There has never been a group like the Fall. I use the word “group” advisedly, as I once made the mistake of calling them a “band” in the presence of Mark E Smith. The combustible singer immediately admonished me on the basis that a band was something that you’d get in Blackpool.
The irreplaceable Smith died in 2018 at the age of 60, immediately bringing to an end the group that he fronted for his entire adult life. The legend of the Fall lives on, though. They have arguably never been bigger, with interest maintained by a slew of reissues, multiple spinoff groups, a variety of podcasts and a steady stream of books; the nine-track Post Script, billed as the band’s “official final album” by former manager Ed Blaney, was announced last week and slated for a September release. So it’s an opportune time for The Fall: Futures and Pasts, a three-day all-Fall festival held at Manchester’s Band on the Wall venue last weekend, celebrating 50 years of the group and attracting fans from as far afield as Australia and the US.
