LET'S FALL MAKE UP AND BE FRIENDLY

THE FALL are back as one big happy family following bloody backstage clashes and the sacking of drummer Tom Head at the Reading Festival (August 27).

Head was reinstated into the band the day after so he could perform at Reading's sister festival in Leeds. He was replaced at Reading by The Chemical Brothers' co-manager Nick Dewey P formerly of Revolver.

During last week's Fall performance, both Mark E Smith and guitarist Neville Wilding appeared onstage covered in blood.

It's thought a backstage brawl broke out between the two just before the band took to the stage.

A spokesman for the band said: "There was an altercation between them that has been resolved. This was purely a one-off thing. It was just a Band-Aid job."

The incident is the latest in The Fall's violent history.

In April last year, Mark E Smith assaulted Fall keyboard player and then girlfriend Julia Nagle in a New York Hotel.

A court ruled in February that Smith wouldn't have to pay any penalty if he behaved himself until August 21.

The latest incident happened one week after the court's deadline.