Mark E Smith, The Old Courtroom, Brighton, May 24

4:58pm Monday 26th May 2008

Going to see the famously grumpy frontman of arguably the biggest cult band in Britain was always a gamble.

What the audience didn't expect was that the man interviewing The Fall's Mark E Smith would be the least communicative of the pair, making the elder rock statesman sound almost effusive.

But this awkward, almost monosyllabic take on interviewing by Austin Collings, who co-wrote Smith's autobiography Renegade, strangely worked at getting more stories out of his subject than some of the more excitable interviewers seen on the Festival stage, despite an obsession with Man Utd's recent form.

Among the topics touched on by Smith were his revolving door of band members ("I wouldn't have any of them back, I've made that mistake before"), and his infamous squirrel-eating comments which saw one newspaper offer £20,000 for his home address.

Brighton too held some memories, both as the city where The Fall had most equipment stolen, and where three bands had broken up.

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