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YORK CITY SOUTH |
New Frontiers
The Fall. same difference?
2 gigs to report this time. What a contrast.
First up, I was dragged kicking and screaming to see Same Difference, the brother and sister duo who reached the final 3 in the 2007 series of X Factor.
Bouncing on stage, in sparkly outfits, they bounded around singing their songs, chatting to all and sundry about this and that. Their fans liked it. Looking back, I can’t recall a single song, except for "the one we sang on X Factor", "our first single", "our favourite song" and "our new single".
They connected with the audience and seemed to be having a really good time.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t stay to the end, the music was too loud for my young daughter.
A few weeks later, The Fall at Camden’s Koko
.First, we had two support acts. They came from the Mark E Smith school of challenging support acts. Young American rockers and a folksy five piece who sat down for their entire set.
Stage readied, time for action.
The band entered first. Guitar, bass and drums set the tempo. Pete Greenway glancing enviously at the mic as though he wanted to burst into song but feared the wrath of MES. Then Elena, finally Mark E Smith shuffled onto stage. Mark with carrier bag, Elena with one, possibly 2 hand bags. You could have imagined them walking off the street or out of the office and straight onto the stage. The men all dressed in dark trousers and plain light coloured shirts.
You know what you’re getting with Mark E Smith. New songs, maybe a brief reprise from his extensive back catalogue. No banter, he looks like he’d rather be anywhere else but on stage.
However, brilliant set as usual.
With over 30 years of performing behind him, MES still hasn’t mastered the science behind the mic, mic cable and mic stand. Within minutes, his mic cable was wrapped around 2 mic stands, as MES prowled the stage, the mic stands followed him around at a respectful distance. Eventually, they tumbled to the floor one by one.
Prowling around stage looking for a knob to fiddle, only Elena has the courage to reset the keyboard mix which Mark had distorted. "50 Year Old Man" got the many 50 year old men going whilst their new single, Slippy Floor is not to be missed.
Mark was in top form, he excelled with his knob twiddling, mumbled something about the architecture of the building and even seemed to have a chat with someone at the front of the audience. During the encore, he showed his musical versatility by briefly taking over keyboard duties from Elena.
The set, which as usual contained much recent material, lasted for just over one hour and included not one, but two encores which included Mr Pharmacist and Reformation.
The Fall. Small Difference. I know which I preferred. After over 30 years writing and performing, it is the same difference which makes The Fall unique.
Here at frontiers tower, the editorial team were split on the musical content for this edition. Accepting that same difference are musical, they and The Fall narrowly got the vote over Deaf School's December 2009 reunion, purely on the basis that Deaf School's first 2009 reunion featured heavily in the previous edition. Expect the minority to fight back next time with an in depth review of Deaf School's first all new album in over 30 years.
Disclaimer: The opinions and views stated in New Frontiers are solely those of New Frontiers and do not necessarily represent those of York City Football Club or York City South (a branch of The York City Football Club Supporters Club).
Email Chris, New Frontiers editor & YCS site webmaster