The Fall - 22nd April 2001 The Zodiac, Oxford, England Lineage MD Master>Wavelab>Flac8 Lineup Mark E. Smith - Vocals Julia Nagle - Guitar, Keyboards Ben Pritchard - Guitar Jim Watts - Bass Spencer Birtwistle - Drums Setlist The Joke Two Librans F-'Oldin' Money Cyber Insekt Touch Sensitive Mr. Pharmacist Ketamine Sun I Am Damo Suzuki Antidotes Way Round Dr. Buck's Letter And Therein Ibis-Afro Man Hot Runes Paintwork Touch Sensitive Apr 22/ Oxford Zodiac diw: Made it to Oxford last night at about 10 pm, so missed the first few numbers, entering the hall to Cyber Insekt. Similar to previous reports though. We did get Damo, Paintwork and Mr Pharmacist, the usual Unutterable stuff. Dominant instrument was Julia's guitar on most numbers, with stripped down, minimalist bass prominent when J reverted to keys. The other guitarist spent much of the second half tuning or replacing bust strings (interesting to note how the 2-halves plus extra-time format has become standard - a good thing in my book). I didn't miss him. MES? Oh yes, him. He was there. Regular performance. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Konrad: Not much more I can add - see this and previous reports. But why play the same song twice? Felt slightly swindled by this - just as well it's a corking song. Have the band not learnt any more than this? And will we get any new stuff? Seems like the Fall are turning into a bit of a "Greatest Hits" band. Not like this old fossil is complaining - two off TNSG and one off Bend Sinister. Woo hoo. Although the dow-dow-dow dow-dow-dow-dow-dow-dow bit of Mr P by new guitarist chappy was pants. Bring back Brix (and you won't hear me say that too often). But I do have to say in 16 years that that's the best live version of Paintwork I've ever heard. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Christopher: My prayers were answered. A good tight gig. MES on top form. The crowd were in high spirits. All us old farts down the front, we give a rousing reception as Julia and the new lads march on. MES enters seemingly in a good mood, grinning in acknowledgement, sober as a Judge. He seems happy. "Thank God" I think. You hear such horror stories... Julia looks at home. She was very accomplished and confident, totally in control. Again backing vocals needed turning up. Good on the girl, nearly ready to enter The Fall Hall of Fame. MES has a little banter with the new Bass Lad, and drops a spare mic in the bass drum that produces a satisfying 'Thud, thud" New drummer was good - very energetic in a 'get yer head down' style, and more like Tom than Wolstencroft, but maybe that because he's doing the recent numbers. Lets see him develop. Our guitar man is very tight and very 'Fall' taking everything in his stride. During 'And Therein' he breaks a string, fiddles to no avail, gives up and has a ciggie while a roadie fixes the problem. Julia covers professionally. MES soldiers on, it's his way. A dash of MES irrelevence: "Who wants to be a millionaire?! You invented it, we're givin' it to you." He laughs. So do I. He deals with a bloke who endlessly recites old lyrics of yore by having a quick arm wrestle. He does the rounds, faces us, crouches behind the drum kit, reads from notebooks, cleans his fingernails, bangs the mic. All the hallmarks keep me grinning. I have to say I like this squad system he's operating nowadays, fresh and unpredictable. I'm the first to admit I was the grumpiest of the old Hanley/Scanlon loyalists, until the 'Marshall Suite' came out. Half an hour in and he orders a walk off, just to keep us all on our toes. Three minutes later he's back with a little keyboard tinkering, before belting out another two numbers. Highlights for me were 'F-Oldin' Money' with audience participation, 'I am Damo Suzuki' with great drumming, and a rousing 'Touch Sensitive'. 'The Joke' was a strong opening number and 'Paintwork' was not only reproduced well but was a popular crowd pleaser. A minor critisism would have to be the middle bit 'Mr. Pharmacist was a bit of a non-event, but give the new lads time. We were also treated to lyrics from 'Race with the Devil' and a hilarious 'African Man'. Band did very well - relaxed but focused. I look forward to this incarnation delivering another corker soon. Set list (not in exact order) The Joke, Cyber Insekt, Two librans F-Oldin' Money, Touch Sensitive, Way Round, Mr. Pharmacist, And Therein, I Am Damo Suzuki, Anecdotes, Dr. Buck's Letter, Hot Runes, African Man Encore: Paintwork, Touch Sensitive -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Smurf: Earplugs for me too. Highlights: Damo, Paintwork Lowlights: Two Librans (muddy guitar sound) and smashed car windscreen. Other highlight was 'And therein' ... guitarist lurked in the corner waiting for string change then when finally gets guitar back plays 2 bars and song ends. Reminded me of the 'bass player trapped in a coccoon' scene of the spinal tap film. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------