Dublin Tripod, Sunday, 16th March 2008

just out

set list, which i have but can't scan until tomorrow

is this new
wings
wolf
50 yr
fall sound
duped
refomation (sic)
pacifying
tommy shooter
latch key
blindness
chimney


actual set was a little different:

pacifying began with 'what about us' and segued into 'pacifying joint'

set finished with 'tommy shooter' sung by elena (one of the highlights for me: she sounded brilliant, as if it was written for her: mes handed her a sheet with the lyrics, walked off and left her to deliver the song, which she did and WOW!)

encore was 'white lightning' followed by 'blindness' and then off

minimal onstage mixing, sound superb, full crowd on top form, mes on top form, band banging away for all they were worth

the people around me (old fans, newcomers) thought it was a stormer of a gig and so did i

some parts of 'blindness' were sensational and the relenetless flat out rock mode used for a lot of the songs actually worked relly well in the context of the overall gig

undoubted high point: wolf kidult

absolutely stunning, no other way to describe it

and for sheer vitriol, the repeated 'you're much too FUCKING late for Fall sound'

jpg of set list tomorrow (can anybody pm me and tell me how to post it!)

I'll be in touch.

Stoming gig. Band absolutely amazin'. Drummer and bass player fuckin' ell. MES on top form.

Highlight for me was definately Blindness. Elena seemed to be really enjoying herself. Crowd v. well behaved - no beer lobbing nonsense. Really nice atmosphere. Still smiling.

pointless for me to post anything too detailed here now, you´re review describes my experience exactly, uncannily.

the only recent comments of a negative nature that i would sign up to would be the light and shade ones, you just don´t get downtempo and sinister at the live shows any more.

but in terms of what they do deliver i thought the gig was a blinder, mes on fire, frankly, and the group too. eleni´s face when he handed her the lyrics to tommy shooter was priceless, it obviously wasn´t expected

tell you what as well - pete greenway ; thumbs up from me. someone remarked that the group looked shit scared on one of the other gig threads. not here - confident, and well into it.

very very minimal twiddling and then a twiddle frenzy for the last tune

very veryencouraging for the new album!

Great gig alright, sound was good and Wolf Kidult is excellent.
(No beer lobbing 'cos they showed up on time )

MES on top form, haven't seen him interact like that for ages.

WHoah! Rockin' it and rollin' it like a belt to a horse's ass!!!!


Wings! ended up under Ardwick Bridge with some veterans from the U S civil war!!!

mighty mighty pleasin' pappa kept a shqueezhin!

Yeah!


Was there a song that sounded like Blood Outta Stone gone mad?
or was I gone mad?

Pacifying Joint (pass a fine joint!) sounds good when there isn't a number of other songs in the same set that sound just like it


So nice to have a bit of room to move at a Dublin Fall gig for a change, when I arrived there before 9:00 I was told there were 500 tickets unsold, but it filled up nicely, but not too full, and it makes such a big difference, a highly enjoyable night, I enjoyed the recorded MES readings prefacing the set, what's the piece that was in between Idiot Joy & Lucifer Over Lancs?


MES should have been Grand Marshall of the Dublin parade!

This really was a super gig! "Good Evening we are the Fall and I am Ryan from the O.C. here to meet you on your special eve". An very loud and enthusiatic welcome for MES as he entered the stage. Highlights of old stuff:

1) Wings - done exactly how it should, very similair to the "Bugs on the Wire" version.

2) An extended, yet brilliant White Lightning, different arrangement, slower and longer.

3) One of the best performances of Blindness I have ever witnessed (beter than Galway!)

New Stuff

1) Is this New - I love this tune
2) 50 Year old man - this tune was done in three parts - fast, middle segway break then fast again - cracking tune
3) I've been Duped
4) Tommy Shooter

What really made the gig for me was the enthusiasm of the crowd, the place was pretty packed by 9pm, probably full. Everybody left the venue with big smiles. Phew, what a gig!

and a deserved special mention must go to those fantastic ladies and gentlemen behind the bar, who put on an excellent performance, and all worked incredibly hard to ensure I had a constant supply of wibbly wobbly plastic tumblers full of foamy black liquid

Absolutly, although I limited my intake to one unit. I'd been drinking most of the afternoon in the Long Stone. Can recommend their soup and home made bread to line the stomach.

The Long Stone? a bit off the beaten path, I can't say I've ever drank there

Just got back from Dublin. Absolutely amazing! I took the wife (who hates the Fall) and she thought they were unbelievable. A convert me thinks.

Highlight for me was Tommy Shooter. Elena was excellent but it got even better when MES returned to finish off.

White Lightning and Blindness were tremendous encores.

Was he having a dig at our Showband tradition at the beginning when he spoke most of the lyrics to Idiot Joy Showland and he referred to Idiot Joy Showbands? Our were my ears deceiving me after too many beers?

Only gripe? They should have played for another hour.

What happened to mr white flavor flav? Was he banned from entering Ireland cause of foot and mouth disease?

That was a recording.
I was told that in an interview about 15 years ago MES had professed an admiration the irish "showband ethic" and singled out The Indians for praise.

Two mates of mine who were at the gig last night are sure MES said "fuckin Irish" at one point I didn't catch it myself. Can't wait for the new album.

Terrific, muscular set at The Tripod. Highly entertaining. Here's my photos:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/55867717@N00/sets/

Fergus

Fuckin' brit!

I have to say, it was an absolute blinder. It was like the late 80's (for me) all over again. I feel very fulfilled !

Great gig, end of Blindness was awesome.

New tunes sounded good, especially Wolf Kidult Man and 50 year old man.
Minor gripe Eleni's keyboard on Wings didn't work for me I wanted a straight karaoke of the original.

Great bit when MES fired the microphone into the drumkit which just made the drummer whack them even harder.

Good varied crowd even a few young girls which is always a plus.

Fantastic photo's fergus!

I don't think so, I recognised it as Pacifying Joint as soon as it started.

Great gig, the band were really solid, Greenway is an excellent and tasteful guitarist and the rhythm section seemed really into it. Elena has really come into her own and even - gasp - occasionally smiled!

MES seemed a tad hammered but vocally was on form, rhythmically really on the money. His amp fiddling was really effective - it seems to me that live sound engineers these days have a tendency to have the drums too loud, so whacking up the guitar and bass was very appropriate. Nice trebly metallic guitar sound too. The microphone-swapping was amusing as ever, at one point MES dropped a mic on the floor near the drumkit resulting in a suddenly thunderous kickdrum! I noticed him grasping fo an absent mic on an empty stand at one point, and, though I didn't witness it, friends reported seeing him approaching the two empty mic stands at one point with a look of puzzlement

Love the new songs. Blindness was a highlight obviously. Between MES attacking the keyboard and the crowd getting hold of the mic, there was quite a lot of chaos over the solid groove of the band, a traditional Fall dichotomy that has been arguably a little rare in recent years. Everything was superb apart from a fairly perfunctory White Lightning - but I wasn't too put out about that!

I think The Fall's reputation as a live band over here suffered significantly after lacklustre sets a few years back, but this one makes three excellent Dublin gigs in a row, and this may have been the best of those.

I arrived just before the intro tape started, so didn't bother trying to get a drink. Then, at a quiet point during the set, I legged it to the bar only to be told that it had closed at 10.20! WTF??! And the day before Paddy's day too! A disgrace to their country.

Wasn't talking to any forumers apart from mantpl - saw Fergus passing by though (great photos!). Went to Devitt's afterwards where a rather drunken man of about 60 questioned me on my Van Der Graaf Generator t-shirt, saying, "Jaysus, that's goin' back a bit", and was amazed when I told him they'd reformed. Was talking to a couple of Fall fans from London who'd come over for the gig, not forum members though. Ended up in the Palace, anybody else there?

This is all just one big " " to you isn't it?
MES dissing the people of Ireland during St. Patrick's weekend?
I mean, it's just so......



















(what's the word?....)



















curmudgeonly!



















WHo does he think he flippin' well is?

a great moment for me was during blindness

whatever conjunction of sounds was going on (couldnt make out where one instrument ended and another began but at certain points there was this beautiful sound coming over) along with the vocals...the 'have mercy on me bit' hit me with the force that listening to a thousand blues and soul songs using the same line never has

my big blues high in life achieved (everyone should have one) lol

what a plea for mercy that was!!!!!!!

Hi, this is my first ever post here.

Did anyone think the band looked nervous of MES? That was the impression I got...

Still - great gig

A friend of mine (not a Fall fan) who came to the gig with me was convinced MES wears a wig. It had never occurred to me before, but he is c onspicously lacking in grey hairs for a 50-year-old-man. What do you reckon...?