MANIC punk poet and general shambles Mark E Smith led The Fall through a wild evening.


The ever-changing Fall is a band only in the loosest sense of the word and as the only constant member, Smith slurs rambling observations atop a revolving line-up of musicians.

The Fall in 2017 is a four-piece, stripped down to just Smith, a guitarist, bassist and drummer.

The tight, professional players contrasted with the unpredictable Smith, who wandered the stage of Cardiff's Tramshed.

The legendary frontman held two mics to his face as he shouted and warbled the largely incomprehensible lyrics at the delighted crowd.

At last count, more than 60 people can claim to have been a member of the fabled northern outfit at some point over the past 40 years.

The absence of keyboardist Elena Poulou on stage was felt and the rendition of recent cut Wise Old Man sadly lacked her melodic backing vocal to play off Smith's scowling delivery.

Her unmanned keyboard was still present however, which Smith shuffled towards and slapped at tunelessly from time to time.

Never a band to live in the past, the setlist drew mainly from 2015's Sub-Lingual Tablet album.

The enraptured audience also got an airing of 1986 single Mr Pharmacist to bring things to a chaotic close.

Declan Harte