The Fall
Leeds Irish Centre
21st March, 2007

View: stage front

What do you do if you’re the guitarist in The Fall and, mid-song, Mark E Smith walks to your amp and turns the volume knob to zero? This idiosyncratic form of onstage mixing proves a recurring occupational hazard for the group, and its results range from the ineffectual to the striking.

When all amps are on, the power of the two-bass line-up amends for the lacklustre sound of Reformation Post TLC, with the members’ steely determination to focus wholly on the music at hand showing a rare and admirable restraint. The Mothers of Invention’s Hungry Freaks Daddy is torn to its bare essentials, emerging like the primal song of a genuine 60s garage band, rather than a faux one.

Throughout the set, the sheer warmth of affection that the group draw from their fans rewrites history to render The Fall as conquering heroes rather than eternal outsiders, with Theme From Sparta FC the jukebox favourite of an enviable alternate world. After a premature departure from the stage there’s a reluctance to hope for any more. With true professionalism, however, a full two encores ensue, starting with the ever-relentless groove of Blindness, before ending with What About Us. The lasting impression of Mark E Smith is now of a seasoned and dedicated master of his craft.

Reviewed by Thom Robinson
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