The Fall Live - 1984

19/03/1984

Teasers Dundee

20/03/1984

Buster Browns Edinburgh

21/03/1984

Nite Club, Edinburgh

In the repository - not yet reviewed

22/03/1984

Penthouse, Glasgow

23/03/1984

Pavilion, Ayr

31/03/1984

Paradiso, Amsterdam

In the repository - not yet reviewed

01/04/1984

Effenbaar, Eindhoven

04/04/1984

Alabamabelle

Excellent quality recording by Bayerischer Rundfunk radio. This version is a liberated recording of the material on the "C.R.E.E.P. Show" bootleg LP (which also does not include the last two tracks). Some interesting sounds around the bass and drums which tend to dominate the guitars.

Quality stuff. Band in fine fettle apart from a few dropped beats. MES remarkably clear - most of the lyrics audible - Hanley playing like a demon.

Interesting how the extra guitar adds that something special to the material from "Perverted" and the contemporary singles. "Smile" and "Garden" dominate the gig.... the former being a battering ram of sound and fury with relentless punchy bass/guitar riffs over rolling drums, the latter an epic peroration of Smithy magnificence.

I assume Paul Hanley is playing keyboards on "CREEP" and "Neighbourhood" and "Copped It". "Neighbourhood" which is an open rant about various matters including those pesky giant moths.

Essential.

Munich

Mark E. Smith - Vocals
Brix Smith - Guitar, Vocals
Craig Scanlon - Guitar
Steve Hanley - Bass
Paul Hanley - Drums, Keyboards
Karl Burns - Drums

 Lay of the Land (4:35)
Ludd Gang (4:26)
Kicker Conspiracy (4:17)
Smile (6:05)
2 x 4 (3:48)
C.R.E.E.P. (2:48)
Neighborhood of Infinity (3:03)
Copped It (4:44)
Garden (9:25)
Pilsner Trail*
Eat Y'self Fitter*

* Not available on the version I have

Total gig length = (net of missing tracks) 43:14
 

05/04/1984

Batschkapp, Frankfurt

09/04/1984

Luxor, Cologne

11/04/1984

Hanover

12/04/1984

The Loft, Berlin

In the repository - not yet reviewed

13/04/1984

Markthalle, Hamburg

14/04/1984

Muenster

11/06/1984

Heaven Ultradisco, London

27/06/1984

Loughborough University

28/06/1984

Assembly Rooms, Surbiton

In the repository - not yet reviewed

two copies

29/06/1984

Hacienda, Manchester

30/06/1984

Newcastle

In the repository - not yet reviewed

two copies

16/07/1984

Ratz, Oslo

29/07/1984

Elephant Fayre, St Gallen

Review

 Cornwall

04/08/1984

Brockwell Park"London

09/09/1984

Janice Long Session

22/09/1984

Pandora's Music Box Festival

Audience tape. Tracks marked with an (*) are also available in FM Broadcast version. Audience tape is generally OK although Craigs guitar occasionally tends to dominate in places and Smith is a touch indistinct at times. FM is a tad bass heavy in places and with a little hiss but generally very good.

It starts with an intense reading of "Smile" with Mark screaming the title and expressing the words with more than usual verve. "Lay of the Land" is dominated by some incredibly adept bass playing from Hanley - this is best heard on the FM version - a good tight reading of the song. Again Smiths intonation is more assertive. The false end catches the audience out about half way through as the band mines another two minutes out of the tune.....and then again towards the end as Smith chuckles as they start clapping.

Nice to hear "Craigness" in a live setting and this version is competent, perhaps feeling a little listless after the maddening rush of the first two numbers. Smith mangles the phrasing and his delivery means the lyrics are lost in the overall band sound. "2x4" ups the tempo again and is taken at a fair pace. The vocal performance is almost "scat" like with Smith dancing around the melody - interesting North Manc twang predominates and there is a touch of insouciance.

"Draygo's" seems to be plagued by slightly out of tune guitars on the audience tape but they sound fine on FM. The drums dominate as Smith yelps his way through. There is some serious fret scratching from Brix. An inaudible mumble leads into a raucous "No Bulbs" - again there seems to a slight guitar tuning problem and Smith varies the lyrical content quite considerably. "Kicker" starts off sort of low keyish after a request to stop the lights from flashing as the band are "all epileptics"- the guitars dont lock in - and the bass and drums drive it - the words are mangled considerably- an Ipswich conspiracy is mentioned - for some reason, to my tired old ears at least, the song sounds more like "Eat Yr'self fitter" than "Kicker".

"Stephen Song" is excellent - full of brooding menace. "Copped It" fades in on the audience tape but is complete on FM- its a good performance with a slight subliminal swagger to it. I assume keyboards are provided by Paul Hanley. Mark appears to turn into a tellytubby about half way in. "Trip Dispenser" suffers from Craigs guitar being too loud on the audience tape but is fine on the FM version. The performance feels a little sloppy in places.

The gig concludes with a languid "Middlemass" complete with cackhanded keyboard playing from someone....I assume its Brix (?) or Paul but there appear to be two drummers and one guitar so I assume its the former - but I could be completely wrong. There are some awful bits of out of tune instruments as the guitars and the keyboards clash on the melodic bit towards the end but its does not detract from the overall strength of the delivery.

Great gig - band on good form - some oddities and some great lyric variation from Mark

Acknowledgement - thanks to Graeme for the gig.

Rotterdam

Mark E. Smith - Vocals
Brix Smith - Guitar, Vocals, Keyboards(?)
Craig Scanlon - Guitar
Steve Hanley - Bass
Paul Hanley - Drums, Keyboards
Karl Burns - Drums

Smile (6:22)
Lay of the Land (4:48)(*)
Craigness (3:10)
2 x 4 (3:42)
Draygo's Guilt (5:03)(*)
No Bulbs (6:12)
Kicker Conspiracy (4:55) (*)
Stephen Song (4:09) (*)
Copped It (7:46) (*)
Pat Trip Dispenser (4:23) (*)
Middle Mass (6:13)

Total Gig = 56.45
 

06/10/1984

Woughton Leisure Centre, Milton Keynes

12/10/1984

TV Club Dublin

18/10/1984

Hacienda, Manchester

19/10/1984

North Staffordshire Polytechnic

20/10/1984

Leadmill, Sheffield

In the repository - not yet reviewed

22/10/1984

Kelvin Centre Glasgow

23/10/1984

Ritzy Aberdeen

24/10/1984

Dance Factory, Fat Sam's Dundee

25/10/1984

Edinburgh

In the repository - not yet reviewed

27/10/1984

Essex University, Colchester

28/10/1984

Birmingham

In the repository - not yet reviewed

two copies

30/10/1984

Lyceum, London

In the repository - not yet reviewed

31/10/1984

Bristol University

In the repository - not yet reviewed

01/11/1984

New Ocean Club . Cardiff

03/11/1984

Brighton Polytechnic

??/12/1984

The Forum Paris

06/12/1984

Louvain

08/12/1984

Trivolti, Utrecht

In the repository - not yet reviewed

12/11/1984

Salle de La Cite, Rennes

30/12/1984

London