Featuring cover bands, walking tours and the poet laureate as DJ, The Fall: Futures and Pasts is the ultimate Fall fan experience. But can our writer get through Eat Y\u2019Self Fitter at karaoke?<\/p>\n
There has never been a group like the Fall. I use the word \u201cgroup\u201d advisedly, as I once made the mistake of calling them a \u201cband\u201d in the presence of Mark E Smith. The combustible singer immediately admonished me on the basis that a band was something that you\u2019d get in Blackpool.<\/p>\n
The irreplaceable Smith died in 2018 at the age of 60, immediately bringing to an end the group that he fronted for his entire adult life. The legend of the Fall lives on, though. They have arguably never been bigger, with interest maintained by a slew of reissues, multiple spinoff groups, a variety of podcasts and a steady stream of books; the nine-track Post Script, billed as the band\u2019s \u201cofficial final album\u201d by former manager Ed Blaney, was announced last week and slated for a September release. So it\u2019s an opportune time for The Fall: Futures and Pasts, a three-day all-Fall festival held at Manchester\u2019s Band on the Wall venue last weekend, celebrating 50 years of the group and attracting fans from as far afield as Australia and the US.<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/05e09c4851224cf7c4e3b4aaa434ca9c0203a126\/0_915_3337_2668\/master\/3337.jpg?width=140&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=92302345ecd436f769ccdeabc27bafc5\" "\\"LA")
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