The Sisters - What's the joke?

Mr Thorburn · 11 Apr 2006, 22:04

just scrolled down this amusing thread - can someone put up a picture of david st hubbins for me, just to keep a bit of perspective on things. many thanks.

i want eldritch & co to be the full on 3D comedy/irony/bombast/arrogant/stupid outfit that they know they can be.

what we currently have seems in my view to be a 2D version, which i find unfulfilling for some reason.

henceforth, i would like to see the following on the european leg of this tour;

1.a kylie track as the intro
2. the band arrive on stage on motorbikes ( cf judas priest previous thread)
3. eldritch sporting a moustache
4. more obscure football shirts worn by band members
5. a really stupid cover version thrown in during the set
6. drum solos by doktor avalanche, who is wheeled to the front of the stage by the nurse for this purpose
7. flashbombs going off at the start of vision thing/whatever is the encore
8. eldritch wearing a piano tie for the encore which flashes up " s-i-s-t-e-r-s" when we get to the chorus ( see kraftwerk for further details)
9. images projected onto the back of the stage. mostly of ladies they like - joanna lumley etc, but a few others thrown in. keep the dry ice on 11 though so noone can actually see them for more than .05 seconds so we can spend hours on this site arguing about whether it was a picture of felicity kendal or angela rippon which appeared for a nanosecond during the 2nd verse of alice.

many thanks for sorting

11 Apr 2006, 22:10

As requested.....

Glad to be of service.

(too much fuckin' perspective....)

Badlander · 11 Apr 2006, 22:49

Wait, here's some more !

Not enough ? Okay then...

paint it black · 11 Apr 2006, 23:01

the joke (mainly private) is related to a certain brand of washing powder

you took you're time [b. a.r/b]

Mickpit · 12 Apr 2006, 11:16

Stumpy Pete wrote:
mugabe wrote: That was just another day of Steinman's at work. In an interview Eldritch spoke about working with him and asking something in the lines of "Erm, do we need all these choirs?" to which Steinman just replied "We need more choirs!". No inherent Sisters bombast or tongue-in-cheek OTT-ness there. Also, I find "1959" as hilarious as any Tori Amos piano ballad, i.e. not at all.
Well, I'll grant you it's not as funny as 'Me and a Gun.' (Oh no, he didn't....)

But seriously, the delivery of the vocal on 1959 is, I think, quite funny. Again, there's a disjunction often present in Eldo's work between serious content and absurd delivery. And, I would imagine, if Andrew really wanted to ditch those choirs he could have . It's a disjunction that has been present in most if not all of his recorded work; though I'll grant he made it a bit more explicit with Vision Thing. Rock and roll is a fabulously stupid beast, in all its forms. Andrew knows that and plays with it, and tries to inject a bit of grey-matter into it, and he subverts the conventions underlying it; but it's that very subversion that's funny.

Seriously (once again, once again), you don't find his delivery (not the content of the lyric, but the way it's sung) on 1959 funny? What about the vocals on FALAA? Some of that stuff will make me laugh every time. Emma? How about the end of Gimme Shelter? It's absolutely absurd. The first time I heard it I needed to change my pantaloons I laughed so hard!

Oooo, earleir I was espousing the arguement of 'getting the joke'(mostly based on the live experience IMO) - but now you're ripping the songs to bits........i may change sides and demand that they be taken very seriously!
Mind you, changing your name to "Eldritch", that's funny.......but not as funny as Andrew Eerie

or Andrew Unearthly though

Jaimie1980 · 12 Apr 2006, 17:25

Stumpy Pete wrote:
Driven wrote:
Nope don't see anything funny about Floodland, Vision Thing is another matter.
I myself find the bombast of it quite amusing. When you can re-appreciate something like 'This Corrosion' the way you did the first time you heard it, you can't help but laugh. It's an absolutely ludicrous song, obscenely decadent and over the top. Same goes for 'Dominion.' That's not to say there isn't substance hiding beneath all the flash, but the flash is riotously funny. And let's not even talk about '1959'--hysterical!

Well I suppose 'This Corrosion' is more than a little funny.

mh · 18 Apr 2006, 16:01

It's all hilarious. It's taking a fundamentally ridiculous proposition (the band as idols who somehow "know more" about this "life" stuff, and therefore occupy some higher plane of existence, etc) and milking it for all it's worth, and getting away with doing so while at the same time pointing out the truth of what's going on. And laughing all the way to the bank while the miserable disaffected hordes lap it up.

Like the man said:
"Learning to cry for fun and profit".

robertzombie · 28 Jun 2006, 20:58

The one thing I don't get about the Sisters...

Well, it's not exactly about the sisters, more the fans.

I have noticed this whilst watching some weeds and at the Astoria show. It is something called "the sisters of mercy dance." Which some of the crowd "perform."

It basically involves you being up on someones shoulders, and moving ur outstretched arms around very rigidly and extending your fingers in funny positions. And then suddenly making your arms very floppy and moving them up and down in front of your face...

(see Nottingham DVD - Flood I for a better idea.)

What's all that about?!

Badlander · 28 Jun 2006, 21:03

robertzombie wrote: It basically involves you being up on someones shoulders, and moving ur outstretched arms around very rigidly and extending your fingers in funny positions. And then suddenly making your arms very floppy and moving them up and down in front of your face...

Maybe they try to relive the Wake experience...

robertzombie · 28 Jun 2006, 21:08

hehe, The Sisters Of Mercy Dance is present at Wake as well... hmm where did this strange tribal dance originate?

28 Jun 2006, 21:36

goffs have been doing "pyramids" at gigs (the act of standing on each others shoulders) and the crazy arm/hand waving stuff for over 2 decades

mish fans are worse for the arm/hand nonsense

tallest pyramid i ever saw was a 4-man one, at a rosetta stone gig @ leeds warehouse in about 1991. poor bugger on top had to crouch as the roof wasnt really high enough for 4 people

Janko · 28 Jun 2006, 21:43

Quiff Boy wrote:as far as i can tell, its a series of jokes elaborately constructed to make us all think that the sisters are a rock and roll band... and its always been that way, if you believe von's self-constructed "sisters mythology".

basically, if you look at the most obvious sisters traits:

the smoke
the lights
the preposterous guitar sounds (from all version of the band)
the drum machine
the silly voice
the writhing, posturing and strutting
the sunglasses
the clothes (silly paisley shirts from way back when and bizarre cycling jerseys from more recent times)
the hats
etc
etc
etc

the sisters are basically a mish-mash of every rock and roll cliche ever - from obvious reference points like the stones, led zepp, the ramones and hawkwind, to lou reed, johnny cash and leonard cohen. from bowie through to suicide, from elvis to gary glitter.

and back again.

the fact that enough people consider the folly that is and always has been "the sisters" to be a serious rawk outfit is the funny bit.

is funny in the same way that its funny when something fluffy and cute has a slight mishap. or when someone you dont like contracts something hideous. you know you shouldnt laugh, but you cant help it... especially when its as fucking groovy as the sisters are.

if you see what i mean

I'm pretty sure there was a 'Penn And Teller' show about this issue...

czuczu · 28 Jun 2006, 21:46

Quiff Boy wrote:goffs have been doing "pyramids" at gigs (the act of standing on each others shoulders) and the crazy arm/hand waving stuff for over 2 decades

mish fans are worse for the arm/hand nonsense

tallest pyramid i ever saw was a 4-man one, at a rosetta stone gig @ leeds warehouse in about 1991. poor bugger on top had to crouch as the roof wasnt really high enough for 4 people

There were some lunatic pyramids at Reading. And just once I saw a genuine lighters aloft moment during a Sissies gig and it was 'kin awesome

Your handclapping for Anaconda the other day was also quite amusing Mr B

mh · 28 Jun 2006, 22:05

Biggest I ever heard of was a 5 person. I think there's mention of it on Ian Grimstead's site.

No idea where or how they started, they just seem to have always been there.

wild bill buttock · 29 Jun 2006, 17:20

I saw a 5 manner at a Neph gig at the old Hummingbird in Brum.The top man actually got aboard from the balcony.

In my drunken wisdom I decided to destroy it and got a punching for my troubles(I think I've told you this before).

Badlander · 29 Jun 2006, 18:15

wild bill buttock wrote:In my drunken wisdom I decided to destroy it and got a punching for my troubles(I think I've told you this before).

You did and somehow I suspect you'll do it again.

Hope that was worth the beating.

distanceovertime · 29 Jun 2006, 18:48

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zD_PiCqWOiQ

czuczu · 29 Jun 2006, 18:58

distanceovertime wrote:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zD_PiCqWOiQ

30 seconds later he fell flat on his arse

9while9 · 29 Jun 2006, 19:05

distanceovertime wrote:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zD_PiCqWOiQ

What the hell is Von wearing?

Is this from The Road Warrior Tour?

jay · 29 Jun 2006, 19:07

After watching that if people don't get it then they never will

jay · 29 Jun 2006, 19:08

9while9 wrote:
distanceovertime wrote:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zD_PiCqWOiQ
What the hell is Von wearing?
Is this from The Road Warrior Tour?

Well it's a cropped American football jersey hybrid thingy...of course

9while9 · 29 Jun 2006, 19:11

jay wrote:
9while9 wrote:
distanceovertime wrote:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zD_PiCqWOiQ
What the hell is Von wearing?
Is this from The Road Warrior Tour?
Well it's a cropped American football jersey hybrid thingy...of course

That's what I thought hence the Road Warrior reference.
Thanks for the verification..

jay · 29 Jun 2006, 19:19

"tune in turn on load out" tour...I think.

9while9 · 29 Jun 2006, 19:48

jay wrote:"tune in turn on load out" tour...I think.

jay · 29 Jun 2006, 19:50

9while9 wrote:
jay wrote:"tune in turn on load out" tour...I think.

I see...I'm a bit slow today