photo credit: Mc-Q

(This review was mostly written through robbin’ lyrics from popular toons – and under the restriction of having read too much Joyce on way too short a space of time…)

Wanted for continuous wanton crimes against the English tongue
– DJ Krossphader

City Hobgoblins

March 16th in Dublin. The eve of our annual celebration of being a nation of drunken wasters by being a nation of drunken wasters. Scuttling through the city to make the pub for 7.30. Round Merion square corner of a funfair. Through Nassau street by the Dail, round the Stephens Green shopping centre – girls there – tall – just past that and coming out of some new hotel very wealthy creative or criminal types – both? – They have hours fun embracing – sneak through Montague Street thinking the Scott Walker tune and nearly fall over two quite figures in tracksuits – end of an affair?

Even Flanerys is dead tonight – 3 ladies with patent leather boots and one saying “we really clicked all night and then…” – Onwards into Anseo and there’s Watts

– Hi Paul.

British People in Hot Weather

Anseo fills up very fast. It’s a land of baaad barnets, funny ha ha mustaches and “craaaaazy” side burns. Somehow it’s a place where the weird through some strangely, soft, Midas touch in reverse action - actually becomes “dull and dutiful”. Camden town One Nine Seven One anyone?

But that’s not to diss!

Actually it’s a decent class of a pub, when un-full, with Guinness at reasonable rates and you can get lucky with the DJ. We have got lucky! He throws down King Tubby, Wire, Buzzcocks, Couple by the mighty Fall themselves and “I had too much to dream last night” A nice French fella pesters us for a gig to go to – we direct him Tripod wise – wonder did he go for it?

About nine pm and the place empties out – and us with it

– all bound for Fall town.

Spoilt Victorian Child

Beautifully timed arrival taking in the last 30 seconds of support band two – don’t like em! A long gig hiatus to follow – badly recorded versions of Fall classics – echo reverb ily. Usual crowd annoyance tricks deployed– lights up and down – half hearted cheers from the cynical Fall massive – mostly male, mostly thirty plus. They have been to the bad Fall gigs. Finally it becomes clear that we are, in fact, listening to Mr. Smith his good self reciting strange, resentful verse over a shadowy mélange of electronics and echo. Its kind of OK but only sharpens the expectations which jump at every possible shadowy movement on stage. And then there they are – a very young looking Fall Mk ?? - Including the rather gothy but fetchin’ Mrs Mark E Smith III aka Elena Poulou on keyboards. They look scared but rock pretty fecking hard – Poulou even risks a lipsticky and nervous smile. Then man himself drifts on after a very tight instrumental number – in trade mark manky leather jacket and purple shirt – looking hardly a day over 300

(its hard to believe he’s actually only 106 in real life).

He does all his trade mark live band reconstruction work.

Throwing mikes about, adjusting amps, trying to play other folks instruments, and even trying to sing into one of the sensitive drum mikes – sound man is a head of him at the controls or it might have been good bye tripod sound system…

This Nations Saving Grace

My first time ceeing the fall by DJ krossphader aged? –

Well?

Well

-Aged at any rate.

I tink The Fall are a very fun band.

They are a skiffle band.

They rcok very hard.

No there’s no getting around it – I popped me fall cherry on the right night and they were great.

(not that this will stop em being fired at/before the end of this tour – will they care? Off course not – well not the Band as such

– but imagine being in the Band and married to the fecker – where are such woman heroes constructed – how/why do they endure!?!)

It was somewhat reminiscent of my personal favourite Fall period – the 1980s with Brix. Even more amazingly our freaky friend actually let them take over vocals on several tunes and Elena has a great voice managing to sound like a more musical Mark E.

Was remarked to me by one friend that the moments when he was off duty but patrolling around giving out “ugly looks” were rather reminiscent of a grumpy Mike Baldwin supervising the knicker factory in Coronation street! They really went wild on the encore – especially the last tune – which none of the resident Fall aficionados could put a name too which just rampaged off into an extended psychedelic wig out – and off they went – with zero words of the audience or acknowledgement of the rows of pogo-ing middle aged Youths.

Proper order.

Leave the Capital

Off to Devitts for a pint and then off out home through an increasing crowd of shamrocky Italians and French with inflatable tri-colour hammers.

Paddy whackery in the alleys.

Please take it- keep it PLEASE

– Its yours!

Labels: Gig Review, Guest Blogger, Krossie, Music, the fall