Mark E. Smith, lead singer and songwriter of the Fall, has been through so many band members over the years that he really should just go ahead and install a revolving door at the group’s headquarters…but this latest development is a hell of a thing, even for him.
First off, three members of the band – guitarist Ben Pritchard, bassist Steve Trafford and drummer Spencer Birtwhistle – quit the band after the Fall’s May 7th show in Phoenix, AZ…a show which, as it happens, ended abruptly when Justin Williams, the lead singer of the opening band on the tour (the Talk), threw a banana peel at Smith.
Williams said, on the Talk’s MySpace page, “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.”
Shockingly, the Fall’s official website announced after the show that the Talk’s services as openers would no longer be required on the tour…but, yes, the tour is continuing. Smith’s already gotten replacement players. Given his tendency to kick members of the Fall to the curb on a seemingly-daily basis, I have to presume he keeps a musician recruitment service on speed dial…
