That unique time in the mid 80s when The Fall were without Steve Hanley. Nestling as it does between TWAFWOTF and TNSG this version of the band was pushing last years album but giving a small taster of things to come.
This is an excellent recording. Smith is clear and the band mix is spot on. It starts with a muscular vitriolic "Copped it" which sets the scene for a tight set of mostly current stuff but a nod back to the early 80s. A very short "Fortress" delivered with great zeal leads to slovenly "Disneys" complete with a short cack-handed keyboard solo from the meister.
Burns delivers a breath-taking drum roll to kick off "Couldnt get ahead" strangely without Brix's backing vocals, notwithstanding that it is delivered with atonal breathless glee. Barely discernable tape cackles presage a doom laden and mordant "Elves", simple but delivered with violent prog like layering with Smith yelling and yelping - absolutely superb - full of latent emotion and restrained tension. Interestingly Rogers keyboards dominate the mix and tend to drown the guitars. There is a slight glitch at about 4 minutes in but it is not serious. There is a simply fantastic short section at the end where the band kick into double time.
I've never been a great fan of "Clear off" as a tune. It is has always seemed contrived to be too quirky and declamatory for my liking so its difficult to be fair in a critique of the performance. Played well but does not rock my world.
To say Rogers can't do the bass riff on "2x4" like Steve would be somewhat of an understatement. The muscular integrity of the tune is lost, not helped by some odd noodling from Brix on the chorus which seems a little contraindicative.
"Slang King" however is a immense slab of sound with guitars clashing atonally and the bass adding a great backbone.Perversely, and in the context of the predictions on "Words of Expectation" I am reminded of "Red" era King Crimson here if only for the particularly unforgiving noise emerging from the guitars.
The only "new" song in the set is a manic "Barmy" which starts with fist cluster keyboards from Smith. The core of this is a driven one-step beat from Burns and chiming guitar sounds from Brix.
A short "God Box" is workmanlike but leads to ringing chords, accordian keyboard sounds and an incredibly funky delivery of "Wings".
"Lay of the Land" fades in and proceeds to deliver a master-class in repetition. There is a slight break in the sound about 2 minutes in.
Overall throughout the gig Smiths vocal performance is particularly notable.
Probably worth getting because of the excellent quality.
This is an excellent recording. Smith is clear and the band mix is spot on. It starts with a muscular vitriolic "Copped it" which sets the scene for a tight set of mostly current stuff but a nod back to the early 80s. A very short "Fortress" delivered with great zeal leads to slovenly "Disneys" complete with a short cack-handed keyboard solo from the meister.
Burns delivers a breath-taking drum roll to kick off "Couldnt get ahead" strangely without Brix's backing vocals, notwithstanding that it is delivered with atonal breathless glee. Barely discernable tape cackles presage a doom laden and mordant "Elves", simple but delivered with violent prog like layering with Smith yelling and yelping - absolutely superb - full of latent emotion and restrained tension. Interestingly Rogers keyboards dominate the mix and tend to drown the guitars. There is a slight glitch at about 4 minutes in but it is not serious. There is a simply fantastic short section at the end where the band kick into double time.
I've never been a great fan of "Clear off" as a tune. It is has always seemed contrived to be too quirky and declamatory for my liking so its difficult to be fair in a critique of the performance. Played well but does not rock my world.
To say Rogers can't do the bass riff on "2x4" like Steve would be somewhat of an understatement. The muscular integrity of the tune is lost, not helped by some odd noodling from Brix on the chorus which seems a little contraindicative.
"Slang King" however is a immense slab of sound with guitars clashing atonally and the bass adding a great backbone.Perversely, and in the context of the predictions on "Words of Expectation" I am reminded of "Red" era King Crimson here if only for the particularly unforgiving noise emerging from the guitars.
The only "new" song in the set is a manic "Barmy" which starts with fist cluster keyboards from Smith. The core of this is a driven one-step beat from Burns and chiming guitar sounds from Brix.
A short "God Box" is workmanlike but leads to ringing chords, accordian keyboard sounds and an incredibly funky delivery of "Wings".
"Lay of the Land" fades in and proceeds to deliver a master-class in repetition. There is a slight break in the sound about 2 minutes in.
Overall throughout the gig Smiths vocal performance is particularly notable.
Probably worth getting because of the excellent quality.