★★★★

WHEN Japanese band Bo Ningen were announced as the support act for this double-header, it seemed as though their often brutal noise-rock might overpower headliners The Fall, who themselves have built a reputation as hard-hitting and visceral over a 42-year lifespan.

The former group, all lank hair and gangly limbs, whipped up a storm to thrill the crowd who had braved the tempest outside.

Every element of the four-piece’s sound was compelling, from the frenzied riffing of the dual guitar approach to the machine-gun drums and crazed, highpitch vocals. That’s without mentioning the stage antics of frontman Taigen Kawabe, who at various points could be found leaping into the crowd, pulling self-knowingly cheesy rock poses and clambering onto his amp.

There are few sounds more thrilling on the current rock circuit than Bo Ningen locking into a repetitive groove, and perhaps the only complaint is that they could have done that more regularly; their hyperactivity means they flit away to new ideas very quickly.

No such problem on closing song Daikaisei II, III, where Kawabe’s twonote bassline made for a thunderous extended outro.

The Fall’s muscular bassist Dave Spurr rather picked up where Kawabe left off; opening song Mister Rode was notable for its irresistable groove. Indeed most of the highlights from the set revolved around bass; in Cowboy George particularly, Spurr matched the rolling drumbeats of the band’s two sticksmen for pace and ferocity.

To say frontman Mark E Smith has a reputation for being an unpredictable stage presence is an understatement. Often his voice boomed out through the PA with the man himself hidden somewhere, and that’s when he was not fiddling around with his bandmates’ amps.

Here, though, Smith looked healthier than this journalist has seen him in recent times (he has struggled with health issues), and on good form. After a rare and very welcome encore rendition of Mr Pharmacist – arguably the band’s most famous song – he thanked the crowd. A real collector’s item.

There is no getting away from the fact that some of The Fall’s newer songs are stodgy, and at times their repetition lacked the intensity of Bo Ningen but on the whole this was a tight and commanding performance and a reminder of their undiminished legacy.