Wings
2 x 4
God Box
Lay of the Land
Smile
Oh! Brother
Disney’s Dream Debased
Draygo’s Guilt
The Container Drivers
Garden
Copped It
Kicker Conspiracy
C.R.E.E.P.
Jawbone and the Air Rifle
NOTES
66 minutes
A very good audience recording. Some barely audible chat in places.
The first available recordings of Disney’s Dream Debased, and the “modern” version of Copped it are performed tonight. The last performance of Jawbone and the Air Rifle.
There are two live recordings available but one cuts short half way through the set.
It starts with a brutal “Wings” a pummelling beast of a thing, which does not let up with a rancour ridden “2×4” with atonal guitar scrapes and worrying rhythm. MES fluffs his lines at one point. The group is unremittingly violent tonight for some reasons and the audience gets it full on. The dual vocal on “God-Box” is an unforgiving thing.
Around this time the group attained a professional edge which no one could touch. You can forget your New Orders and your Del Amitri’s, the effortless bravado of this iteration of The Fall is memorable sweeping all contemporaries aside with ease. Music of memorable calibre and content.
Never is this conjecture more effectively exemplified than with the Brix added version of Smiles-uh which is a torrent of brutalism…an additional guitar part provides an extra layer of tension – MES moves from laconic narration, to whisper, to shrieking maniac with effortless aplomb.
Even the perky pop of “Oh! Brother” has something of the night about it with some odd vocal variations and some castrati singing. The debut of Disney’s is restrained and leads into a quirky drum heavy Draygo. Container Drivers is taken at industrial grade amphetamine pace leading to MES advising Craig to solo….. the guitars are all over the place as is the singer at one point.
The chiming clockwork rhythms of Garden maintain perfect momentum through nigh on 10 minutes of pure Fall, the extended coda is pure genius.
Four encores starting with a wall of sound Copped It rounds off a stunning gig.
Essential listening and notable for the premieres of Disney’s and Copped It.