2023-05-10. The Fillmore DC, Silver Spring, MD

Gig news, reviews, set lists, thoughts, comments and observations on The Sisters 2023 tour.
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sultan2075
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Petseri wrote: 11 May 2023, 04:26 As I have done in the past, I will post something listing thoughts which come to mind, but I need to get ready for tomorrow. Suffice to say for now I enjoyed the Christo of Mercy concert.
Yeah... Ben is definitely the lead vocalist. Did I imagine it or did they play a song entirely without Von? Not Eyes of Caligula, I don't think, but one of the new ones... after Instrumental 86.
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Wilkstein wrote: 11 May 2023, 04:25 What was the setlist like?
I got a photo of the setlist (dated May 11j. I will try to post it later. Encore was a “best of” (Lucretia, Temple, Corrosion). Bunch of newer (unreleased, at least), and plenty from VT.
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sultan2075 wrote: 11 May 2023, 04:18
Petseri wrote: 11 May 2023, 00:29 Quarry House is full and not letting anyone else in. Hope to see you at the Filmore
I’m sorry I missed you - I got there around 6:30 and ran into some old friends. We went back to QH after the gig, but it was too packed, so I called an Uber home.

For those interested, good crowd for a Wednesday night in a company town. Band was on fire. My friend, who had never seen them before, was ecstatic. They really were great tonight - except for the usual. I did not realize how much Ben carries the vocal! Von was audible in the early parts of the set, and, to my ears, sounded good. But he soon became inaudible. Still, a great show, and it drove home how great the new stuff is. If only a record, yadda yadda yadda. Nothing new in the setlist - but they tore it up.

The opening band, Blacklist, was… forgettable. That’s actually worse than being bad in my book. They were dull. It was like a Bauhaus cover band made up of guys from Kinko’s middle-management. If the opening act is meant to make the headliner look good, these guys did.

As for merch... well... the only new shirt was the old "To The Planet Edge" shirt (I've got a long-sleeve somewhere, purchased in San Francisco), except now at it says" At the Planet Edge" and has the 2023 dates, and is a short-sleeve.
I looked for someone matching the description which you provided, but I did not see you. Were you near the nun? :-) (On that note, I am logging off for now.)
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Petseri wrote: 11 May 2023, 04:33
sultan2075 wrote: 11 May 2023, 04:18
Petseri wrote: 11 May 2023, 00:29 Quarry House is full and not letting anyone else in. Hope to see you at the Filmore
I’m sorry I missed you - I got there around 6:30 and ran into some old friends. We went back to QH after the gig, but it was too packed, so I called an Uber home.

For those interested, good crowd for a Wednesday night in a company town. Band was on fire. My friend, who had never seen them before, was ecstatic. They really were great tonight - except for the usual. I did not realize how much Ben carries the vocal! Von was audible in the early parts of the set, and, to my ears, sounded good. But he soon became inaudible. Still, a great show, and it drove home how great the new stuff is. If only a record, yadda yadda yadda. Nothing new in the setlist - but they tore it up.

The opening band, Blacklist, was… forgettable. That’s actually worse than being bad in my book. They were dull. It was like a Bauhaus cover band made up of guys from Kinko’s middle-management. If the opening act is meant to make the headliner look good, these guys did.

As for merch... well... the only new shirt was the old "To The Planet Edge" shirt (I've got a long-sleeve somewhere, purchased in San Francisco), except now at it says" At the Planet Edge" and has the 2023 dates, and is a short-sleeve.
I looked for someone matching the description which you provided, but I did not see you. Were you near the nun? :-) (On that note, I am logging off for now.)
I was on Ben's right, near the stage - not too far from the nun (which made me think "I know why Von only comes here every 15 years or so. Can't blame him") and not too far from the bar. I'd planned to head home and change into something more recognizable, but got held up by students and just had enough time to grab my earplugs and call an Uber.
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Don't drive on ice:


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This was my fourth time seeing the Sisters. Here is what I liked:
- The band and the energy out there were great.
- I liked the setlist - many of my favorite older songs, plus a nice mix of new songs. Sure, I could complain about this or that song missing, but I liked it overall! I can't think of all the songs in the setlist, but it included all the "big hits" (Temple of Love, More, This Corrosion, Lucretia, Dominion), most of the Vision Thing album (minus the title track and When You Don't See Me), Alice, Marian, First and Last and Always, Giving Ground, Crash and Burn, and many new songs.
- I liked how they tweaked some of the arrangements of some of the classic songs like Ribbons, for example. Nice to try some new things from time to time.
- The new songs are just great!

Here are the negatives:
- Why was Andrew not singing many of the songs, especially later on in the set? I know that he tends to mumble a bit from time to time, I wasn't expecting him to travel back in time and put on a stunning vocal performance, but I have never seen anything like this, and not in a good way. Some of his vocals were completely inaudible, but other times, he did not really even try to sing and just performed his strange dance, or he just basically stood there. I wonder if his band sometimes gets embarrassed but don't show it?

Overall, if you know all the words and would like to do karaoke with some nice guitars playing the music, you will have fun. If you are really not familiar with the Sisters and don't know when the vocals are supposed to come in, you will also have fun, because it all sounds great and you don't know any better. If you are nostalgic because the Sisters played a big part in your formative years, you will have fun (this would be me). But unless Andrew was sick and didn't know it till he got up on that stage to cancel the show on time, objectively, I think that this is really unacceptable. I have been to many shows, and I have never seen anything like this. For many of these songs, we essentially have couple of guitar players (they are excellent!) that had nothing to do with writing the songs that are being performed, and the one person who was involved in it all is just moving around the stage without really doing anything, Some of the fans got a bit impatient and asked him to sing louder a couple of times. I am little sad that I missed Gojira performing in Baltimore tonight (on the account of the Sisters probably not being around for much longer), as they always bring it, and I like their activism. However, despite everything I just said, my friend and I had a great time reminiscing about our childhood and everything else that was going on back when Sisters were big.
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FMAMMY
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Clips of Lucretia, More, Dominion and Ribbons.
Ben is singing more then ever
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Set according to setlistfm
Don't Drive on Ice
Ribbons
Crash and Burn
Alice
I Will Call You
First and Last and Always
But Genevieve
Dominion
Giving Ground
Marian
More
Show Me
Jeep/Det
Eyes of Caligula
Something Fast
I Was Wrong
Here
Instrumental 86
On the Beach
When I'm On Fire
------------------------------
Lucretia
Temple
Corrosion
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Thank you for reviews and clip :notworthy: Great it has finally kicked off! But no Vision Thing even in DC :eek:

I find it weird and worrying that Ben takes over the singing so much since I find Andrew's voice at least in this clip (Don't drive on ice) totally ok :?
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Just found this one ... :) ... the crowd were audibly into it ...
Many thanks to the uploaders ... :) ... curious to see more ... :) ...

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Obviously I wasn't there, but that Don't Drive on Ice vid is EXCELLENT. I wonder if in situations like this, ie the start of a tour, if Von isn't highly conservative about his voice?

Like, we know it's not as strong as it was, but it is what it is, and they have MANY dates in front of them. If he blows it out at the start, they're kinda screwed. Also, if this works out, then they could conceivably go back to the US one or two more times before The End. That's a whole other revenue-generating region to shore up the pension pot with. There's only so many times they can bring the machine around Europe before they have to rest the show for 18 months or so.

If I was him, I'd probably have a plan to start this gig strong, take it easy for the middle, and then bring it home at the end.

I get why that's frustrating, truly I do. But I think that's probably the basis on which they get to do any touring at all, and we get something, instead of nothing. I'm okay with that. 'Something' from the Sisters is better than 'Lots' from lots of others bands.

(The Cure started their US tour last night in New Orleans, and Smith is an outlier in terms of how excellent his voice still is 40+ years later. Lots and lots of other bands that started in the 80s just aren't so lucky. Too many late nights shouting in nightclubs, smoking fags and not taking care of their voices)
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Woke up to a text from a local who says, "Ribbons was best track, good gig but could hardly hear him at times". Also, "where do all these goths go after the gig?" - they were out in force, apparently! :lol:
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The voice problem may by the sound of it "just" be a cold. It´s what travelling far, lack of sleep etc. etc. can do to you. A couple of days rest now and he´s hopefully back to form on saturday.
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Merch pic from The Sisters Of Mercy Facebook group......

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Todashi
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euphoria wrote: 11 May 2023, 09:18
This is entirely different to the earlier DDOI vid. Ben is FAR too high in the mix here. I suppose it's possible that the sound was different in person in the venue, but this sounds like the front of house guy f**ked up. That or there was a serious issue with Von's vocals and they did this on purpose for some reason.

I don't think I've ever heard a Sisters mix like this before. I wonder what it sounded like on stage? Maybe they couldn't tell?
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Todashi wrote: 11 May 2023, 10:09 This is entirely different to the earlier DDOI vid. Ben is FAR too high in the mix here. I suppose it's possible that the sound was different in person in the venue, but this sounds like the front of house guy f**ked up. That or there was a serious issue with Von's vocals and they did this on purpose for some reason.

I don't think I've ever heard a Sisters mix like this before. I wonder what it sounded like on stage? Maybe they couldn't tell?
I think it's intentional for this song - it's one that Von has repeatedly missed his cues for so Ben is keeping him in time.

Chris used to try and step in and get him back on track when needed but they've just made it part of the arrangement for this song.
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I think he really went at Don't Drive On Ice and then the rest of the show probably suffered both directly and also consciously bearing in mind the schedule. I've certainly never heard DDOI so clearly.

Interesting though, even though Ben's been there for God knows how long, without Von's vocals it sounds like a covers band.

Edit - plus mix issues from the sound of it agreed
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Charlie wrote: 11 May 2023, 10:08 Merch pic from The Sisters Of Mercy Facebook group......

Image
Ah cool, thanks for posting it here ... :) :notworthy: ...
ruffers wrote: 11 May 2023, 10:51 [...]
Interesting though, even though Ben's been there for God knows how long, without Von's vocals it sounds like a covers band.
Yeah, nothing can make up for Von's voice and attitude ... he just doesn't have this London accent ... :wink: ...
Still, I think the encores sound quite good, basically. A few adjustments should make them fully alright ... like as a first step not having only Ben in the backing chorus and Von more pronounced in some places ... but hell, the crowd did enjoy anyway ... ;D ;D ;D ...


Basic SistersWiki page is done here, including Dominion

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More, Show Me, Doctor Jeep/Detonation Boulevard, Eyes of Caligula, Something Fast, I Was Wrong



I'm guessing that the low mix of Andrew's vocals is a sound engineer/technical f**k-up. The yells of "we can't hear you" and "turn the mic up" (just before Something Fast) prove that it's not just a "bad sound on the bootleg" issue.
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At least they weren’t shouting ‘we can’t see you’ 😂😂
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lazarus corporation wrote: 11 May 2023, 11:42 More, Show Me, Doctor Jeep/Detonation Boulevard, Eyes of Caligula, Something Fast, I Was Wrong



I'm guessing that the low mix of Andrew's vocals is a sound engineer/technical f**k-up. The yells of "we can't hear you" and "turn the mic up" (just before Something Fast) prove that it's not just a "bad sound on the bootleg" issue.
I think that's likely. I thought he sounded great for the first few songs (honestly, much better than I expected).
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Petseri wrote: 11 May 2023, 04:26 As I have done in the past, I will post something listing thoughts which come to mind, but I need to get ready for tomorrow. Suffice to say for now I enjoyed the Christo of Mercy concert.
:lol:
that's pretty much how it sounds judging from the clips. But then again, mixing issues are there to blame also.
So 180 degrees different than gigs from 2022. But let's give them more chances before final opinion.
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Yeah to the comment by sultan2075, Andrew left for the instrumental and then didn't come back until the end of "On the Beach." The whole thing was pretty weird because in general it looked like he was singing out but we couldn't hear a bit of it most of the time. Hopefully that's not a trend for the rest of the tour. It was nice to see them though.... the last time I tried, the show was cancelled.
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Hello @HeuristicsInc & welcome to :hl: :D
Cheers.
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