Copped It
Couldn’t Get Ahead
Disney’s Dream Debased
Fortress
Clear Off
Barmy
Lay the Land
The Classical
Cruiser’s Creek
2×4
No Bulbs
NOTES
60 minutes
Simon Jenkins has a purported photo of this gig with Steve Hanley on bass but he was still on paternity leave so the actual gig of that photo needs tracking down.
The first gig of 1985. A reasonable audience capture – all a bit lost in a big hall ambience but everything is very clear and MES is reasonably audible. Brix’s guitar does dominate in parts.
Simon Rogers first UK gig and the difference between his and Steve Hanley’s bass is palpable – Rogers is more melodic, less intense, but he tries as in the intro for “2×4” where he gets a good percussive sound, however he completely loses it on the middle bass figure.
First outings for “Couldn’t Get Ahead” “Cruisers Creek” and “Barmy”.
This is a no frills, no nonsense Fall outing with some great playing. The “Barmy” premiere is particularly unforgiving – a clashing rush of noises, morse-code keyboard, inchoate guitars, and bubbling drums. Quite a unique early version and well worth a listen to see how it develops from this early primal form. “The Classical” is also revealed in a markedly different form with most odd structure indeed. “Cruisers” is still finding its way in the world and the plot is lost on a couple of occasions during the song.
Richard Cook described the performance as “vicious heavy metal” which MES blamed on John Leckie’s mixing (The Art Markness NME 29 June 1985).
Not a bad gig and well worth tracking down.