The Fall 2003-09-29 Centro Cultural de Belém, Lisbon, Portugal AUD Additional infos.

http://thefall.org/gigography/gig03.html

Monday, 29 September 2003  Centro Cultural de Belém, Lisbon, Portugal

Boxoctosis (aborted) / Behind the Counter / Telephone Thing / Grooving with Mr. Bloe > Green-Eyed Loco Man / Mountain Energei / F-Oldin' Money > Kick the Can / Contraflow / Boxoctosis / Theme from Sparta F.C. / Mere Pseud Mag Ed / Mr. Pharmacist / Janet, Johnny & James / New Big Prinz // White Lightning / Dr. Buck's Letter // Way Round

- "I lost my temper with a friend. And there are too many smart-arses in this room with white shirts on. Do not trust anybody, unless by mail. Hup!" (amended lyrics to "Dr. Buck's Letter")

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http://thefall.org/news/031020.html#sep29

Centro Cultural de Belém, Lisbon, Portugal, Sept. 29, 2003:

The setlist, very similar to the US tour with the addition of Boxoctosis. Many thanks to Nuno:

Behind the Counter / Telephone Thing / Green Eyed Loco Man / Mountain Energei / F-Oldin' Money > Kick the Can / Contraflow / Boxoctosis / Theme from Sparta FC / Mere Pseud Mag Ed / Mr. Pharmacist / Janet vs Johnny / New Big Prinz // White Lightning / Dr. Buck's Letter // Way Round

* Four Foot Vauxhall Carton from the message board tackled a translation of Nuno's review:

Took me hours this!

The CCB was a strange choice of venue for The Fall. The comfortable armchairs did not suit the sense of anticipation. The room, initially quite empty, did not fill, but it had a decent sized crowd ready to receive the band.

The troops entered first: Steve Evets [it was Dingo, not Evets - Stefan], Dave Milner, Ben Pritchard, and Eleanor Smith (keyboards). They began with the intro to "Behind the Counter". Mark E. Smith walked on eventually. With it, the crowd started to abandon the chairs and moved ahead to what passed for a moshpit. MES looked leaner, but with a bored expression. A garage rendition of "Telephone Thing", showed that currently the Fall are practically electrónica free. MES started his traditional microphone antics. None seemed to satisfy him. Occasionally he abandoned them completely and continued to sing. Other times he left them on the keyboards, in the pit, not giving the roadies any peace.
After a couple of older tracks, the time came to preview some of the very promising new album. A first medley included one brilliant "Green Eyed Loco Man" and a "Mountain Energei" which did not include the threatening keyboards of Eleanor Smith. MES discovered another playful activity on stage: to mess around with the buttons of the amplifiers of the guitar and bass, causing complete chaos for Ben and Steve so much that, inbetween songs, they desperately tried to reset the things.

Old favourites would follow: "Mere Pseud Mag Ed", the oldest from their back catalogue, followed by the popular "Mr. Pharmacist " which was well received by the relieved public, in delirium. Unhappily the microphone problems had come back during "Janet versus Johnny", also from their new album . It was a mike-free performance, as MES had exhausted all microphones. As ever they ended with "New Big Prinz". The crowd received a hypnotic drawn out version - as the public proved that the “He is not appreciated” was not applicable to them cheering them on for an encore, the band returned for two songs: the rockabilly "White Lightning", in an almost thrash version, and "Dr. Buck's Letter " that, more electric than electrónica, did not work out as MES, by now exasperated with the microphone problems walked off and the song finished something incomplete.

The band came back for a second encore after a long wait. But they could have had many. All in all, and taking into account the many personnel disruptions it was a great show despite ending with a lacklustre "Way Round". The public still asked for one third encore, but the lights of the room had been lit, ending this spectacular show.

The Fall had made the peace with the Portuguese public, after their problematic visits in the past. The energy in them seems inexhaustible, the new songs shows a return of the band to a form they have not known since “The Unutterable”. The behaviour onstage of Mark E. Smith is as strange as ever. You pay your money and you know what youre going to get.

The crowd loved what the band were prepared to give them: a merge of "F-Old Money" and "Kick The Can", sped up and explosive, preceded already by the mythical “Good evening, we are The Fall.” They returned more to the new album with three songs: "Contraflow", "Boxoctosis" and "Theme From Sparta FC". The ability of the latest recruits to the MES ranks is great, with special praise for the bassist. In the drumseat, Dave Milner marked the traditional Fall groove, also participating in the choruses. Ben Pritchard, beyond being an excellent guitarist, also seems to be a very affable type, to judge for the bonhomie with which he tolerates the provocations of the Master (insults, hitting with microphone, pinching the face...).

Luis:

"Centro Cultural de Belem" seemed like the last place on earth to see a Fall gig, a very art conscious, snob type of place, certainly not much rock predisposed. The band hadn't played for about 2 months, there were rumors that the concert in Porto had been cancelled due to only 12 tickets being sold (though this was about a month before the show!). The perspectives weren't very good!

I went with 2 friends, one as crazy by The Fall as I am, the other not much into it but extremely open minded, musically wise. And we were in the first row. Yes! It was chairs for everybody and there was a small pit in front of the stage, probably for an orchestra!

After a poor act that went almost unnoticed, lasted some 20 minutes only, and didn't had any thing to do with the band to which they were opening (let's mention their names, just cause they're young, and some friends of mine know them: Jaguar), I notice that the room, large and with excellent sound conditions, begun to look composed.

Several hundred people were there, maybe a thousand, I can't tell for sure. Most of them seemed to be waiting maybe for a sort of revival group, back from the eighties and late seventies, some old punk glory who had lost it's edge and direction (like all groups from that time eventually did?). And then again, I guess some people go to see just about every show, if they feel it might be cool. Who knows? I'm speculating.

At the far right side of the stage there was an extremely tiny synthesizer. I've read the comments on the US tour here in the Fallnet, but I never thought it could actually be that small! I was waiting to hear some spoken word tape introduction, from "Pander, Panda, Panzer", but nothing of the sort happened.

The band comes in, discretely but confident, and after a few seconds I realize they've thrown themselves brutally against "Behind the Counter". I look over to my friend with a huge smile on my face, as if I just had great sex, and something snaps in my brain. In less than a minute, all the people from the first rows stand up automatically and stand close to the stage. We are also there.

Mark E. Smith comes in and is welcomed like a rock god, which in fact he is, although he also looks like a tiny, thin man someone just dragged from the pub and isn't very much sure where the hell he is . The band is playing as tight and hard as nothing I ever heard. I'd seen them 3 years ago, also in Portugal, but these guys play at least 10 times better. They are totally focused, the sound just hits you in the pit of the stomach and this huge massive beat goes on forever (sometimes too long, but I'll talk about it later), relentlessly and unforgiving. I believe only The Stooges ever did anything quite like it, but that's just my opinion.

During the first 5 or 6 songs they are absolutely unbelievable! The keyboards are heard loud and clear, sometimes even over the guitar, and they perfectly add that extra aural dimension which, to me, is everything The Fall is about, and that I didn't heard 3 years ago, even though Julia Nagle was there. The bass and guitar are as close together as (I know it seems a heresy, but it's true) Hanley and Scanlon might have been. The drummer just keeps the beat in perfect time, solid and straight, even though I sometimes wished he played a little bit more around it, but I do not believe those are Mark's instructions.

The control he has over that band is sometimes unbelievable. I know a lot of people said it already, and in better ways, but it's mind blowing to see. Each time he goes to the bass amplifier, it just sounds louder, more distorted, stronger and BETTER. This I also felt, 3 years back, in "Arcos de Valdevez ", in the North of Portugal.

Midway through Telephone Thing, the way Mark was singing "I heard you Telephone Thing/ I…..sensed you!" makes me think of his alleged youth psychic powers and sends shivers down my spine. As H. P. Lovecraft always said "there are things that are best left alone". Even though this is not in any way one of my favorite Fall songs, it was delivered with strength and conviction as almost every one of them.

Green-Eyed Loco Man, which I hadn't heard before, was probably the best song of the evening, and it was played with care and mastery. I think the guitarist does a great job, and he is clearly very skilled, in a conventional way. This song just reminds me that in the heart of each Fall tune there is, deep down there, a pure pop genius, waiting to be found. Then Mountain Energy was almost as good and seemed to have some very funny lyrics. I even thought I saw Mark rehearsing 2 or 3 dance steps at the beginning of one of these tunes, but I was obviously hallucinating.

A very fast Foldin' Money followed, but here not even half of the lyrics which appear on the record were sung. He just kept saying 3 or 4 verses on and on, and it was probably, for me, the first negative point of the show.
Now is the time to say that I, and also my friends, sensed a strong smell of wine some of the times that Mark was closest and with his mouth open. But since there were people close to me who also had drank, I will not speak a bad word of the Great Man. Although he had clearly heavily touched the stuff.

Kick The Can went after Foldin', medley like, and Elena added a lot of backing vocals. Mark seemed to be playing with her, singing the chorus, making her sing, and then shutting up, just like little kids some times do, in order to embarrass others. But truth be said she stood her ground magnificently, and in a very dignified way. She was wearing a short dress, leaving part of her shoulders bare, in black and white, with some spots pattern, I think, and very pointed high heel shoes. And she is extremely beautiful, adding a great visual element to the band. She looked very concentrated and professional, like all the band, but when the keyboards started to be less heard it seems her attention might have drifted out a bit, understandingly.

The band was relaxed and in a good mood, but Mark had by now long started looking for new mikes everywhere, stealing them from Ben or from the drums set. (Does he really forget where they are?!) I think he tries to make his voice sound in as many different ways as possible, and sometimes he didn't even use a mike, shouting or mumbling his lyrics to the audience, all the time gesturing. The thing is that, in the process, he generates a great deal of havoc and a lot of tangled wires. The microphone stand spent almost the whole gig on the ground.
After those first songs, things begun to Fall apart a lot. Mark would stop singing for long periods, leaving the band pretty much to themselves, and that's when the repetition would sometimes be just too much.

In Sparta FC, everyone in the band sang, except for the bassist, and they seemed genuinely pleased about it. Mark also would smile to them sometimes, although he also tried to punch, jokingly, Ben and throw him things. In one of the songs, the drum player lost one stick, and after a while Mark threw it to the audience, cheerfully, which is something I never expected to see. He almost didn't stare at the back of his hand, and at his nails, as he'd done the last time I saw him.

In Big New Printz, the beat was obviously abrasive, but the band played for maybe 5 minutes till Mark decided (condescended?) to join them. He was busy hitting some drums in a haphazard way, which nevertheless sounded great (reminding me of Tempo House! ). Then he seemed to want the audience to sing, but he didn't directed things to well, in my opinion. I even shouted the "appreciated" bit a few times, after "he is not…..", but just felt silly. After a while Mark gives the mike to the audience and this guy starts yelling his lungs out in a way which fitted oddly with the backbeat. I think the song lasted for more than 10 minutes, maybe 15.

There were no Paintwork, Damo Suzuki or Ghost in my House, all songs I really love and were played in the US tour, and at least half of the stuff was new to me. There was a song which had the line "You are now descending (baby)" sung a lot of times.
They played Mr. Pharmacist, which was great, but midway he decided to turn down Ben's amp, which I swear that actually fit well, even though it broke the song in two. The bass and drums really kept it from falling apart, while Pritchard would be thinking "what the hell am I gonna DO with this guy?", trying not to look too pissed off.

Meanwhile the keyboards would come in and out of the mix, but unfortunately out most of the time. Mark smiled to her maybe twice and even took the care once to pass his knuckles over the keys in a "let's-see-if-this-is-working-after-all" sort of way, while Elena carefully tried do send him away, as you do to an insisting child.

There was a lot of really young people (I'm 27, so I guess it's relative, actually), who seemed to be totally enjoying the gig. Some guy asked me wouldn't it be great to go upstage and I said no. Sometimes it's just better to watch. Oh, and my best friend spent all the time screaming his lungs out almost histerically, but he only does it when he's really enjoying the show. That's just his way.
After a short break they returned for the first encore and played a good White Lightning which really works live, even though it's not such a great song. Followed by an hypnotic Dr. Buck's Letter, really abrasive once again, which ended first with just bass and guitar playing the main riff over and over, and finally just Ben, acting out the "Repetition in the music/And we're never gonna loose it" philosophy perfectly.
The crowd shouted even more than they had the first time, and for what seemed like a very, very long time. They came and played a beautiful "Way Round" which was a perfect way to end the evening. One of my favorite songs from the more recent times, with Mark shouting endlessly and in a very earnest way "I just can't find my way/ I just can't find my way…….Round".

The show didn't last more than 80 minutes and I guess most people were disappointed, at least the really hard core fans, and there seemed to be a lot of them. They could have played a bit more! In the end, me and my friends decided that this was probably the most professional gig he could pull out, and I must confess that, since I went ready for anything, I was very positively surprised. I just hope he'll keep these musicians for some time more, because they are one of the best bands I've ever seen live. And the keyboards should be heard all the time. I think they're terrific, really.

To sum it all up, one of the best gigs I ever saw, although with its (lots of) ups and downs, in a Fall sort of way, and I strongly advise everyone to see these guys as soon as they can (before they all get sacked up? I mean, it's just like football teams, isn't it? When you're starting to know and love the players, "They" go and change it all up again, the bastards!)

As final comments I'd like to say that it's probably a nightmare to play alongside with that guy and it takes very special people to put up with it. Then again, not many people at the end of their lives can say they've worked with a genius and played a part in the making of some of the most vital and beautiful music ever done.

So I reckon everything balances, in the long run. Life Just Bounces.

List of songs went more or less like this:
Behind the Counter
Telephone Thing
Green-Eyed Loco man
Mountain Energy
(?) Foldin' Money/ Kick the can
(something with a chorus that looked like "beat the box" ??)
Sparta FC
Locust (?)
Janet vs Johnny
Mr. Pharmacist
Big New Printz
(and probably two or three more, which I don't know or can't remember)
(encore)
White Lightning
Dr. Buck's Letter
(encore)
Way Round 

And thanks to João Maio Pinto for the ticket. (Image included in torrent)