SATURDAY PASS: The Fall Futures and Pasts - Saturday 6th June 2026

Why not take full advantage of a packed Saturday of Fall focused fun with our Saturday Pass - this pass gives you access to all of our Saturday events**

Our Saturday Programme includes:

FUNKY SI's WALKING TOUR OF MANCHESTER

A one-of-a-kind walking tour led by Simon Wolstencroft and Jackie O’Malley, who bring their popular podcast Funky Si's A-Z of Manchester to life. Starting at The Free Trade Hall, walk with them through the streets ofManchester as Simon shares first-hand tales from the city’s music scene. From iconic venues to hidden corners where musical history was made, this immersive tour brings Manchester’s post-punk and alternative legacy vividly to life. The walk will last for 90 minutes.

** Limited spaces, so registration to secure a spot on the walk is essential.

THE FALL 93 94: The Dave Bush Tapes

Film Premier

When The Fall toured the USA in 1993 and 1994, band member Dave Bush took a video camera on tour with him. The surviving tapes have been digitised and collated into this film. It’s narrated throughout by Dave Bush on the scene, and includes never seen before concert footage, the band at sound checks, hotel rooms, bars, on the tour bus – all the sights and sounds of The Fall on the road.

WE ARE THE FALL. Joining us from the USA with guest Grant Showbiz

WE ARE THE FALL Podcast is a raucous, affectionate deep-dive into the chaotic universe of The Fall, where two mates, Gavin and Steve, explore Mark E Smith and the group’s sprawling sonic and visual aesthetic. Each week they crack open albums, lost nuggets, side projects, and Peel sessions with a mix of obsessive curiosity, dry humor, and pub-chat warmth, making even the wildest corners of the discography feel like stories shared between old friends. With special guests, fan perspectives, and 'interrogations' of Fall-related luminaries, the show leans into unpredictability and passionate argument, celebrating the band’s shifting line-ups and strange detours while keeping things fun, welcoming, and just scruffy enough to feel true to The Fall’s spirit. Drink the long draught, with WE ARE THE FALL.

Grant's engagement with The Fall spans longer than anyone else apart from Mark E Smith. He was a producer and sound engineer for the group on and off from the 1970s through to 2013, the first album he worked on was Dragnet, the last one was Re-Mit.

DJ SETS with MARC RILEY & CRAIG SCANLON

Marc Riley
Birth / School / Bowie/ Fall /Creepers / Radio…AND BEYOND!
Craig Scanlon
Played guitar in The Fall between 1979 and 1995. During his tenure, he was a stalwart member for 17 albums and co-wrote over 120 of the group’s songs; singer Mark E. Smith excepted, this tally is unmatched by any other musician to have passed through the group.

POPPYCOCK:

Poppycock was formed in 2012 by Una Baines (The Fall / The Blue Orchids / The Fates) who has been described as a ‘New Wave Pioneer’ and ‘Unassuming heroine of the Manchester music scene’. Working from Una’s substantial back-catalogue of songs, Poppycock began initially as a floating collective of musicians. Poppycock’s signature sound has been described as ‘Cockypop’ featuring quirky lyrics and seasoned musicianship – Lizard Man for example, was written after a dream Una had about The Fall and is a tribute to Mark E Smith. Poppycock’s ethos of collectivism and creativity often results in a cross over between art and music.

HEY! LUCIANI

A stage play by Mark E Smith.

Raw, strange and uncompromising, Hey! Luciani is part theatre show, part performance art-rock gig. Smith himself mischievously described his play as ‘a cross between Shakespeare and The Prisoner’.

In reality, it’s his typically elliptical interpretation of the events of September 1978, when Pope John Paul I (aka Albino Luciani) was found dead, leading to theories that he had been murdered by the Papal Court, with involvement from the Freemasons.

Incorporating witty dialogue, grotesque characters and contemporary dance, Hey! Luciani also features performances of several Fall songs, including ‘Doctor Faustus’, ‘Sleep Debt Snatches’, and the unreleased ‘Luciani Today’.

In its 40th anniversary year, with a script transcribed from recordings of the original 1986 performances, this new production of Hey! Luciani features guest appearances from some of the original cast, plus a live band performing the original score.

It’s directed by Smith’s friend and collaborator Graham Duff (Ideal, The Otherwise) and will be preceeded by an in conversation with the cast, band members and Graham ahead of the performance.

All events accurate at the time of publication. There may be some additions and alterations to programme content and order.

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