clubmariaPerhaps I am naïve for just assuming this show would be flawless, but I tend to go for the reunion gag a bit too easy…plus I just really wanted it to be good. When I went to see the Vibrators last summer thinking I’d be satisfied by their new-wave radness it was really disappointing. The sound was shit, they were boring and old and who cares? We like slathering vehemence and moody atmosphere at our live shows, that’s the point, right?
Oh, but I’d heard that the Fall were either “ON or OFF” live, that people had seen them lately and that they were definitely “ON”, that they were great. Plus, whatever incarnation of them is around, it still puts out pretty good records.
The Fall came out during VJ (damn, can’t recall) mussing up and slowing down visual clips of Black Sabbath and Elvis, and their entrance was grand. Band members got on stage and started to set up in the dark and the background visual screen changed from a huge fat Elvis to a shitty pink and yellow “The Fall” spray paint throw-up that looked tacky and amazing. And then Mark E. Smith nonchalantly strolled onto the stage in a sport jacket, the longest shoes I’ve ever seen and deeper lines in his weird face than ever, and everyone went bats including I. There is no need to explain what a legend the cuss is or why because. 
MESThe atmosphere was my problem. The Maria is a nice place, right on the Spree, great size, and it was the introduction to their 3-night anniversary party.
The crowd at this show was exceptionally bad though. Before the Fall were scheduled to come on the DJ was playing some unfamiliar yet rad surf, and there was a crowd of what I gather were old-schoolers, mostly dudes, dance-twisting their cares away in front of the speakers at the stage. You see that and think, hey, it’s cool that weird, badly dressed old school Germans are still having a good time at that age when my boring parents are breaking their backs and in bed early…but then you look a bit closer and you realize that they are absolutely fucking shit can wasted, slobbering, crossed-eyed retarded. It could be the tin can radio Scorpions at a local Currywurst kiosk, and they’d still be air guitaring awkward windmills while squatting to the floor. Old ex-rockers, or punkers can be super fucking lame, not knowing when or where to draw the line that separates fashion, ideology and habit and I think the rock scene in Berlin is hidden very deep in the ground because of all the dudes who jock the fuck out at loud, energetic rock n roll shows. Pity.
elena poulou foxyBack to the Fall. This embodiment therein was tight and together. The guitarist was great, pale and sweaty, even though MES kept turning his amp knobs downwards until they were practically off by the end. The bassist was a bit new metal, but his playing was on and he looked like he was having a really good time, as did the drummer. The foxy keyboardist sang, and played a Korg MS-20 in a pretty red dress.
And MES remains king fuck. His jaw was moving enough to generate power throughout Berlin for a week. There are the rumors that the keyboard player is his new tiny babe wife, plus he just celebrated his 50th birthday.
So, the Fall played Pacifying Joint, Blindness, Sparta FC (with less enthused backup vocals than the record) I’ve Been Duped and Mr. Pharmacist which I did not expect. When they played What About Us? last, MES walked away throwing the mic over his shoulder, into the audience, where the crowd took turns shouting “What about us?” very convincingly while the band played on. It was beautifully punctuated and adeptly executed.
thefallThe Fall joined Berlin in a 2 song encore ending the show in “White Lightning”. Older ladies still kept getting smashed all over the place while they tried to capture digital proof of MES’ Muppet-twist-face while people behaved like they’d never been to a show before, running around, jumping on the stage, dancing very badly and knocking people down in a soaked, sweating drunk rage further ruining the mood. Mark E. Smith ignored the many annoying attempts to flag his attention (of course) by never making eye contact, looking at the back wall, his band members, and waving his hand dismissively towards the arms overly enthusiastically giving him the double thumbs up over and over and over and over by the same fucking dopes.
The Fall played well despite their slight lack of enthusiasm, with MES just how I’d expected him; dry, uninterested, festered. But a combination of that and the terribly Alpha crowd left me unsatisfied.
