Barfly 2, Chalk Farm Road, London NW1, Tuesday, 3rd February 2004

Come on, come on, tell those of us who couldn't get tickets...

Yes, I was there. Great gig. MES didn't fuck around too much, seemed sober and in good cheer. Played (in no order): Loco Man, Mountain, Sparta, Contraflow, Boxoctosis, Janet, Pharmacist, Middle Mass, Mere Pseud, White Lightning (the one and only encore).

Was that the full set or just what you could remember?

I'm going this evening, if last night was good, tonight will below par
then no doubt

Yup, that was the full setlist. Hope they're on form tonight too.

What time did the gig finish ? I'm going tonite & am wondering what train to catch home (or wether to stop over)

then go there and resolve your doubt and satisfy your curiosity and then come back and meet ours!

all the best
marco

then go there and resolve your doubt and satisfy your curiosity and then come back and meet ours!

all the best
marco

Lo farò Marco

Call yourselves bloody professionals? In almost the correct order…Boxoctosis / Mountain Energei / Green Eyed Loco Man / Middle Mass / Janet + James / Mr Pharmacist / Sparta F.C. / Mere Pseud Mag Ed / Contraflow // White Lightning /

Went to see Crawley Town FC play, due to kick off at 3, they finally turned up at 3:45, played a blinding first half, though without using some of their better set pieces, but didn’t bother coming out for the second period. Not to worry, it was a compact ground and I was really close to the pitch…

I knew the Monarch from years ago when my mates used to play downstairs on a Sunday afternoon, and was really looking forward to seeing The Fall in such an intimate venue. Caught the end of McLusky, and they were entertaining enough and probably played the longer set. And then the wait…

… finally, the main attraction, the opening number, Boxoctosis and the sound is fantastic, Ben’s guitar is the best thing in the band for an age, while Evets and the drummer drive it along splendidly, Elini tinkering and twinkling in the corner, and then Mr. Smith, somewhat wizened, but seemingly on fine form, smiling, chatting, twiddling. Through Energei, Loco, onto an immense Middle Mass, dynamic Sparta and Pharmacist, a highlight in Janet + James, Mere pseud mag, then Contraflow, a deserved and heroic epic, and great as a centrepiece to any set, but no, that is it, the last number. Off for five minutes, then back for a mechanical White Lightning. And that really is it. No Xyralothep, no Xeragon, no Dr Bucks, no Big Prinz, no Past, no F...olding and no Walk like a Man.

Feel a bit cheated. Someone, somewhere fucked up, the band; their management or the venue, who even had the cheek to announce that the bar was still open! So why the fifty-five minute delay? We spent more time watching an empty stage than the band, though I didn’t have the added stress of spending the last half hour worrying whether I’d be able to get the last train home. No, I’d driven up from Brighton, two hours there, three hours in Camden, including 45 minutes from The Fall, and an hour and a half back. I did get to drive past my old squat and local (the Parrs Head), and other nostalgia of NW1.

Was it worth it? Sorry to go on, but the set was even shorter than the Worthing debacle in ’96 but with neither the car crash entertainment nor a money back offer. Nor was the set as interesting as the last Concorde show in Brighton, half a dozen off the RNFLP, but not the most fascinating ones.

But I’ll shut up and conclude it was worth it, twenty-six years since I first encountered Mr. Smith he is still the greatest living Englishman, a national treasure to be cherished. But a bit more effort and professionalism or this tour could end in tears. /

have already got a ticket for tomorrow night, but was wondering if anyone could tell me what the tout situation was like (£ and availabity) as have a ticketless mate who's wondering whether it's worth making the treck up there & chancing his luck...
cheers.

There are no tickets. They check your name off against a list and stamp your hand.

I didnt see any touts around at all but i did recieve a ticket and from what i can remember my name wasn't taken at any point last night...

Wish I could have been there. Instead I'm stuck here drinking absinthe. 45 minutes is short, I grant you. But what's better: 45 mins of Real Madrid or 90 mins of Accrington Stanley? 45 mins reading Nabakov or 90 mins of Barbara Cartland? 45 mins of The Office or 90 mins with fucking Jools multi music centre Holland? 45 mins of our boys or 90 of Noel Gallagher and his merry men? Quantity is one thing; quality never dies. Remember this!

call me ignorant, but what's "absinthe"?...

...hey!, REAL MADRID is where FERNANDO REDONDO is from!
( http://es.uefa.com/Competitions/UCL/Player...004/index.html# )


ciao
marco

No-one comes from Real, they all go to or through Real - even Raul grew up an Atletico supporter. Redondo's Argentinian isn't he?

Absinthe is banned in Australia.

I hope Dingo ain't reading this...

I will start with the technical details
1. They came on at 10.40. Chatting to Jefferey Lewis, the support act, who saw them both nights they apparently came on later than their advertised 10.00 on the Monday but not as late as 1o.40

2. There was a tout on the door claiming to be buying and selling tickets though I'm unsure if:
a. he had any tickets (as there were none issued)
b. how he would sell you a tickets (your names on the door honest guv)

3. Some people appeared to be paying I am unsure if this was by prior arrangment or they held some tickets back or they crammed a couple of extra in. My mate could not get in with cash at 9.20

To the show
The previously mentioned Jefferey Lewis was magnificent, even creating a song highlighting the Fall's 25 years in the industry. It was illustrated with a self penned series of A3 pictures which he had apparently knocked up over the previous couple of days. He managed to capture the spirit of the band visually and verbally with the sharp wit he demonstrated for the whole evening.

The Fall, when they eventually did come on were also at the height of their powers. I'm sure someone will supply the set list on this link so I won't. Mark could be seen almost smiling at moments. He moved round the stage in his normal manner. adjusting sound setting , staring at his hand for long periods while singing and making a variety of bonus noises on various instruments. He also managed to knock a camera out of someones hand, deliberatly and tap / hit someone on the head with his mic.

All in all a great night out. If you have the chance to go tonight take it

well, i definitely got my tickets sent to me in the post. wonder what this name on the door lark's all about (guest list p'haps?) anyway cheers for letting us know re touts etc. looking forward to tonight...

Setlist?

In no particular order

Boxoctosis/TelephoneThing/Mountain/LocoMan/Janet&James/Sparta/Contraflow/Middlemass/Walk Like A Man/BourgeoisTown/Pharmacist/NEW BIG PRINZ (awesome)/Encore was Dr Buck's Letter

They played for an hour and it was bloody good.

Jefferey Lewis was also highly entertaining, his Fall documentary was brilliant.

well, i definitely got my tickets sent to me in the post. wonder what this name on the door lark's all about (guest list p'haps?) anyway cheers for letting us know re touts etc. looking forward to tonight...

I bought my ticket from the net and all they send back is an email confirmation and a number, no ticket. They only asked for my last name to get in but asked my to bring ID etc.
It seemed to work and the tickets were face value rather than the extra £5.30 per ticket I was charged for the White Stripes on Friday

got mine off the net (ticket web) AND sent to me in post...
ah well, sure it'll be alright on the night (just being a paranoid man etc)

A good gig, when they eventually decided to get up on stage!

I can’t remember much about the support acts, in fact yesterday I seemed to be orbiting a different planet to the rest of the world. No surprise then that I stood in the wrong venue for half an hour, wondering exactly where The Fall would play.

“Is The Fall gig up here then?” I asked the bar staff pointing towards the stairs.
“Erm…no mate…there the toilets!”

Back to the gig, Telephone Thing, Walk Like a Man & Bourgeois Town sounded excellent, as did most of the RNFLP stuff, especially Contraflow. MES on good form, re-starting Mr Pharmacist near the end of the first attempt and as mentioned on this thread, bashing someone on the head with the microphone. I do think that Pharmacist has outstayed it’s welcome in their set though.

During encore of Dr Buck’s Letter MES sang a few lyrics from Mad Mod Goth and lyrics from Beefheart’s Dropout Boogie (I think?)

On my usual ‘celebrity’ Fall fan watch, I saw the lead singer of Danish pop combo Junior Senior dancing with a couple of beauties near the front. He is a very big fella indeed; I wouldn’t mess with him I can tell you!

Don't be paranoid, I brought mine via ticketweb and it was posted to me. There were no problems getting in at all last night. They just stamp your hand and away you go!

Enjoy tonight, hope they will be in as good form as last night.

Boxoctosis / Mountain Energei / Green Eyed Loco Man / Middle Mass / Mr Pharmacist / Janet + James / Sparta F.C. / Mere Pseud Mag Ed / Contraflow // White Lightning /

This is the set in order from Monday, having now read the review and set for last night, I don't feel any less cheated. 10 numbers and forty-five minutes doesn't do it. Whereas 13 numbers (including Dr. Bucks, Prinz and Walk like a man) and an hour would have done very nicely. Just picked the wrong night.

Apologies if needed, but who is on drum and bass? Fantastic whoever they are.

Maybe the band was reading this and took bloody notice.

i sat in front of the wrong topic for half an hour ( http://invisionfree.com/forums/thefall/ind...p?showtopic=997 )...

...line-up?


ciao!
marco