Gig Review: The Fall – Concorde 2, 17 November 2011

Mark E Smith’s 203rd incarnation of The Fall took to Brighton’s Concorde 2 stage at 10pm on Thursday 17 November for something like their 2,684th gig, delivering a rousing, raucous set to a sell-out crowd of Fallheads.

Such is the unpredictable nature of The Fall, well, specifically MES himself, the gig was notably incident-free, rather a showcase of a band that on paper have no right to be as exciting and frenetic as they proved on the night.

Typically anti-nostalgic, this was no 30th anniversary farewell payday akin to some recently touring first-wave postpunk bands. The setlist predominantly featured songs from the last three albums, drawing largely from the band’s 29th and latest, the acclaimed Ersatz G.B., chucking in a few early hits to satiate the diehards.

Gig Preview: The Fall – Concorde 2, 17 November 2011

The Fall, led as ever by the abrasive lyrical genius that is Mark E Smith, will be playing Concorde 2 on Thursday 17 November.

Mark E Smith – MES to Fall devotees – has dictatorially led the band for 35 years that has encompassed 29 studio albums, over 50 members and numerous onstage bust-ups. He is one of rock’s refuseniks: intelligent, shambolic, and autocratic. Though each incarnation of The Fall masquerades as a band, the reality is that the majority of band members are musicians-for-hire – the supporting cast to Smith’s winding, four-decade-spanning solo vision.

Eternal outsiders, despite having released a song every year since 1979, The Fall has never troubled the mainstream. Resolutely idiosyncratic; although the band has evolved since their early ‘80s post-punk beginnings into experimental, challenging areas involving at one point or another every conceivable musical genre, The Fall are very much defined by the late John Peel’s oft-quoted tribute: “They are always different; always the same.”