by Salian » Fri Jan 26, 2018 12:57 pm
Strange week, I'm not a hardcore Fall fan by any means, I have most of the LPs, and I've seen them probably a few-teen times over 30 years of gig going, but they're one of the few bands who have bookended my gig life. 1987, Liverppol Poly ( I think, may have been the Uni) and I nearly didn't stick around after being so angry at the shit-ness of support band Ut. But stick around we did, and it was great, "US 80s-90s" was always ace live, and there was a bit of commercial polish.
Reading 1991 was a total lowlight, and I remember not being remotely arsed about them for several years following that, until a mate of mine dragged me along to (of all places, those of you with local knowledge) Jilly's Rockworld in Manchester, and in what I believe was Si Wolstencroft's last ever Fall gig, they were at their bizarre and shambolic best.
After that, a band you saw every now and again, on various bills with various other arguably more compelling bands. I saw them at Transformer in Manchester last May. My last Fall gig, he looked ropey and I was quite distressed by the wheelchair photos shared by a few folks from last Autumn, so the news from Wednesday was unwelcome, upsetting but not wholly unexpected or shocking. A friend phones yesterday to pass on his condolences, which was both funny, surprising and kind of sweet. His introduction was via a compilation tape I'd made him years ago, when we had flats on Deer Park Road in Whalley Range. "Fortress, Deerpark" has always been my favourite Fall record. I don't know anyone else who agrees with me that it's their best song.
I met MES once, a quiet Saturday afternoon, early pint in the Crown and Anchor, not long before the arse end of Piccadilly/Oldham Road became the Northern Quarter. We had a pint, me, him and my mate, I bought. He was funny, quick and really fucking unpleasant, not to us, bot scathing towards everything and everyone that came up in 15 minutes of conversation. I couldn't wait to get away to be honest, so made an excuse and we bolted. I suspect most people based in and around Manchester have made the same mistake at least once.
Last edited by
Salian on Fri Jan 26, 2018 1:52 pm, edited 1 time in total.