecting?

Listened to their stuff on Myspace, and it sounded allright to me...

Well, this all beggar's belief.
The Fall Tribute Band at The Corporation was a depressing experience. The band are just Not Very Good. Eleni's stuff is great, but the rest of the band are characterless and boring.
Our group of 4 loyal, veteran Fall fans were unanimous that it was a tired, half-arsed, pathetic affair.
There was 10 minutes in the middle (which included Tommy Shooter - and, was it, I've Been Duped?) where it came to life, briefly.
But hearing those old songs yet again was just boring. It's not as though they're done with any conviction.
For them to still be doing Sparta FC - not even well - after so many years, and having the crowd singing along, jumping up and down, all seems to me to be the antithesis of what the Fall is - or was, anyway.
"Are you still doing what you were doing two years ago?"
"Yeah? Well, don't make a career out of it!"
MES looked dreadful. I know he often does, but tonight he was doddery and unsteady, and seemed to lack any spark.
When the band that claim to be The Fall left the stage, all the fat, balding men shouted "We want The Fall! We want The Fall! We want The Fall!"
How poignant, I thought. So do I. But this was not The Fall.
There were some very aggressive tossers supposedly "moshing". Must have been the 2 pint pots.
I'd rather The Fall stopped altogether and preserved the memory and the potency of the MES legacy, rather than carried on with this dispirited milking operation.
I predict that this band will not last the tour. And then MES needs to really, really, really, pull something out of the hat.
It's time for a radical change.
MES is that close to becoming ridiculous.

Oh, yes, I, Ludicrous were really good. Their set got better and better.

They must be groundhoppers. Which is good.

I took two mates from school days - one was a virgin and the other was at his second Fall gig. After what I saw at Bolton and what I've read about Bilston I was a bit anxious.

But what a great gig - enjoyed by all 156 years of us.

I've got tickets for Leeds, and in between for Neil Young.

These are the greatest times . . . .

ha ha it was a great gig , if you did,nt like it maybe its time you fucked off and followed the killers or u2

VERY BORING PERSON FALL GIGS CAN DO WITHOUT!(AND YOUR VETRAN BORING MATES)

VERY BORING PERSON FALL GIGS CAN DO WITHOUT!(AND YOUR VETRAN BORING MATES)

here here well put that man,ive been watching the fall for 27 years and it was a great gig ,people leaving look happy as fuck

Good to see the good reviews are outnumbering the bad ones now. It was originally a choice of this or Bilston so I'm glad I went to Sheffield - mind you I did miss out on the Badly named tribute bands gig guide at the start by the sound of things, which was worth half the admission fee alone last year.

ANYWAY to the point...

Started off with the last half of the last song by Walker - a bit Loopy and containing (as JumperClown pointed out) 2 ex-members of the Wedding Present, Dorrington & Belk.

Then there was I Ludicrous, who were Brilliant! set list should anyone be interested was...

3 English Football Grounds
We're The Support band
Argument in a Launderette
Chav it up with jeremy Kyle
Preposterous tales
Ruby Wax
Finding out about John
Global business manager
The Highland league

Highlights Ruby Wax and Highland league both off the new EP which sounded very good on the way to work this morning.

On to the main event.

Started with the all too regular roadie or band mamber game played at the first gig with a new line up. The first song - Exploding chimney I believe, was indeed very YES, but thankfully it didnt carry through the whole set.

On the whole the new songs sounded good, they were all pretty unfamilier (i've shy'd away from hearing the new stuff too much - wait for the album). Tommy Shooter was fantastic, I've been Duped was really good too. The Mosh pit was very annoying and got a bit nasty at times, at one point there was almost a fight between a David Beckham lookalike and a Mick Hucknall one - all very strange. Mark was in high tweaking mode especially on the guitar, the drummer (poor thing) had his fan taken away - the sweat definitely increased after that. I thought Mark seemed pretty together tonight - especially on Wings (which was GREAT) he sang it almost perfrectly although he doesnt seem to realise that songs like What About Us, really benefit from being sung at the right time!! They dropped something mid set and seemed to leave a bit early - probably due to the nonsense Eleni seemd to be receiving. Coming back for 2 encores was great though. At the end of Blindness there seemed to be a really touching bit of his and hers keyboards - someone shuold have a got a photo of it. And did they not do Wolve Kidult man? he certainly seemd to be singing that.

So all in all good, not the best I've seen recently but certainly not the worst, looking forward to the new album. Carrying on the footballing analogy from other threads, perhaps a bit of stability is needed to build properly for the future. Is Eleni the new Keegan? is Ed Blaney Dennis Wise in disguise? Who knows.

That's what I love about Fall fans...always so tolerant.

I thought they played Wolve Kiddult too??

VERY BORING PERSON FALL GIGS CAN DO WITHOUT!(AND YOUR VETRAN BORING MATES)

See above.

(Obviously the worshipping type )