Why they never tour in France before 2006 ?

stepinside · 17 Mar 2016, 17:46

Hi guys, I'm new here.

There are different rumors regarding why Andrew never wanted to tour in France in the eighties, but I'm still wondering... So if you have clues or infos, I'm interested !

17 Mar 2016, 18:18

Hello & welcome

I seem to recall

at some point stating that he'd never play France.
Can't recall why the change of heart in 2006 though.

Alex66 · 17 Mar 2016, 18:28

Pista wrote:Hello & welcome

I seem to recall at some point stating that he'd never play France.
Can't recall why the change of heart in 2006 though.

Money or bread and cheese? The French have mighty fine bread and some awesome cheeses; Camembert, Brie, Le Brique, Boursin and many more. Great Pate too, I love french food and I can get a better cheese there than here so frequent trips have to be done. I think its the cheese and bread, got to be.

17 Mar 2016, 18:42

iesus · 17 Mar 2016, 20:24

I think they played in France in the 80's, i saw somewhere around in the forum a poster that promote a festival that was in France along with Dead Can Dance and other names of that time

17 Mar 2016, 20:45

You're thinking of L'Eldorado in 84.
They cancelled & were replaced with Play Dead

paint it black · 17 Mar 2016, 21:03

their first actual gig in France was a real let down

Drsisters · 17 Mar 2016, 21:12

He only played Wales once, wonder why

17 Mar 2016, 21:47

Drsisters wrote:He only played Wales once, wonder why

Well, that Severn bridge toll is a bit steep.

czuczu · 17 Mar 2016, 23:33

paint it black wrote:their first actual gig in France was a real let down

It was only the warm up for the drinks after though..

sentenza · 18 Mar 2016, 00:07

That's really true, isn't it czuczu?

Bartek · 18 Mar 2016, 09:41

I believe that AE considered stilton as much better than any other cheese that France produce. Around 2005 he started to like some of their cheese, but wine was what brought him to Paris.

Spiggythecat · 18 Mar 2016, 15:09

Alex66 wrote: Money or bread and cheese?

no need to buy brewery to have pint of Guinness

I would say, decision to tour France was rather demand from market driven

stepinside · 18 Mar 2016, 17:19

Thanx for the responses guys !
The "Wine & Cheese" explanation suits to me, for sure... I'm french

But I know there was something real linked to that anti-french thing.
I'm in my 40s and I remember old pre-internet rumours...
A break with a french girl ? (too "poetic" in my opinion)
A fight implicating a french guy, so that's why Andrew always wear glasses because of an eye injury ? (I think this one was the most widespread rumor in the early nineties but I don't think he even had this kind of injury).

I didn't suceed in finding anything after all. Sure the fact that he tour in 2006 (and after) in France was the "sterling" thing, but there was plenty of tours before and a french biography specially explained that the Sisters always carrefully bypassed France...

Maybe the mystery is better... I will not survive to a trivial reason

Drsisters · 18 Mar 2016, 18:17

Eldritch smiles in one direction and plots in another. His latest scheme is a Sisters Of Mercy DIY flood kit so he can submerge countries of his choice.

"I think I might have to reinvent America and put a big lake where Los Angeles stands. I was going to put a map on the back of the album, and redraw the world according to the Sisters Of Mercy. Norway? Ocean. France? Ocean. There'd be nothing but water between Calais and Iberia. France and L.A. would be drowned for the common good of mankind. Perhaps I should get rid of the French bits of Canada in the first phase as well."

"Europe looks brilliant without France on it. It really enforces the identity of Britain as an island. In fact, instead of the promotional ads for the album on telly, I should put Euro-tunnel-type ads on. People could buy shares in the Flood France Conglomerate. I had thought of putting the women somewhere safe first, and then moving in. I don't mind French women. Perhaps a chemical attack on the male chromosomes. It would have to be pretty strong stuff because you know what those French chromosomes are like.

"I refuse point-blank to do business with anyone in France, ever. The band has never played there. The band will never play there. I have never exported a single record or done one interview for the French. I believe 'This Corrosion' has made some money over there and I fully intend to send the royalties back. I think it's the sort of gesture we all ought to make. They're a miserable consumptive race that revels in despair. Even their language is really great at expressing that pathetic shrug of the shoulders that English has no use for.

Looks like he had serious issues about France once upon time

full interview here,

http://www.spookhouse.net/tsom/afterflood.html

euphoria · 18 Mar 2016, 18:56

Drsisters wrote: full interview here,

http://www.spookhouse.net/tsom/afterflood.html

Thanks for the link, but what an embarrassing read. I probably thought it was cool when I first read it in the 90s, but now it just screams of a jerk trying hard to be even more arrogant than he already is. I don't think Von of 2016 would enjoy it either. The same goes for that "Off Beat" interview in German from the same era.

Well, they don't release any records since 93, but at least some interviews have become better, and

is a much wiser man nowadays. The sad thing is, we will probably have very little lyrics from his older, wiser days. This is actually one of the worst things with him having stopped writing songs, or at least singing them.

sentenza · 18 Mar 2016, 20:43

Well said euphoria.

stufarq · 19 Mar 2016, 01:09

His desire to "enforce the identity of Britain as an island" seems odd from someone who always expressed a preference for "the mainland".

Jeremiah · 19 Mar 2016, 13:30

Maybe it's because he doesn't like being called things like "the Nosferatu of Yorkshire"

stepinside · 21 Mar 2016, 06:50

euphoria wrote:
Drsisters wrote: full interview here,

http://www.spookhouse.net/tsom/afterflood.html
Thanks for the link, but what an embarrassing read. I probably thought it was cool when I first read it in the 90s, but now it just screams of a jerk trying hard to be even more arrogant than he already is. I don't think Von of 2016 would enjoy it either. The same goes for that "Off Beat" interview in German from the same era.

Well, they don't release any records since 93, but at least some interviews have become better, and is a much wiser man nowadays. The sad thing is, we will probably have very little lyrics from his older, wiser days. This is actually one of the worst things with him having stopped writing songs, or at least singing them.

Gloups... OMG... I didn't know it was so real

It doesn't light up the origin of that "hate", but thanx Drsisters for the link and Euphoria for explanations, it's a help

21 Mar 2016, 14:06

I think that any interview that Eldritch did in the Floodland era needs to be taken with a large pinch of [s]cocaine[/s] salt.

Bartek · 21 Mar 2016, 15:17

Larg bags of cheetos can be harmfull to brain.

stepinside · 21 Mar 2016, 15:20

markfiend wrote:I think that any interview that Eldritch did in the Floodland era needs to be taken with a large pinch of [s]cocaine[/s] salt.

centurionofprix · 22 Mar 2016, 01:18

markfiend wrote:I think that any interview that Eldritch did in the Floodland era needs to be taken with a large pinch of [s]cocaine[/s] salt.

yeah, besides that whole thing, i guess a lot of those were said half jokingly and half for the eldritch persona's benefit

copper · 11 Apr 2016, 21:35

In fairness, he mellowed fast.

"Still hate the French?"
"I'm currently in give-'em-one-more-chance mode," he grins. "Because it's 1993, and I'm a federalist."

"I always took your Francophobia to be just one of the calculated eccentricities a young man affects to make himself seem more interesting."
"It's fun. But it's like football. I hate Arsenal, because any sensible person would. Ultimately, who cares?"

- http://www.ultimatesistersguide.org/ima ... 1993_1.jpg