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I suppose this is just as much a review of the recording as it of the performance that I witnessed on the night, but here it is as I posted it on Dimeadozen (6/23/06):
| QUOTE | Alright, I was at this this show but owing to a lack of internet access I was unable to comment on it for the past month. The reviews on Fallnet and the Fall Forum aren't especially favorable so I've chosen Dime as the venue for MY review, where I hope it will be heard.
This was my fifth Fall show (I saw them in both Chicago and Detroit on the 2003 and 2004 tours) and this was easily the best I've ever seen. The new group are impressive, approaching some of the admittedly mediocre Fall Heads Roll songs from new angles and breathing new life into them. With the '03 and '04 lineups I always had a fairly decent idea what was going to happen whenever they launched into any given song -- with the New American Fall, I did not. I deliberately avoided downloading any other shows from the tour beforehand in order to keep the experience fresh in my mind.
Several magic moments stand out in my mind, most of which are audible on this recording:
1. During "Mountain Energei", Mark Smith's "live mixing", for the first time ever, made perfect sense. Early in the song, he pulled the microphone out of the kick drum. (Listen to the album version of the song -- no kick drum. Doesn't need it.) For the second-to-last chorus of the song, however, when the song needed that extra WHOOMP, he put the mic back in the drum with impeccable timing. He also added some much-needed emphasis to Elenor's keyboard line by holding his vocal mic up to her keyboard amp. The "Passenger" melody, played through Elenor's Korg instead of her tiny Casio and backed up by Pressley's barre chords sounded absolutely sinister. It goes on for what seems like an eternity with loads of new lyrics and I'm reminded of some interview somewhere in which MES said that "Mountain Energei" wasn't written as a political song, but it somehow becomes one when it's performed in America.
2. "Blindness". This is as close as Chicago will ever get to hearing the oft-requested "Chicago Now." Even if the drummer hasn't quite got the groove to this song figured out yet, it was still a great performance. The bass player dropped out for a couple minutes and let the song simmer down until MES shouted "SO I SAID!" and the band dutifully came back in on the next downbeat, twice as loud as before, for another round of "BLIND MAN HAVE MERCY ON ME".
3. "What About Us" -- a lumpen "song" in Peel Session form, a passable tune on Fall Heads Roll, and an excellent set closer in live performance. Listen to how Elenor starts the song, then the over-eager guitarist comes in too early, too fast, too damn loud, and MES promptly (and correctly) turns his amplifier down until the rhythm section comes in. Brilliant. Did it ever occur to anyone else that this song might be about myxomatosis? Why else would rabbits in North Britain wish to be put out of their misery? In any event, most of us here don't know who Harold Shipman is, so this song becomes an all-encompassing anthem for the forgotten, the shat-on, the fucked-over. What about us, indeed?
4. According to the setlist, "Midnight in Apsen" and "Youwanner" would have been the encores.
To the lovely lady with the camera who sang "What About Us" with me, I say kudos.
Kudos to you.
Kudos to Hammerhorror as well. Thank you for this souvenir of an excellent Fall show. |
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Logan Square Auditorium – Chicago, Illinois, 30th May 2006
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