The Big Midweek cover art

The Big Midweek

Life Inside the Fall

 Preview
Try Premium Plus free
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Unlimited access to our all-you-can-listen catalogue of 15K+ audiobooks and podcasts
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

The Big Midweek

By: Steve Hanley, Olivia Piekarski
Narrated by: Stewart Lee
Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £18.99

Buy Now for £18.99

About this listen



The first insider's account of life inside The Fall, Steve Hanley's story unfolds like a novel; from 1979 when he joined his schoolmates Marc Riley and Craig Scanlon in The Fall, he puts us right in the heart of the action: on stage, on the tour bus, in the recording studio, and up close and personal with an eccentric cast of band mates. These vividly drawn scenes give unprecedented insight into the intense, highly-charged creative atmosphere within The Fall and their relentless work ethic which has won them a dedicated cult following, high-art respectability and a unique place in popular music history.

Narrated by Stewart Lee
Foreword by Marc Riley

©2014, 2016 Route Publishing (P)2025 Route Publishing Entertainment & Celebrities Funny Witty

Critic reviews

A Guardian Book of the Year
A Rough Trade Book of the Year
Reader’s Digest Editor’s Choice
A Dagsavisen Book of the Year
All stars
Most relevant
What an absolute delight this audiobook is
Stewart Lee’s delivery is top notch and rings out the humour & despair of being in the most inventive & idiosyncratic band of any era. EVER
It also inspired me to revisit the Fall’s back catalogue
Steve Hanley’s legacy as the dark groove on all the best Fall records is undisputed. 10/10

I forgot how much I LOVE The Fall!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
If you love the fall or if you have ever been in a band this is going to make you laugh, cry and question whether the price of playing in the fall and bathing in the god like genius of MES was worth paying

Expertly captures life in the wonderful and frightening world of the fall

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I first read the paperback of this when first released as I'm a life long music & Fall fan.
Had to have the audio book when I heard Stewart Lee was narrating - another long standing Fall enthusiast.
This is, without doubt a pretty amazing book on so many different levels. If you 'Appreciate' the Fall then this audio book should be compulsory listening. If you love other music biography type books but are not that familiar with the Fall then I think & hope you will find this book interesting.
It is not like any other music biography, its a truly amazing, funny, sad, emotional story of Steve's 20 years in The Fall. He is such a modest man who loved this group and contributed massively to it's unique sound with his PJ bass. The toll on him emotionally that lasted many years after he left the group comes through with this book and Stewart conveys this brilliantly.
In the neighborhood of infinity, that was The Fall

Fall Advice, Fall Advance!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The Fall were as much of an enigma as the music industry has ever produced. And to the listener, Steve Hanley’s contribution was often as important as that of Mark E Smith..

This is a great, funny insight into all of that. The only mystery is how Hanley managed to avoid flattening Smith countless times before the inevitable dénouement.

Stewart Lee’s reading makes it almost perfect.

The music memoir that all others must judged by.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Bassist Steve Hanley’s two decades in The Fall a great music book impeccably read by Stewart Lee.

Wonderful and Frightening

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews