Our Future?

by Bob Osborne. 25.05.10.

Monday Night at the new(-ish) Fac 251 club saw two of the best bands around with Salford connections playing live in central Manchester.

Fac 251 is deceptively small as a venue and being my first visit I was somewhat confused as how the bands would fit onto the cramped stage area. The DJ was in total retro mode playing music from 1977-80 and blowing dry ice out in some strange homage to a past time which probably ought to stay buried in our collective memories.

Kin: Thanks to Tamsin A for the photo.

A growing crowd was treated to a tight, energetic and emotional spectacle from “Kin”. From the opening and spine tingling riveting notes from Simon “Ding” Archer’s bass it was clear we were going to get a hell of a performance. Howard Jones drumming was a powerhouse of poly-rhythms- driving songs with time signatures beyond the 4/4 norm. Jonn “Jonnatron” Dean’s keyboard work was more to the fore compared with the last time I saw the band last year, adding layers of sound.

 And Kin (Kim) was sensational. Half way through the set a colleague turned to me and said “What an amazing voice”.  Her assured stage presence attracts the eye and here delivery is unique and compelling . Taking some material from the “Dot Dot Dot” ep, and newer numbers I was not familiar with, the band motored through high tempo, intelligent music which was both challenging but had more than enough  funk in it to get the crowd moving to the intense rhythmic songs.  I do hope this band starts to get a larger audience and the wider recognition for the powerful new music it is creating.

After the “interesting” Safi  Sniper video and sound experimentations Prestwich’s finest and Broughton’s very own Mark E. Smith took the stage with his band of 36 years the legendary Fall.

It had been a while since I had seen The Fall live. An omission I will not be repeating. They were, simply put, amazing. Playing for just over an hour we were treated to every track – bar one – from the new album – “Your Future, Out Clutter “ - plus a couple of more recent numbers from the previous two releases ,a blast from the past with the “Psykick Dancehall”, and a storming rendition of Frank Zappa’s “Hungry Freaks, Daddy” .

The Fall at Fac251. Thanks to Kieron Clarke for the photo.

Mark Smith was in fine form, negotiating the tiny stage to use multiple microphones and mix bass, guitar, and keyboards. Occasionally he would slip off-stage to perform from the stairwell adjacent to the stage entrance. Pete Greenway’s guitar, with its multiple fx pedals, provided a wall of sound and the exceptional rhythm section of Spurr and Melling was a solid anchor. Eleni Poulou’s synthesizer/keyboards and devices  gave a powerful visceral kick to the overall performance.

The overriding highpoint for me, and there were many, was “Slippy Floor” which kicked any number of bottoms in many different ways. However it would be remiss of me not to mention the exceptionally bouncy “Bury”, the only slow number of the night – the elegiac “Weather Report”, and the crowd pleasing encore of “Psykick Dancehall” which had the  mosh-pit in seventh heaven.

To have the legacy and current mastery of The Fall on the same bill as a band like Kin – where I think a new future music direction is emerging – was unique and challenges the rest of the music world out there to raise its game somewhat.