Ted's Polish-Mexican Page

Saturday night, the Fall played at Club Congress. I wrote a review of the show that will appear on Tucson Scene.

The band at first looked angry, but they got better as time went on.

I was up front, and the place was packed. I was right in front of Eleni Poulou-Smith's keyboard (she's tiny but she carries a HUGE purse, by the way), which limited me in what pictures I could get. Also, they didn't allow flash photography, which didn't stop a couple of people. This made me a little more reluctant to take a lot of pictures, since I didn't want to be snapping when a flash went off and get myself kicked out.

Mark Edward Smith, Manchester's greatest citizen.

Keyboardist Eleni Poulou-Smith, looking very very happy to be there.



The two Smiths (but not THOSE Manchester Smiths) plus bassist Steve Trafford. Trafford, a nice name for a Manchester boy. Sort of like a guy from Green Bay being named Lambeau.

Because they were in weird, darker places on the stage, I didn't get decent pictures of guitarist Ben Pritchard or drummer Spencer Birtwhistle.


Smith, still singing but messing with his wife's amp. He seemed to like to do that.

Smith playing Eleni's keyboard. Sometimes she would play her line at the same time when he'd do this, other times she would just stand back, mildly frustrated.

Her keyboard, by the way, was an old tiny Korg. If the thing even had three complete octaves I'd be suprised. It also had big knobs and what appeared to be plugs for wires like an old style telephone switchboard.

I don't know this guy's name, but he was Smith's manager. Smith apparently had problems with the road manager. I know, it's shocking to find out that he is a little hard to get along with. This guy has been a friend of Smith's for years. He came out and sang back up vocals on "Boxcotosis." He had a very different manner from Smith, clapping his hands and getting the crowd into the song.

We stood up front with some people who came down from Phoenix. They came down because they didn't want to be up late on a Sunday. Also, they had to admit that they couldn't be sure if the Phoenix show would actually be played.

I also met a guy from Houston who said he partied with Smith and the Fall last time they played there. Oh...so it was your fault the last tour got cancelled.


Hasta la proxima. Do zobaczenia.