Spiegeltent, Cork, Thursday, 3rd July 2008

set (from memory so slightly out of order)

is this the new
wings
wolf
fall sound
duped
50 year old
can can
over over
latch key
mountain energei
white lightning
chimney
pacifying joint

not sure who got setlists but thirdpoliceman grabbed a snap of one of them and either he or i will forward the pic

blindness was on the setlist i saw but wasn't played

high point for me was a superb version of mountain energei

completely different type of gig from dublin in march. this was a small venue, so party atmosphere. lots of dancing and jumping around.

first few numbers were taped by a friend so will try my best to put them up for download. however, he wasn't overly impressed and left mid way through meaning that the latter half wasn't taped

low point of night: my daughter being refused entry for not looking 18. she is 18. for that: a big fuck you to the woman running the gig who was responsible for ruining both my own and my daughter's evening

heartfelt commiserations to your daughter. That really is shit.

Look forward to seeing the pics anyway, Marvell.

Considering it was a "Festival of the Senses", it doesn't seem like much sense was employed in not allowing your daughter in.

Sad to hear it.

Fucking jobsworths everywhere.

Sorry to hear about the cuntish behaviour - certainly would've ruined the gig for me.

btw - anyone else wondering where the new songs are? Seem to remember they intruduced quite a lot of fresh material around this time last year?
Admittedly though, it's been a busy few months for him since the release...

That's really sucks about your daughter marvell. What a disappointment.

It was an okay gig. (I was quite ill though and I struggled through the night, so that might have altered my senses). I'm not keen on the new stuff, except for 50 year old man, which was great. Mountain Energei was great too, even though I was outside queueing for the portaloo when it was on . Pity we didn't get to hear Blindness.

I met Tobydynamic, Freeranger, Mrs. Freeranger and Mr. Pharmacist. I didn't recognise you first Toby, you looked different with shorter hair. Also, sorry I wasn't very chatty with everyone, but like I said, I was off form because I was feeling ill

But the album's only been out for two months and a half, officially, that is.

But the album's only been out for two months and a half, officially, that is.

Yeah, I thought of that after I posted. RPTLC came in february 2007, so they'd have 2 more months to write and rehearse...

Hello Marvell et al

This is a link to a Picasa album of pictures including setlist from the gig at the Spiegeltent in Cork. If anyone wants to, please feel free to scoop em up and put em up somewhere.

:-)

Both this and the Manchester gig are available from The Consortium.

If that was my daughter I would hunt that woman down, hand her a copy of daughter's passport / birth certificate and make her publicly apologise.

thanks to all here for the commiserations (and to the people at the gig who were on the verge of forming a lynch mob on our behalf!)

we were both looking forward so much to the gig

instead, we got that scene which i am sure some of you here are familiar with: humiliation at the hands of the petty minded (all the more galling in that we were in the right, telling the truth but to no avail)

in the end, i had to give my daughter the bus money home and go in on my own

the upset meant that the first half of the gig passed me by

it wasn't until can can that i began to enjoy things

thanks to the consortium for the recording which i am listening to now

as for the gig: i thought mes was and the band were on top form, something borne out by the recording. iwas impressed with mes performance: it was good humoured (as was the whole affair) and didn't really miss a beat all night

the only difficulty i had was getting to a place where the mix was good. in a lot of places in the tent the vocals were not part of the music (which was quite interesting: it was like hearing a mixed backing track on one channel with vocals on a separate track on the other channel, very loud and clear)

by the way, greetings to frank who i met at the dublin gig (who thought that the show was like one he had seen in a smaller venue in manchester, i don't remember the name of it: he thought the whole approach of the band and the crowd reactions were similar in both venues)

no blindness was a disappointment as that was the high point of the dublin show earlier this year. on the other hand, i can see the point of maybe avoiding having a song go for 'classic' status

Lovely evening in Cork. Had been pissing rain in Dublin all morning.
Gig highlight was the ease at which you could manouvre to the front of the stage (had never been that close before) Pleasant atmosphere. Definate lack of menace/tension in the air normally associated with Fall gigs (dunno if thats a good thing) Couldn't believe 2.90 a pint of Guinness at 'An brog' beforehand. Wings, Mountain Energi and Pacifying Joint highlights for me. Met some nice people as seems to be the norm at Fall gigs. Support act was a novelty for about all of 5 minutes for me. Running out of Murphys at the bar a low point.

marvell78 very sorry to hear how you and your daughters night was spoiled. the image of your daughter making the trek home on the bus alone and you inside trying to enjoy your night is a tragic one. I can't believe they couldn't make an allowance for her - but you give some people a laminated pass and a bit of power and it can happen.. I have tickets for letterkenny and you're welcome to them for nowt. Its a long trek but one in which Australians would scoff at, or you could break it up or fly i guess. its one I'd have no problem doing myself but can see why most wouldn't. Anyway the offers there.

Great footage from Cork here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CW-nxhQQp8

[QUOTE]

cant go this weekend

but, great offer and thanks a lot (restores your faith in humanity!

Watching dublin nu-cabaret chanteuse Camille O'Sullivan covering Waits and Cave in the remarkable Spiegletent a couple of years ago under Brooklyn Bridge, NY - I recall thinking that the vaudevillian charm and intimacy of this travelling venue would suit the Fall. Spiegletent is ideally suited for festivals such as Edinburgh fringe and, on this occasion, Cork Midsummer Festival of the Senses. It looks small from the outside, but Tardis-like it seems very spacious inside - large capacity, satisfying wooden floor, stained glass paneling, alcove seating around the circumference, half-decent bar, half-decent beer. Having missed the last Dublin gig, I thought it could be worth the three hour drive to see Mark and crew on such a unique stage.

Strolling past the venue a couple of hours before the show, looking for the booking office to collect my ticket, I spotted Mark and Elena outside the tent, stood apart from the rest of the band, all waiting to get in to sound check I guess. Was struck by their big open smiles as they chatted. To the casual observer they must look like a charming if somewhat odd happy couple. Sometime later as I passed on my way to a nearby bar, they were getting into a taxi - remembering Belfast of some years ago I had a dark notion that maybe they were pissed at being left standing outside, maybe they wouldn't be back. Closer to gig time some of the Fall entourage and hangers-on were sitting outside a cafe beside the venue childishly and loudly having a good old slag about 'Mark E pissed' - careless, chaps - his spies are many - I don't doubt Mark kens who his friends aren't.

So the Fall did turn up and it was a good show, maybe not great, maybe better than many of late. I admit to not digging the latest album so much - but as so often with the Fall the live deliveries of certain less compelling album tracks make much more sense. I've Been Duped was a fun highlight. Was also struck by how faithful to the album version was 50 Year Old Man. Fall Sound was dreadful, really a let-down. An electronic sequenced White Lightning was more refreshing fun. Mountain Energei also top. But the only hairs-back-of-neck-raising moments were in Wolf Kidult Man. One disappointment for me was that all Mark's ad-libs were cringeworthy missfires, at least to my ears.

For me I think this was gig number 69 or something towards that. I know I always trot out the numbers when I write about the gigs, but this number seems especially relevant because it feels like an ending somehow. Honestly I don't know that I will bother seeing the Fall again, and the Fall at the Spiegletent wouldn't be so bad a point to wrap up the comfortably jaded hobby of following a band the way some follow a football team.

alan

Via Dynamik-Hanley-Consortium-setlistography.
(The other list posted on the link above was a bit crumpled)

Couple of Youtube clips here as well.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGHWOV6mpcc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Njm_Q4M0CY8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CW-nxhQQp8

Tremendous gig, candidate for the best Fall gig I've seen. Managed to squeeze up to the front and occupy the apron of emptiness in front of the stage, just under Elena's keyboard. Can Can Summer was a particular highlight, it came across as the new Blindness. Speaking of which, I yelled out for Blindness near the end, and Mark gave me what I thought was an affirmative nod, though I'm confused as to what that meant given the fact that it wasn't played. I'm guessing it was a casualty of the curfew, and White Lightning went on unusually long. A very satisfying setlist, though I was surprised that Over Over is still in there, which I reckon would be better replaced with Tommy Shooter, but that's merely nitpicking. Exploding Chimney really came into its own, nicely extended and wonderfully intense - this is a particularly hard-rockin' Fall! Pete Greenway appears to be MES's Whipping Boy at the moment - at the last Dublin gig he had his amp turned up a few times, in the Spiegeltent MES was mostly turning it down. At one point he was the recipient of a sharp thump on the back, and MES also did a comical mime of his playing for The Eagle's amusement. But everyone seemed on form to me. Elena seemed to be really enjoying herself, and Melling was again revealed as the hardest-playing Fall drummer I've seen.

There was a middle-aged guy up front with slicked-back grey hair, wearing a black suit and looking every inch the cockney gangster, doing what appeared to be the Twist or some regional variation thereupon throughout much of the set. He leaned over to me at one stage and said (Cork accent), "Only a few feet away from yer hero, it doesn't get much better than this boy!". In that spirit he gave MES a playful tap on the hip, which seemed less than advisable to me, but was luckily ignored. During White Lightning it appeared that much of the crowd had decided to mimic his antiquated but strangely appropriate dance moves.

Don for Chickens was sporadically very amusing indeed. Loved the deadpan drunken clapper/stamper guy too.

There was a 50 year old man next to me having a great time too. He was dancing around the place with a huge grin on his face

bit late with this one : great to meet mr pharmacist and toby again and very nice to meet mikeyboy and have a chat in the brog. didnt think you were being distant at all

so the gig, well the venue had the makings of a special night and whilst all fall gigs are special in one way or another im afraid this was only ok. not bad mind but just struggling to be great. mes's amp fiddling seemed hit and miss. it worked brilliantly on wolf kidult but for the rest of the gig his obliteration of pete kind of jarred. what started well with a fine wings and 50 yr old man stumbled a bit mid gig with can can summer. it didnt work for me or needs a bit more thought. but after this middle slump things picked up again. i felt by the time the gig ended they were just hitting their stride and blindness would have rounded things off nicely but time was against them and strict festival schedule types is my guess. a pity because i see blindness being dropped from the set and these further afield gigs are probably going to be the only chance to hear it in awhile.

oh and exploding chimney was most excellent