The Fall
Windsor Theatre Royal
1st October, 2009

View: front, circle

The incongruity of seeing The Fall in music hall surroundings was presumably lost on Mark E. Smith, but as part of The Windsor Festival, this was a fascinating sight, as welldressed theatregoers clutched G&Ts before Salford’s finest. With a new album in the offing, tonight’s songs included I’m Not From Bury, I’ve Been Duped and Psychic Dancehall, with The Fall storming through a vibrant set, ignoring sound difficulties. It’s still intriguing to observe Smith at close quarters, the Dickensian, furtive stage movements still present, as are the fiddling with colleagues’ amplifiers, and even the seemingly random hitting of cymbals and keyboards. There may be method to his madness, though, his directing of his musicians making Smith the James Brown of post-punk!

Reviewed by Nick Levy
<< Back to Issue 370

Login Here

Free Newsletter


Subscribe to
our email newsletter by emailing:

anna.bowen@
metropolis.co.uk