The Fall Drones With Luxuria at Ford Theatre

So bleak and dense was the atmosphere on stage Friday night at the John Anson Ford Theatre--where the Fall and Luxuria shared a bill--that when a couple of zealous fans rose up to pelt Fall leader Mark E. Smith and his guitarist/wife, Brix, with flowers, one imagines the petals wilting and drying up before they even landed.

Something was happening here, and if a few of us Mr. Jones critic-types didn’t quite know what it was, most of the black-clad Fall-en angels on hand didn’t need much encouragement to enjoy it. And certainly no encouragement was forthcoming from the bands--too busy being bored with the world in minor keys to establish crowd contact.

Still, the Fall can thrash with the best of them, and occasionally did, but much preferred to drone, thank you. This veteran outfit is a group for people who think the Cure sold out by making listenable records. A surprisingly straight (if predictably pitchless vocally) rendition of the Kinks’ “Victoria” was an exception to the anti-melodic rule. Elsewhere, emptily intellectual tests in endurance like “Frenz”--several minutes of the same chord progression--were passed off as real songs. Could’ve fooled Mr. Jones here.