The sisters of mercy to Stockholm 09-03-21!

Eva · 22 Mar 2009, 19:57

The sound was good where I was (next to Andrew_S). And for those complaining: Keep in mind it was a basket ball hall. Remember Athens 2006 anybody? However this place in Stockholm was the worst venue of the tour so far, and still they managed to get decent sound, even in the back (according to Eggi). There was too much echo on Von's voice though. As if somebody was playing around a bit.

rustybones · 22 Mar 2009, 19:57

Well for my very first Sisters gig I was well surprised. The sound was lacking I agree, but come on, it's the Sisters!!

On a side note, did anyone else notice what looked like someone with a video camera in front of the barrier right before they started? Or am I imagining things?

Eva · 22 Mar 2009, 20:01

You're not imagining. That was Kenny who also does the merchandising. According to another crew member there's no hope though: These videos will be taken to the grave by the owner....

Eggi1 · 22 Mar 2009, 20:04

i was on the left side under the basketball hoop and the sound was near perfect.I heard all guitars and a experimental "ECHO"

The Venue was a disaster.The crowd was much better as malmÃ¶/gÃ¶teborg Â´06.

rustybones · 22 Mar 2009, 20:05

Eva wrote:You're not imagining. That was Kenny who also does the merchandising. According to another crew member there's no hope though: These videos will be taken to the grave by the owner....

poop.

Also what the hell is up with the bootleg t-shirt guys giving the official merch guys s**t? I noticed that last night and thought that was pretty poor form... though they are bootleg t-shirt sellers

Eva · 22 Mar 2009, 20:11

rustybones wrote: Also what the hell is up with the bootleg t-shirt guys giving the official merch guys s**t? I noticed that last night and thought that was pretty poor form... though they are bootleg t-shirt sellers

Hu?

What was that about?

mugabe · 22 Mar 2009, 20:13

The first half of the concert was pretty pedestrian. No edge to anything, and the sound was a bit muffled on the whole. "Floorshow" in particular suffered from the guitars being way too low in the mix, the Doktor's rattling dominating the sound completely. Then "Arms" went down pretty well, and things really took off with "Dominion" until the momentum was halted by "Top Nite Out", the sheer pointlessness of which never fails to astound me.

All in all, pretty enjoyable, and, as stated, probably as good as they get nowadays.

rustybones · 22 Mar 2009, 20:17

Eva wrote:
rustybones wrote: Also what the hell is up with the bootleg t-shirt guys giving the official merch guys s**t? I noticed that last night and thought that was pretty poor form... though they are bootleg t-shirt sellers
Hu? What was that about?

Yeah my wife mentioned this to me too. Standing around saying the official merch was s**t and to buy their stuff. Meh, I didn't see too many people buying their crap after the gig anyway

rian · 22 Mar 2009, 20:41

I could'nt go to the Stockholm gig, been in hospital for a while. Hopefully it was a good one, though I heard the oposite. Haven't read all 6 pages here yet, but I will do soon.

Ta!

il duce · 22 Mar 2009, 20:48

mugabe wrote: "Floorshow" in particular suffered from the guitars being way too low in the mix, the Doktor's rattling dominating the sound completely.

Welcome to a normal Sisters show

I have seen way too many shows with Sisters and yeah the venue was crap, but for being a Sisters show I must say the sound was pretty damn good. I have been to far better venues (First Ave MN, Warfield Theatre CA, Webster Hall NY, etc, etc) and the sound has still been bad. I think this is just the way it is. You will just have to deal with it, it comes with the show.

But I agree, Top Nite Out is pointless. Add vocals or dump it.

Arms is great though.

Eva · 22 Mar 2009, 20:48

@ Ryan:

I hope you're well.

rustybones wrote: Yeah my wife mentioned this to me too. Standing around saying the official merch was s**t and to buy their stuff. Meh, I didn't see too many people buying their crap after the gig anyway

Yeah, they must have been frustrated, cause nobody wanted their crap. It's funny that wherever there have been bootleg shirt sellers on this tour only few people did as much as give them a look...

Husek · 22 Mar 2009, 23:06

i Still like top nite out

yuija · 22 Mar 2009, 23:06

I liked the show! Andrew seemed aware of the crappy sound as he was gesturing to the speaker or something/one on the right side of the stage during one of the songs. But I really liked the show, it sounded good from the right side. And we got to see a lot of Andrew on this side to, which is always good!! And Chris was as always a blast! Hope they will be back soon!

Jessica

Oriana · 22 Mar 2009, 23:49

rustybones wrote: On a side note, did anyone else notice what looked like someone with a video camera in front of the barrier right before they started? Or am I imagining things?

I noticed that too here in Portugal.

lachert · 22 Mar 2009, 23:54

Husek wrote:i Still like top nite out

don't you worry, me too

with romeo down it will be b-side of the new single "slept", you'll see

7anthea7 · 23 Mar 2009, 00:16

lachert wrote:
Husek wrote:i Still like top nite out
don't you worry, me too with romeo down it will be b-side of the new single "slept", you'll see

Your faith is heart-warming.

(I'd buy it...

)

euphoria · 23 Mar 2009, 01:08

Eva wrote:The sound was good where I was (next to Andrew_S). And for those complaining: Keep in mind it was a basket ball hall.

What kind of hall it is should play little role when you're less than 10 meters from the speakers - I have never had, or complained about, sound issues before at Sisters concerts, but last night there simply was insufficient power (volume) and an over-driven bass coming out of the speakers on Ben's side. At moments I could not hear the guitars, and I have never experienced that before. The speaker even sounded broken at times...too much muddy bass coming out at once!

As I wrote before, I'm sure the band was aware they had sound mix problems, judging by how often Andrew talked to Ben and Chris in the beginning of the show.

Eva wrote:However this place in Stockholm was the worst venue

Yes, probably the worst venue I've been too; two toilets, took half an hour to get out afterwards, and no alcohol. Without even mentioning the hall in itself...

Eva · 23 Mar 2009, 06:41

@ Euphoria: I'm no sound engineer but I do disagree about the influence of the hall in itself. Sound also depends on the materials used for building as far as I can tell and on the position of the souind source. It does make a difference wether you have a wooden or a concrete floor, what the walls are made of etc. Besides, the stage was set up at the wrong place in my opinion: it should have been at the end of the room (underneath the basket), and it wasn't even in the middle. In the rear end there were curtains to make the room smaller - I don't know how far it went behind them. And behind the stage there where large stairs leading to who knows how far up the buidling. So I bet that what ever you do at the mixing desk you've got no chance to create a sound that is perfect for every possible position in the audience.

To give an example: I bet The Cure have an outstanding sound person. But when I've seen them last time at the Hallenstadion (a sports arena) in Zurich, where we were first there was a severe echo effect to the extent that it all sounded like a distorted percussion performance. We changed our position to a lower point and there the sound was perfect.

I'm not claiming the Sisters' soundman was doing a perfect job, but I'm convinced it wasn't all his fault if the sound was crap for some people in the audience.

Ozpat · 23 Mar 2009, 07:36

euphoria wrote: and another crew member(?) I didn't recognize.

Von without glasses?!

TheBoyNextDoor · 23 Mar 2009, 08:42

I agree with Euphoria. Couldn't hear Andrew, couldn't hear the guitars (not much left then, eh). Was walking around in the venue to find a "sweet spot" but didn't manage.. ok it sounded a little better further back and half way through the concert they did raise the volume. But the voice was still gone and that silly echo effect really annoyed me... and all the people who complained everywhere I was standing...talking talking talking... and I understand them, this was a big let down. I know it's NOT the Sisters fault, it's the soundmans fault...

Conclusion: Worst concert I have ever been to. Probably won't go again if they don't take the other sound guy back (JÃ¼rgen or whatever he's called).

xfloorshowx · 23 Mar 2009, 10:39

well, nothing new to contribute, sound was way to low and unbalanced, got better during the show but not good.. the performance was good but not really inspired, but Ben and Chris is way better now than in 2006 and so is Andrews vocals, a much tighter band. Pretty frustrating gig when you know the potential is there!

I agree with what's been said before with, the venue isn't great but I've seen bands in the past creating a good sound there (Dir en Grey, In Flames...) and MotÃ¶rhead for sure didn't have any problems causing my ears to ring for a couple of days..

Unfortunately I wasn't able to make it to Broder Tuck or the afterparty since we spent the night before at hospital with our one month old daughter.

_emma_ · 23 Mar 2009, 14:07

Eva wrote:You're not imagining. That was Kenny who also does the merchandising. According to another crew member there's no hope though: These videos will be taken to the grave by the owner....

But could the owner please watch that Stockholm video over and over again until he is convinced that the kind of onstage behaviour that he presented at this gig is The Right One.

And that for this reason he should present it more often, because it makes silly people like me so very, very happy.

Oh, and the sound was good too.

On the whole, it was an absolutely great gig, one of the really great ones I mean.

Nic · 23 Mar 2009, 16:59

I'm with TheBoyNextDoor & xfloorshowx.
The sound was under all critique and it would have been nice to actually hear Andrew sing.
A little chatter between songs wouldn't hurt either for that matter...

Hope it was nothing serious with your daughter Jonas?

weebleswobble · 23 Mar 2009, 17:04

Nic wrote:
Hope it was nothing serious with your daughter Jonas?

Indeed, Hugs fae Leeds

xfloorshowx · 23 Mar 2009, 18:41

weebleswobble wrote:
Nic wrote:
Hope it was nothing serious with your daughter Jonas?
Indeed, Hugs fae Leeds

thank you!

nothing really serious, it's the RS virus which caused her trouble breathing, so they had to put tubes through her nose and suck out phlegm (do you really say that? I guess should've attended some more english classes..). Then she had to stay for observation the rest of the night.. now she's better but family first, so no Finland for me tonight