Crawdaddy, Dublin, Ireland, Saturday, 7th August 2004

Splendind gig, much improved from York. Line up was minus Ed Blaney (who is too busy organising taxis's these days). Longer versions of Clasp Hands (formely NYC/Steve's Song), Sparta FC and Contraflow. The Fall also played a new song, which I can see as being a Fall classic, and is worthy single material.

The Fall didn't come on until about midnight, which nearly caused a riot (except Dubliners are too Bourgois to cause any real trouble).

Elini's vocals were put right up front this time, which improved alot of the songs

Word is that the Peel session is one of the best they've done in recent years, i'm sure everyone is gonna love it.

Set list:

Intro (spoken word)
Boxoctosis
Mere Pseud Mag Ed
Clasp Hands (formerly NYC/Steve's Song) - extended
Mr Bloe/Green Eyed
Mountain Energi
Sparta FC - extended
Mod Mock Goth
Wrong Place, Right Time into Grass Grow
What about us? (extended w/backing vocals by Elini)
Spoilt Victotian Child
Blindness (Spen's terrific new tune)

Encore:
White Lightening

Josef.

Just out of interest, does anyone who went to both the Stourbridge and the Dublin gigs know if the new song "Blindness" is the disco-ey thing played at Stourbridge; or is it a completely new song?

for certain, the description fits.

sounds like a great concert, i am jealous, i wish i was there.

The Things were already onstage by the time we arrived. It's unfortunate that garage rock bands immediately arouse suspicion these days (well, in me anyway!) but they were pretty impressive, reminiscent of both the Misfits and the Seeds, and since they featured a Farfisa organ and a singer wearing a Love t-shirt, and obviously knew their "Nuggets", I couldn't find much fault with them. Didn't need to see the Iggy-fixated singer's backside though. As my friend commented, he's not Iggy OR a builder...
Noticed Gavin Friday at the bar by the way...
So then we wait. Good DJ set, mainly Northern Soul, with "Mr. Bloe" and Beefheart thrown in for good measure. Crowd getting increasingly restless, then some idiot throws a bottle at the drumkit (admittedly well aimed, but a somewhat fruitless and petulant gesture)... The band set up and leave again... eventually Ben has to return to announce that Mark is in a taxi on his way to the venue. I later learn that he was somehow under the impression that they were due onstage at 1am.
FINALLY the band took the stage and began a storming version of Boxoctosis while the Loop 41 intro was still playing over it. Mark emerged and what do you know, was actually looking remarkably well. It was immediately evident that the band were on form and the long wait was immediately forgiven. Later on in the gig Mark apologised for his late arrival, mentioning something about the euro, "Irish time" and "teaching the group to read and write". Amp fiddling was at a minimum, and what initially looked to me like an impending walk-off was merely the abandonment of one song (either Clasp Hands or Mod Mock Goth (which I haven't heard before)). He seemed enthusiastic throughout.
Nice to see the Fall in an intimate venue, though the attempts by some of the standing crowd to create something approaching a moshpit was extremely annoying. Luckily the worst, drunkest and fattest offender was removed after the quick-thinking Mrs Recluse spurred a bouncer into action (right on!). Still, it was good to see such an enthusiastic reception, with Sparta FC getting an old-school "hit single"-type reaction. Didn't hear any requests for Totally Wired etc but did hear someone excitedly shouting for Deadbeat Descendant!
I had been wondering how MES was going to deal with the smoking ban. About halfway through the gig he accepted a fag from somebody in the front, to supportive cheers, and a number of people lit up in solidarity... until they were told off by the bouncers...
The new bassist, though not loud enough in the mix, was on the money, and Elini's performance was much better than the Touch Sensitive dvd had led me to expect. Ed didn't appear, but this could have been due to the small stage. I Can Hear the Grass Grow was excellent, up there with the best "commercial Fall" of the Beggars era. Mere Pseud Mag Ed was faster than the Peel session version, in an almost thrash metal style. Wrong Place Right Time was a bit of a surprise, and taken at a slightly slower pace than the studio version. Spoilt Victorian Child was in my opinion BETTER than the TNSG version, with the quieter section transformed with a slow-reggae type beat, with great random guitar smears from Ben and Jim. And of course Loco Man and Mountain Energei were magnificent.
The new songs are big lengthy simple repetitive riff monsters, and this reminded me a little of 82-83 Fall. What About Us was great, but the last pre-encore song, which I heard was called Blindman, was even better, with some nice epic keyboard sweeps reminiscent to Antidotes. Ben told me later that he thought of it as the new Dr. Buck's Letter, and when it started I thought it was a new arragement of that song. A fast and maybe somewhat perfunctory White Lightning was the only encore, but it did work as an enjoyable closing singalong. Good long gig too, and by far the best of the four I've seen. In fact, I can't imagine it being much better. My friend who is a long-time listener but had never seen the band live was mightily impressed despite not being familiar with the bulk of the set, and even Mrs Recluse, who had been emotionially blackmailed into attending, beamed throughout and admitted, "Yes. I like the Fall." Was fortunate enough to chat to Ben and Jim later, and got a sense off their near-heroic loyalty to the Fall and necessarily saintly patience...

Proof once again that I am in the wrong country.

I have a feeling if I lived in the UK I'd be following the Fall like some Deadhead...

I noticed a lot of this at York . . . does going to watch The Fall mean you have to stand arms folded these days. Do people not dance to The Fall? I'm not talking about a 'mosh pit' here but does the sound not want to make you move?

Fair enough, but I don't think a heavy man drunkenly crashing into you repeatedly could be described primarily as "dancing"... nor for that matter a damp person emitting a stench of rotting meat insisting on rubbing said dampness against you despite having plenty of room not to... I just like to enjoy a gig without my main concern having to be whether me or my friends are about to be elbowed in the chin... are you still doing what you did 12 years ago and all that... maybe it's me getting old or just can handle me drink
Strangely enough that Blindman or Blindness song inspired lots of air-punching...

what he said goes double for me--haven't managed to see them since 1983

i'm not doing what i was doing 12 years ago, but funnily enough when i hear music i like it makes me want to move. with or without drink. the whole 'mosh pit' thing is rubbish and annoying at times though, i agree.

I heard about the Dublin late arrival last night while we waited for The FAll to arrive onstage in Galway. Fortunately they weren't too late and played the same set as Dublin I think.
MES was singing with 2 mics half the time. He made the guitarist stop and play the intro to spoilt victorian again, but the band were incredibly tight, and there was plenty of serious moshing going on. He didn't say anything between songs at all but looked pretty chipper. Comes across as a bit of a mecanic on stage I thought. Always fiddling trying to get the sound just right.

The only downer for me is that the new stuff and the way the older ones are played is so relentless and fast. Every song is up tempo. It's like Speed Punk or something!
I guess it's just cos I love all the early/mid style sound of the band. I kinda hope he slows things down a bit on newer albums.

Yeah, I'm hoping this rock business is just a phase - the hormones have to settle down eventually...

for certain, the description fits.

yeah it's the one Mark - it really you going.

Yeah Max. But there was a very good reason for MES being late - he was back at the hotel sorting out the lyrics for Blindness and that. Being late is part and parcel of a Fall gig sometimes - I noticed some people were leaving at about 11pm. As mark says - "I'm not a tap".
I think promoters should stop whining about late starts. when they come on late they tend to play better anyway.

stick Contraflow in after Boxoctosis and you're right

best Dublin gig since 1993's Tivoli show

shame about the wait but was worth it

wasn't moshing myself (getting on a bit) but managed to move the limbs quite a bit

nice venue; somewhat small but good Russ Abbot

you haven't spotted TRNFL US version in Dublin have you?

On entry i see two "celebrity" Gavins, one is Mr. Friday, the man responsible for the only time i've ever heard The Fall on irish national radio station RTÉ Radio One, the other is Mr. Lambe Murphy, what?!?

Long wait before show....no problem
glasses thrown, and boos as The Fall take to the stage...embarrassing, from that moment on I am not happy to be part of the crowd full of twats
drunken rich kids jumping & pushing and shoving, and throwing shapes...very tempted to clatter some of them, almost came to blows with one pipsqueak half my size
"There's always a bit of a rough element at The Fall" one of my friends comment, I don't know about that, my teory is that the delay has caused some of these mammy's boys ,to drink just a little bit more than they're able to handle

"I Can Hear The Grass Grow" reminds of the time I saw The Fall in Belfast 1993, and I could hear the droplets of sweat whOOooshing out of the skin beside my ears

Poor sound, I blame the venue, i've been to numerous shows there since it opened a couple of months ago, Tony Allen's Afrobeat (X2), Courtney Pine, Papa Congo, Jah Shaka, Daddy's Little Princesss, and each time the sound is bad,

Bad sound at The Fall, is okay if one knows all the tunes, but if any unfamiliar material features in the set as did on Saturday, it sounds like the teacher off Charlie Brown,

I go to talk to MES after, but I'm speechless, Elena leads him off into the night and he gives a parting squawk

Was Gavin Friday the bloke with the spikey hair?

You're absolutly spot on about the crowd. A fair few people did actually leave before the Fall came on which was a bit of a relief as at first it was a bit unbearable (couldn't see anything). I stood underneath the balcony. Not too bad there. the Dubliners I met after the gig were really cool, but before the Fall came on there were some really fucking snobby, up their arses and very rude people about. Are these the "Dublin cool set?" if so I feel sorry for those that have to put up with them at gigs in Dublin.

Mark was late because he was trying to sort out lyrics of the new song - making sure he was happy with it before he left. Ed was taking shit from both the promoter (calling him up asking where the hell he was) and Mark, "I'm not a tap".
This tune was enjoyed most of all by the audience, ironic really. Those that left missed one hell of a show I'd say.


Considering the PA set up they had the sound was atrocious - very poor, distortion, Mark wasn't even twiddling about that much and the soundman still couldn't get the mix right. Apparently on stage it sounded even worse - so playing was a "difficult job". Aside from these issues the venue was really nice, they've obviously spent alot of money making it look decent, I liked it.

Dublin
A crowd of us headed off on the 5 minute walk down the road from my place to the Crawdaddy (only 2 of which had seen The Fall before - myself & the wife!). I liked the venue, used to be called the POD, a dance/rave club. I could never get in before as I wasn't trendy enough. So dance music is officially dead then?? It had a nice low ceiling (like a cavern) The support band were alright despite the lead singer desperately wanting to be Iggy Pop. And then came the wait...and the wait..and
then Ben came on stage looking uncomfortable announcing that Mark was on his way in a taxi. This caused much hilarity and slagging off from my friends who don't think much off The Fall anyway & then came the boos, and then a pint glass was fucked on stage. Oh dear..was the gig going to happen at all? All throughout a bouncer stood on stage looking and acting like a twat (and in fact could have escalated things further) Had this man ever worked in a music venue before? Even tried belittling the crowd at one stage – Ha! pathetic) Eventually Mark arrives to cheers and boos. I noticed a lot of excited people clapping & booing at the same time, but it was a group of Mancunians next to us who were booing the loudest. Anyway first up was Open the Boxtosis which was fairly flat as we didn't get the 'open the box..open the god damn box' backing vocals. Then I think came Contraflow, and then Green Eyed Loco Man the latter of which I thought was superb.
They also did I can Hear The Grass Grow, Wrong Place Right Time, Mere Pseud Mag Ed., Sparta FC (great! - with strong backing vocals from Ben) White Lightening, Spoilt Victorian Child and some new tracks. Overall it very good. Even my mates were happy to have gone in the end, and really enjoyed Marks performance (disappearing to the side of the stage, reading lyrics off bits of paper, defying smoking ban – that’s a 3,000 euro fine Mark). Had a brief chat with Jim & Ed after the gig. Ed apologised for delay in the gig starting and they were asking me what I thought of the new no.s which I said I liked a lot, and then they were speaking about the peel session which will be broadcast this Thurs. I left by saying I’d see them in Galway and then dashed off to drop my friends home much to the relief of their babysitters

how odd.

Was this Ben trying desperately to entertain the crowd?

nope



he's wearing his hair tied back in a scraggly greasy ponytail that looks like a sheep's arse


did my ears decieve me, or did the set include some of "Elves" from WAFWO?
or is there a new song about elves?





Gavin Lambe Murphy has kinda spikey hair

under the balcony is good if you like bass, it's more compressed under there

No, these are the "Dublin think they're cool set"!

The promoter had a bit of a rough weekend!
the previous night in the adjoining venue, The Red Box, owned by the same people, where The fall played in march 2001, they had The Wailers booked in for an early show, and a nightclub booked in afterwards, however The Wailers showed up really late, and the doors were supposed to open for 7:30 didn't open untill 8:45 because the band were having problems getting set up, the band were supposed to finish at 10:30, but they didn't actually start untill 9:55, and their sound failed about 30 mins into the set, and wasn't restored for about 10 minutes, they left the stage after about 40 minutes, came back for two songs, the sound failed again, and they just packed up and left the stage, if you thought there was anger in Crawdaddy on Saturday, it was nothing compared to the night before, things were really starting to look ugly, people had paid €30, and got less than an hour of the Wailers, the same fathead bouncer was up on the stage trying to wind-up the mob too.
This venue does it a lot, they try and book two events in the same venue in the same night, maximising profits, it's lucky there wasn't anything booked in after The Fall, or it would have been a much shorter set.
I went to The Sun Ra Arkestra there in 2001, and the bar shut @ 10:00, the band finished @10:15, and everyone was turfed out at 10:30, while me and my friends were standing outside trying to decide where to next, the inhouse security started roaring at us to start forming an orderly queue to get back in - and pay IR£15 for the privilage! no fuckin' chance.

The venue I must add is owned by John Reynolds, whose father is the former irish taoiseach (primeminister) Albert Reynolds, who made his fortune from an empire of dancehalls, and dog food manufacturing.


(^John & Albert^)

One of my friends was nearer the front, there were a couple of tossers trying to cause a bit of argy-bargy, which the bouncer ignored and instead he started hassling someone else who wasn't misbehaving, and MES tapped bouncer on shoulder, and told him to hop it

well i saw The fall a couple of times in 1993, and the set featured some unfamiliar stuff, tunes from the then forthcoming Behind The Counter & nMiddle Class Revolt, but I was able to make the songs out, the vocal was very clear, and again in 1995 they performed Chisselers for the first time, but i was able to make out most of the lyrics "Pink Floyd are short" what? did he just say what I thought he said? ha!ha!ha!
but on this occasion i just couldn't make out any of the new stuff, he needn't have spent so much time working out the lyrics because i couldn't fuckin' hear them

It used to be The Chocolate Bar, gone are the "Celtic Tiger" days when this place would be packed every evening with young professionals guzzling overpriced cocktails.

The last time when The fall played The Redbox, there wasn't a capacity crowd, so now they've a new mini-venue for acts that can't fill The red Box, but I think next time around, if there is a next time, it'll back to the Red Box, a lot of bodies were turned away

rape

bouncers

red box

surely no meaningful association.

cuntz