The Empire, Milton Keynes, 12th March 2005

A scorcher. Set was

Bo Doodak
Boxoctosis
Clasp
What About Us
Pacifying Joint
Wrong Place
Grass Grow
Janet & Johnny
Sparta
Assume
Ride Away
Mountain Energei
Touch Sensitive
Blindness

Encore 1 - White Lightning
Mere Pseud Mag Ed

Encore 2 - Big New Prinz (no MES, audience on vocals)

Support act Bowfinger were average indie-pop but the last number was really good, where the basssist sung.

JC Clarke was warm and entertaining and very funny.

The Fall went on at 11.30 and finished at about 12.45.

Great wall of sound, bass-heavy and keyboards strong. Sometimes it drowned MES out. But sounded less guitar-driven than usual, and better for it, like The Fall have got a new sound.

I don't know Bo Doodak, lyrics like Clasp Hands, with MES singing 'We are all stoned' a couple of times at the beginning. Good intro song. Then 'Good evening, we are the Fall' and Boxoctosis; a young lady got on stage during Wrong Place and tried rubbing herself up against MES for a while. He gallantly continued, moving around the stage to shake her off and til he could do so no more and turned to her to have words (smiling with it). Eventually a security guard escorted her back to the crowd and MES gave him a kiss for his trouble. Things got going after that. The band's energy and commitment to the music was really powerful. Janet and Johnny was stripped down, amp fiddling reducing it to drum and vocals at one point (actually might have been another song, can't remember clearly). Assume was quite funky, a bit angular, a bit like Gang of Four in a way. In Ride Away he sang something like 'You trhink you're nothing, you know you're nothing'. Touch Sensitive was the best I've ever heard it. But the climax was Blindness, an unbelievably powerful, relentless, staggering noise, played with real intensity.

Encores. The heavy sound made a short White Lightning sound much better than it usually does. There was a bit of debacle at the start of Pseud Mag, where the band started playing something else (Damo, maybe) while MES was opening with 'His heart organ was where it should be..' - Ben signalled Spen to stop it, MES continued and they played Pseud Mag - blinding - MES keyboard contribution and audience participation, which the security guys stopped by confiscating the mic. Second encore was Big New Prinz with no MES (Eleni said something by way of explanation I think at the start but couldn't make it out) so a guy at the front did a pretty good job of it while the band played and the crowd went mad for one last time.

Rather splendid all in all. And very loud.

Good to see it went ahead

Can't see them getting away with being on that late tonight in Norwich. Though does MES care

HEY i got the mic 1st for big new prinz at MK... so if u get the bootleg... the 1st voice is moi... was very drunk though... so it was most likely shite... Actually heard JCC this time by goin up to the front and sticking my head in the speakers cos I am such a deaf bastard....
ta. to everyone for getting the fanzine... me n mark must have sold about 50 there... which is good...
nice to see Michael again
nice to meet andrew [callsign] , bhantu , strontium dawg and his friend.

I still aint keen on MK ... it does have shops ... but why so far apart ? crazy mental place... it was a 4 mile walk from my hotel to the venue... so cheers to Mark for the lift back.

the gig was a good atmosphere...

Agreed MK is bizarre, American-like grid, modernist dystopia of shopping and entertainment. I was at front to the right in front of Eleni but declined the mic in Pseud Mag (would probably have accepted if I'd had a couple more drinks).

Good that you heard JCC ffd, I liked his Haiku:

To express youself
In seventeen syllables
Is very diffic

Should be good in Norwich tonight!

I concur absolutely with all the above; it was an outstanding gig. Very loud, and full of incident.

Some random things that stood out…

The blonde girl. Quite the most surreal thing I’ve seen at a Fall gig. Blonde hair, short denim skirt, flimsy top. She clambered on stage like she owned the joint and proceeded to sway gently with Mark while simultaneously pawing at him. Every time he moved she followed him in a slightly dreamlike trance. It really was as though she was fulfilling a dare. While on E. At the wrong gig. For a moment I wondered if Mark might lose the imperious stage act. He seemed genuinely thrown by this girl. Eleni didn’t seem to mind, which was sporting of her -- although the prospect of two women fighting over Mark had its appeal. In the end, Blonde-Girl-On-E-At-The-Wrong-Gig was ushered from the stage with Mark exhorting the bouncer not to be rough with her. He did this by kissing the bouncer. That’s right. Mark E Smith kissed the bouncer. He smiled a lot during the gig, actually, and at one point sort of jigged up and down. He also seemed to be practising a new look that involved pursing his lips and staring hard. Think Kenneth Williams, with a dash of John Hurt thrown in. On the whole I thought he looked very well; particularly dapper, too.


Did anyone else encounter The World’s Campest Man, who was apparently filming the gig? I was standing with fellow forumeers, Fallfandave, Michael, Mark and Andrew Callsign when The World’s Campest Man approached wanting to ask Andrew which song he thought was The Fall’s best. It turned out TWCM was recording the gig; indeed we saw him backstage throwing shapes with John Cooper Clarke so he clearly had some kind of ‘in’ with the band. He struck various poses while filming the gig, but whether any of his footage will surface, who knows? He seemed more concerned with arching his back provocatively, and at one point saying, ‘Ooh it’s poet’s corner,’ to some blokes standing near the toilet and doing them a little dance. That was during White Lightning. It was a graceful enough dance but I couldn’t help wondering why he wasn’t filming.

Eleni Smith, Super Woman. Do Not Mess With Mrs MES. There was definitely some static between Fall and venue. I wouldn’t be surprised if the next hidden track on a Fall single is called Milton Keynes. The problem seemed to be between one soundman and first a member of the Fall gruppe’s operation (on-stage remonstration) and then with Ma Smith. She took centre stage to shout something about amps, returned to her keys and was furiously shaking a speaker by her side while simultaneously looking daggers at the mixing desk behind us. So she’s already angry, this lady. Next thing you know, jobsworth soundman tries to return the New Big Prinz mic from the crowd to the stage. Ma Smith leaves her keyboards, furiously wrests the microphone from the bewildered jobsworth soundman and hands it back to the crowd. Awesome! Now we know who wears the lederhosen in that particular house. More on-stage remonstration, with the hapless bewildered jobsworth soundman shouting at Ma Smith but Ma Smith retaining her air of glacial superiority before the beleagured hapless bewildered jobsworth soundman retreated. Victory to the Smiths!

And I haven't even started on the music! All in all, it was a great gig. They were on so late the audience was mostly slaughtered, so it was very lairy. I was sober as judge for the first time ever at a Fall concert, and surveyed the carnage with a gimlet eye. It was great to meet FFD, Michael, Andrew and Mark, and great to see the world’s best band on brilliant form. Can’t wait for the Forum gig. They’ll have to pull the stops out to better last night, though…

And, of course, invite the Blonde Girl back…

You got a lift from MES!?



Great gig reports!

I wish I went now!

MK is a shithole town - agree totally there, but it is reachable from my locality, and I had intended to travel to Brighton with a mate, and after tickets selling out and then cancellation of that, the idea of MK was in the back of my mind. But I didn't act on it

Ah well, there's London to look forward to now...

I think he means a Mark who's a normal Mark...

I am the chap who hogged the mic for most of Big New Prinz and in Up2much's review said I did a"pretty good job" so again if any-one recorded it and has a copy I could have it would be much "appreciated". At one point I passed the mic to another chap who then got on the stage but Eleni chucked him off, took the mic off of him and passed it back to me.

What a night

Does this appearance add me to the list of ex Fall members!

That was the soundman! (see above).

You were very good as it happens! MES -- who needs him, eh?

Bloody marvelous! Thanks for Psued Mag ffdave, nice to meet you. It was VERY LOUD, and I agree that the blonde girl incident was entertainingly funny.

JCC looks the same as he did 20 years ago, and I rather liked Bowfinger, I think their last song was a cover of 'gay bar' by Electric Six.

MK is a dreamlike surreal landscape, I got a b&b about 20 minutes walk from the venue, and I got a bit lost on the way back due to large alcohol intake and the fact that everywhere looks the same.

Still, atmos at gig was good and the Jaipur does a CRACKING curry, one of the best I,ve sampled as a matter of fact!

I wonder if MES secretly liked the blonde girl interfering with things, being an advocate of interfering with the sound himself. Thought we nearly got a flash of breast when he gave her the brush-off first time. It certainly was entertaining, her dreamlike trance and gentle swaying (aptly put, strontium dawg) and wandering hands were quite hypnotic.

Thinking about the sound, Interim is actually pretty representative of its raw edge.

--------------------

I've just spent ages trying to put a digital photo of the setlist up but to no avail (can't work out how to). Could I email it to someone to do the honours?

Actually, please ignore the above. I just looked at the Nottingham review thread and have seen that th MK setlist is a photocopy of that one!

it was too friggin' loud couldnt make out the vocals much
nice meeting Fallfandave
and the fanzines are pretty good

but I could have done with more clarity in the vocal stakes

and they were on too late

it's not all doom and gloom tho'

it was a good set
and it looks like they've gotten to a nice place where they seem to be going forward instead of relying on the usual stock set

and it's sounding more musical

but yeah next time sort out the volume

Where's F-Oldin Money then ?

The Nottingham set list had four encores listed at the bottom, one of which got played.

I wouldn't be surprised if the same list was used, to be honest...

Interesting the too loud comment. I think it's true that MES's vocals can become muffled at times, which is a pity. Or maybe I'm just getting old...hearing aid on too high!!

Where's F-Oldin Money then ?

Shame they didn't play it.

The loudness was great imo, loved it. MES was pretty clear and strong much of the time, muffled and drowned out some of the time, but giving it the full range of light to dark throughout.

Where's F-Oldin Money then ?

Shame they didn't play it.

The loudness was great imo, loved it. MES was pretty clear and strong much of the time, muffled and drowned out some of the time, but giving it the full range of light to dark throughout.

The loudness didn't bother me. The time coming on did, I must say.

My only criticism (and it's a general live Fall criticism, rather than this particular concert) is that Mark has this habit of boiling down the lyrics for certain songs.

Whenever I've seen Touch Sensitive done live the lyrics have been all over the show, and it was the same last night. What could be a really good singalong number just becomes Mark shouting random words.

Cyber Insekt used to be terrible for this, and last night Blindness had significantly reduced lyrics, too.

I'm sure more cuplrits will come to me as I post.

Anyway, it's a tiny criticism and, like I say, not confined to last night, which was phenomenal.

You've got a point, the boiled-down lyrics leave some songs a bit ordinary live at times, as it's him that makes things extraordinary. I agree about that treatment of Cyber Insekt. However, changing things around makes you listen, confounds your expectations, makes it more than just a run-through of the recordings. I thought Touch Sensitive was much more interesting last night, less predictable.

Btw, are you sure the campest man in the world was actually a man? I thought he/she was a woman, and also saw him/her chatting to JCC backstage, so I guess we've got the same person.

Thanks to (regular) Mark's big-hearted reply to my desperate post, shuttling me down, i am still grinning like an idiot.

Hello again to the fellow fans from the 'board i was pleased to meet, if all but too fleetingly, setting off late & missing planned meet-up in Rat n Parrot.

I'll pop up a bit more later.

I'm happy. The Fall Rock!

'blonde girl' wasnt on 'e'.
Just vodka and coke!
And is now blushing crimson.
I hope no-one else made the same mistake as us and opted for the 'night club' opposite the venue for a late drink.

She should be proud rather than embarrassed judging by these gig reports.

Seems to have added yet another surreal episode to the legend/soap opera that is The Fall...



2 months til London!

We weren't prepared for the 'MK' experience. A landscape I see on my 9yr olds american based PS2 games. No pubs, no shops, cars and car parks everywhere but no visible owners. A good venue, but a lager only venue.

Just returned home.

What a brilliant and exciting night it was.
Thanks for the detailed reviews - is there anything to add?

I will post my own review later - still my ears are ringing.
Have to sort the things out.

Greatest moment beside the concert was to have met strontium, Callsign, Mark and Fallfandave, plus a few unnamed mates!
Greatest moment on stage was the full driven set with an exceptional heavy sound. What a bass!


This night will be the gig of the year in MK.

Top bird!