6.November.06 : THE FALL @ Studio B, Brooklyn !

Never let it be said that I don't give second chances. In February of 2002, I went to see The Fall at Akropolis in Prague and even dragged two people with me! It was terrible-- Mark E. Smith's vocals couldn't be heard above the crashing din of youthful metal enthusiasts churning away in the background. Only strange snippets of pre-recorded spoken word by Smith between songs kept us chuckling through this largely wasted evening.

But my love of the Fall has only grown through the many records I've acquired in the last four years so I was crazy enough to try again-- this time, it was a whole different experience.Once again I dragged two friends with me to this show, organized by their current label, Narnack, at a disco-type place called Studio B in Greenpoint.

Once again, there was some embarrassment: the opening acts consisted of: 1. a trio trying to do Sonic Youth in a semi-goth style and failing miserably, although they are somewhat memorable for a) the great visuals behind them and b) the random and pointless ringing of a large silver bell during their set; 2. a hip-hop act, also memorable for their program listings: "yo! yo! wassup y'all, THE FALL is next, but FIRST, we are rock bottom!" and c) a "video artist" who took painfully slow, blown up clips of bloated superstars (elvis, etc) and blasted noise on top of it.Thankfully the band cleared away all the nonsense and blew us away. the songs were culled mostly from the latest record (FALL HEADS ROLL) and the brilliant "Real New Fall LP" of 2004. The lack of 'oldies' didn't matter though, as Sparta FC, Mountain Energei, and What About Us? sounded amazing, with an all-American band that was tighter than we had reason to expect and Smith's own strange but definitely spot-on vocalizing.





Hour long show with an encore (that was surprising!) -- this band is the best one for a while, from what I've read. The drummer in particular is amazing and wouldn't have been out of place during the so-called "classic" 80's period. Why can't all shows be like this ?