http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/news/06-05/08.shtml What the fuck, the crowd actually chanted USA.
The Fall Tour Descends Into Chaos
Amy Phillips reports:
"The Fall Tour Descends Into Chaos"...well, duh. Is Mark E. Smith capable of doing anything that doesn't descend into chaos? I feel like he goes to brush his teeth in the morning, and the next thing you know, the sink is shattered, wild dogs are tearing up the bathtub, and there's toothpaste and blood all over the place.
The Fall's current American tour, which kicked off on May 2, has been no different, although there doesn't seem to have been any toothpaste involved. Last night's show at the Brick House in Phoenix was cut short when Justin Williams, frontman for the tour's opening act, the Talk, threw a banana peel at Smith's head. A banana peel! That's gotta hurt.
According to Williams, the peel-throwing was the culmination of days of frustration with Smith. In a MySpace bulletin entitled "FUCK MARK E. SMITH HE SUCKS," Williams wrote: "MARK E. SMITH a.k.a MR. BURNS has managed to piss off his band so bad they quit and left him in america with his crazy wife slash one fingered keyboard player... MARK pulled a corkscrew on his bass player poured beer and ashed on the head of his tour manager while driving (who has also quit the tour) and played only one full set without slithering off stage to his R.V. to dive into a bottle of scotch."
(The Fall's booking agent confirmed that the tour manager had quit, but countered that Smith had indeed played full sets at all of the trek's three previous shows.)
Williams continued, "the man is in his late 40's and looks older than my dead grandfather i'm sorry to those out there who are fall fans but you do not know this guy he is an idiot the three other members of the fall are great guys nice as can be and i wish the best for them..."
As far as the incident in Phoenix, Williams wrote, "i was told by the falls tour manager he and the rest of the band were going home without mark knowing and this would be the last show this really pissed me off BAD!!! if this had happened a few years ago i would have beat the shit out of him but i'm older now so i picked up a dirty banana peel ran onto the stage and threw it in his face as hard as i could and walked away he ran after me with some 1800's English boxing hands and wanted to fight i laughed and walked away knowing in my head this man has only a few years left..."
Pitchfork reader Jeff Moore, who attended the show, wrote in to say that Smith returned to the stage a few minutes later. "Mr. Smith distractedly continued the set while removing bits of flung matter from his hair, several times smirking. After several half-hearted attempts to reassert his trademark amp-twiddling, mic-disdaining stage persona, he approached [wife Elena] Poulou at the keyboard. After a brief discussion, the two left the stage, once again leaving bass, guitar, and drums to finish the song in a vocal vacuum. At the close of the song, they too stoically filed offstage."
"Several minutes later Ms. Poulou returned to the stage to announce that the Fall would be unable to continue the show. Her brief announcement was cut from the 'we were not shown the respect that we deserve' mold, which was not well received by audience members since the assault came not from members of the crowd, but from the opening band. She also referenced technical difficulties early in the set before telling the crowd "'I'm sorry' and vacating the empty stage to a chorus of booing and chants of 'USA, USA'."
"USA, USA"??!! WTF? Is this a punk show or a NASCAR rally? Reader Bill Smith added that the crowd also yelled "Down with the British!" Come on, people, what's wrong with you?!
Williams offered an apology: "p.s. sorry to everyone in phoenix i threw a banana at mark during the show i know you payed good money to see that shit but if it was not for us talking the rest of the band to come to phoenix they would not have even showed up so be lucky you even got that much do not be mad at us be mad at MARK E. SMITH he does not care if you were there or not he does not care about his fans trust me i know first hand"
The Fall's official website said only, "Apologies to all for the curtailed set, caused by technical problems." I guess bananas do technically count as technology...if you're a monkey.
As of right now, the fate of the rest of the tour is obviously in doubt. But we'll keep you posted about what's going on-- whether it's another fight, more fruit projectiles, or just plain old drunken craziness.
