Bristol Carling Academy, 20th March 2006

Brilliant Gig. Setlist:

Instrumental
Pacifying Joint
Assume
Mountain Energi
Sparta
Wrong Place Right Time
I Can Hear The Grass Grow
What About Us
Touch Sensitive
Systematic Abuse
Blindness

One hour solid, no encore.

Pretty full, with old and young, all had a good time. Band really tight and focused, MES on top form. Hello to Splart, Steve Mohican Karl and brother and Cousin Norman.

This post has been edited by My Balloon on Mar 21 2006, 11:44 AM

It was awesome

Thoroughly enjoyed it.

Yes it was very good. Big crowd there as well. Last time, at the Bierkeller, there was maybe 250. This time it was hundreds (plus the whole group this time). Probably not a thousand but seemed like it wasn’t far off. And according to my calculations, 87% still had their own hair. Average age – 33!

Didn’t see the support act but there was none of that weird Elvis video stuff. Which I quite like, even if nobody else does.

It was all going well and then at What About Us It really took off. They got a massive cheer for that one. And Blindness, obviously. Systematic Abuse is a great song, up there with the best of them. And Spencer is a brilliant drummer – that’s probably not news to anyone.

Minimal twiddling of amps – but what there was of it seemed to work very well. And in a new development … when MES was playing the keyboards at the start of Blindness, it veered dangerously close to sounding quite tuneful. In the rest of the set, sometimes you could hear Eleni and sometimes you couldn't. But when you could, it was quality. What About Us and Blindness especially.

I prefer it when they don't do an encore, it's too showbiz. They just played their set and that was it. Great stuff. The Fall at the height of their powers!!!!

I like that Hit The North remix as well (the DJ played it before they went on), loads better than the original.

And I got in for nothing! I knew it wouldn’t sell out cos it’s a massive venue so I went up do the door and I said to the girl, I’m just going to go get a ticket OK? She said, Have you pre-booked? Huh? I said, er, No. She said “Merry Christmas” and stuck what looked like a ticket in my hand. I was a bit vexed. But I went up to the ticket guy, handed it over he ripped it in half and I was in. Which I was very happy about cos I’m skint. In fact I almost bought a round of drinks!

PS, that Instrumental was “The Boss”.

Eleni wore trousers. Looked very nice

Gig was very good actually, better than the last couple of times i've seen them (not that they were bad gigs). Took a Fall virgin along and he thoroughly enjoyed himself!

Mark seemed in a particuarly good mood and as SteveHamilton says, his knob twiddling did actually improve things tonight.

Could have done with a few more tracks being played (1 hour seems a touch short) but no complaints from me. A perfect night of Fall goodness

Quality gig. Best I've seen the Fall for quite a few years. They don't half hammer through the songs though, a bit of Midnight in Aspen might have given a mid set breather, I was also looking forward to hearing that Merle Haggard cover, but it wasn't to be, but I'm nit-picking. It was a brilliant gig and the first time that I've seen the Fall where MES' knob twiddling added to the songs! Standout songs for me were Blindness, Touch Sensitive, Assume and Mountain Energi. And what's with the shoplifter chic that MES appears to sporting at the moment, with that security tag on his trousers?

Great night though, good to see My Balloon and meet Steve, Mark and Mohican Karl.

Fantastic stuff!

Got to agree with SteveHamilton's comments re crowd size - the academy is a fair old shed but there were certainly enough people there to do it justice (thanks for the fanzine BTW Steve).

Caught the last few numbers from the support band, looked like local students playing red hot chilli peppers to me - an opinion I voiced at precisely the moment they walked past me at the bar - oops.

Band were on at 2200 sharp and after what I thought were a few sound issues during Pacifying Joint soon settled down into an excellent set. Highlights for me were 'Assume' which comes accross much better than on the album (more brutal), a breakneck Sparta FC and a blistering Touch Sensitive - best i've heard it. As mentioned above, knob twiddling was at a minimum & what did take place during blindness seemed to compliment things quite well.

I did notice that Mark is still wearing the security tag thing in his trousers, is this along with the leather glove a foretaste of Jacko style wierdness to come?

Great to meet up with some forumites ; SteveHamilton, Mohican Karl & his bro Nick (although I spent half the night calling him Dave ) and a couple more chaps whose names I didn't catch - top geezers one & all. Different meet up pub next time though, the kareoke in the one we went to was painful beyond belief!

Roll on Wednesday & do it all again at Exeter

looking good for Exeter and Reading then

MES spills lager on trousers pre-gig. Thinks 'shit, I spent my last three quid on that pint, where can I get meself a decent pairs of slacks at this hour?' Only solution is to leg it to BHS, break in, and steal the first thing that comes to hand. This explains both the security tag and the gloves (f-prints see? Our man ain't stupid...)

I'll say it again, brilliant gig. I thought they seemed to take a couple of numbers to get into it, sound seemed a bit kind of lacklustre at first (especially on Pacifying Joint) but by the time they got to 'What About Us' it was totally rocking. Touch Sensitive probably best I've heard it as well. Systematic Abuse was superb, bodes very well for things to come.

I'd also echo the previous comments that for the first time MES 'knob twiddling (or 'live mixing') actually seemed to make things sound better, and this seemed to be confirmed by the fact that the recipients of said twiddling did nothing to rectify matters (apart from at the end where he totally cut the bass from Blindness for a few bars, but even that seemed to work).

Not being funny but everytime I see them they get better!!

Couldn't believe how many people were there. I seriously think thats why he/ they put on such a good performance.

That version of What About Us was awesome (was he singing a couple of lines off Hey Student during it? I thought so) as was Touch Sensitive and oh all of it!

Deffo worth travelling from Cardiff for. I would advise you to catch them if you can.

Right place, right time!!!!!!!!!

MES spills lager on trousers pre-gig. Thinks 'shit, I spent my last three quid on that pint, where can I get meself a decent pairs of slacks at this hour?' Only solution is to leg it to BHS, break in, and steal the first thing that comes to hand. This explains both the security tag and the gloves (f-prints see? Our man ain't stupid...)

It just goes to prove that either times are still hard, or he really likes those trousers, because he must have 'acquired' them at the latest in Croydon last Wednesday.

That does explain the glove, though. Although you would have thought that he could've taken them into a shop in Bristol and said "the silly buggers in the shop where I bought these forgot to remove this. Please will you do it. . .". I bet they would.

looking good for Exeter and Reading then

You lucky devils.

The GLOVE made an appearance at Wigan

What, that Robert Smith Beatles tribute band??

Think you're in there mate

I always liked to think the leather glove thing was a subtle tribute to Alvin Stardust.

back home again.I,ve been blessed on my travels in this last week,some great gigs and bristol was another one.bang on an hour long,touch sensitive and blindness stood out for me.At present rate of new material being included it will take about 2 years to get a whole new set but slow changes suit me well.as mentioned by Mr. big banannas kareoke was bad ,not as bad as mr slide show from croydon though.nice to meet the forum crew.(I thought My Balloon lived in america,he dosn,t)

Glad to see you got home Karl - good to meet you on Monday

Not going to Reading - lightweight

Glad to see you got home Karl - good to meet you on Monday

Not going to Reading - lightweight

I,m knackered,please don,t call me a lightweight or I may just start sobbing(like a lightweight who can,t keep up)see you soon

I don't think I'd have survived 4-nights at Croydon

I'm spreading mine out at approximately weekly intervals. It's all about pacing

You lucky beggars. Missed out. Sob. Can someone post some photos pretty fast pretty please?

Here (beats hasty retreat)

Wow, that stage looks really big after yhe photos of the Croydon gig. Surprised that MES didn't succumb to agrophobia.

I was actually in Bristol over the weekend.

Right place, wrong time!

I've written a few lines about Monday and posted a photo on my blog. They have been on stunning form recently although I much prefer the Bristol Bierkeller to the Academy. Anyone else going to the Secret Machines on Friday?

http://martincole.blogspot.com/

What About Us cleared the 11 minute mark on Monday. It was just over 10 minutes in Stratford. At this rate it'll soon eat up all the other songs in the set!

It was 15minutes 15seconds long at Wigan