The Fall online - latest Fall news

30 April - HMV, Oxford Circus, London

Stefan — Thu, 01 May 2008 22:19:59 GMT

Is This New / Wings / Wolf Kidult Man / I've Been Duped / Over! Over! / Latch Key Kid / Tommy Shooter / 50 Year Old Man / Pacifying Joint

Reviews and photos on the message board.

There's an entry by Danny Eccleston about the Mojo awards launch party (MES has won the Mojo Maverick award this year) on the Mojo blog.

Maxwell Hall gig postponed again

Stefan — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 15:08:08 GMT

The Maxwell Hall gig at Salford University has been postponed for a second time, the organizers now citing structural problems with the venue (an asbestos problem, I've heard). Wegottickets says it'll take place later in May. Salford U. circular says June.

MES on BBC Radio 4 Front Row

Stefan — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 15:05:24 GMT

Mark E. Smith was a guest on BBC Radio 4's Front Row programme last night (28 April). You can listen again on their page or download this handy mp3 from yousendit, with thanks to Ocelot.

Scotland on Sunday interview

Stefan — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 15:02:23 GMT

There's an interview with MES in the 27 April Scotland on Sunday.

2 Fall nights in Cologne - 9 & 10 May

Stefan — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 14:48:56 GMT

Cologne's #1 Fall fan – Michael Jungbluth – and his pals are running a two-night Fall event at their local pub.

They'll be playing Fall records only on 9 & 10 May at Connection, Marientsraße 5 in Cologne. 10pm - 3am each night.

Michael will post the sets played on the forum.

If you'd like a high-res PDF of the flyer, please email Michael at the address at the bottom (blu4711-shaATyahooDOT.de)

Wickerman festival, 25 July

Stefan — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 14:41:49 GMT

According to their site, the Fall play the first night of the two-day Wickerman festival, East Kirkcarswell, near Dundrennan, southwest Scotland, on 25 July.

MES interview in the Telegraph

Stefan — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 02:55:32 GMT

Mark E. Smith: Wonderful and Frightening. A long interview with Nicholas Blincoe that's already online, but I'm not sure which issue it'll be printed in; the Telegraph site suggests Saturday's (26 April).

The Fall play HMV, Oxford Circus, London

Stefan — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 12:59:25 GMT

The Fall are scheduled to play at 7pm on Wednesday, 30 April at the HMV, Oxford Circus, London, as part of the Mojo 2008 Honours launch party.

Hex Enduction Hour on Radio 4

Stefan — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 12:56:50 GMT

Hex Enduction Hour was featured on Radio 4's Saturday Review last Saturday (19 April).

It was chosen by one of the guests, the poet Paul Farley, and the two other guests – Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire Liz Forgan and Antonia Quirke – joined in the discussion with presenter Tom Sutcliffe. A good listen, too; thanks to Mopiranger for the mp3.

M.E.S. book signing

Stefan — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 12:55:31 GMT

Mark will sign copies of Renegade at Zavvi in the Arndale shopping centre, Manchester, at 5:30pm on Friday, 25 April

Second Renegade excerpt

Stefan — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 13:00:47 GMT

The Guardian has published a second excerpt from Mark's autobiog.

The Fallen - Dave Simpson's book on ex Fall members

Stefan — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 13:39:40 GMT

Dave Simpson has a press release for his book on ex Fall members, due out in royal hardback in September. (No word on the commoner paperback yet.)

THE FALLEN: SEARCHING FOR THE MISSING MEMBERS OF THE FALL by Dave Simpson

You’ve read Mark E. Smith’s autobiography, but coming in September 2008 on Canongate Books is one man’s search to find the missing members of The Fall and tell the group’s story through the eyes of its former members...over forty-five of them. The Fallen is the version of events Smith doesn’t want you to read.

Dave Simpson made it his mission to track down everyone who’s ever been in the group: from Steve Hanley, who played bass for the group for twenty years and is credited with ‘defining’ the Fall sound, to Ruth Daniel, who played one gig on keyboards on 22nd September 2002, after which she was locked in a room with her parents by Smith backstage. The whole roll-call of THE FALLEN is within its pages.

We learn about how Smith runs the band like a cross between Captain Beefheart and Brian Clough, managing as a team where you can ‘always replace the centre forward’; how he would fine the drummer Karl Burns for hitting the tom-tom; first-hand accounts of the band’s notorious implosion in New York nightclub Brownie’s in 1998; how Chemical Brothers manager Nick Dewey was recruited to play Reading Festival in 1999 on drums with no rehearsal; and testimonies to the madness from radio DJ Marc Riley, Smith’s glamorous ex-wife and Fall guitarist Brix Smith, down to Dave Tucker, who played clarinet on the 1981 album Slates. It also charts Simpson’s attempts to track down Burns, who no-one has seen for years and whose disappearance has created a myth of Loch Ness Monster proportions. This is the inside story of the extraordinary antics of the band that has released nearly thirty studio albums since its inception in 1976 and become a national institution.

It is also a compelling portrait of Smith himself, who has always been desperate to keep a firm grip on his recruits and control the reported version of events in The Fall saga. His shamanic presence inspires love and fear in equal measure. He will not be happy about the book.

‘If it’s me and yer Granny on bongos, it’s The Fall.’ Mark E. Smith

September 2008, royal hardback, £16.99, ISBN 978 184767 049 6

http://www.thefallenbook.co.uk

Renegade excerpt on Guardian site

Stefan — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 02:25:57 GMT

There's an excerpt from Renegade: The Lives and Tales of Mark E. Smith on the Guardian's site, and it's a good read.

The book'll be in the shops on 24 April, they say.

Squirrelgate catches attention of UK press and wire services

Stefan — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 14:26:15 GMT

Not surprisingly, squirrelgate has caught the attention of the UK press and wire services.

For example, see the Telegraph, Guardian, UPI, AFP, The Press Association, Manchester Evening News, NME.

RSPCA vs. Mark E. Smith

Stefan — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 14:44:56 GMT

The RSPCA wasn't impressed with Mark's interview published in the May issue of Uncut. There's an hilarious piece about MES's anti squirrel and seagull comments in today's Daily Mail. Will China take exception, too?

MES interviews in Uncut and Word

Stefan — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 15:24:33 GMT

There are a couple of MES interviews posted on the forum, thanks to Ocelot.

Uncut, May 2008: Ben Marshall Meets Mark E. Smith
Word, May 2008: The Undefeated

Belfast gig added - 8 May

Stefan — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 13:53:45 GMT

The Fall are booked to play the ninth Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival in Belfast on 8 May. Cheaper than usual tickets, too: £10 + £1.50 booking fee.

Ed Blaney interview re. Voiceprint deal

Stefan — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 14:00:36 GMT

There's an interview with Ed Blaney in the Salford Advertiser about the Voiceprint deal mentioned on the Fall news a few weeks ago.

29 & 30 March - The Ferry, Glasgow

Stefan — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 19:15:12 GMT

29 March:

Is This New / Wings / Wolf Kidult Man / 50 Year Old Man / I've Been Duped / Fall Sound / Pacifying Joint / Mountain Energei / Reformation / Tommy Shooter // White Lightning / Latch Key Kid / Blindness // Mr. Pharmacist

Reviews on the message board.

30 March:

Is This New / Wolf Kidult Man / Wings / 50 Year Old Man / I've Been Duped / What About Us / Fall Sound / Latch Key Kid / Mountain Energei / Reformation / White Lightning / Tommy Shooter / Blindness // Totally Wired (!)

Reviews on the message board.

26 March - The Dome, Morecambe

Stefan — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 13:34:47 GMT

Is This New / Wings / Pacifying Joint / Fall Sound / 50 Year Old Man / Wolf Kidult Man / I've Been Duped / Alton Towers / Reformation / White Lightning / Tommy Shooter / Blindness

Setlist TBC. Reviews on the message board.

24 March - The Welly, Hull

Stefan — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 13:33:35 GMT

Is This New / Wings / Fall Sound / Pacifying Joint / 50 Year Old Man / Wolf Kidult Man / I've Been Duped / Latch Key Kid / Reformation / Tommy Shooter / White Lightning // Blindness

Reviews and great photos on the message board.