Opinions - Best Gig Openers

THE place for your Sisters-related comments, questions and snippets of Sisters information. For those who do not know, The Sisters of Mercy are a rock'n'roll band. And a pop band. And an industrial groove machine. Or so they say. They make records. Lots of records, apparently. But not in your galaxy. They play concerts. Lots of concerts, actually. But you still cannot see them. So what's it all about, Alfie? This is one of the few tightly-moderated forums on Heartland, so please keep on-topic. All off-topic posts will either be moved or deleted. Chairman Bux is the editor and the editor's decision is final. Danke.
Post Reply
Ghost Dancer
Road Kill
Posts: 5
Joined: 04 Oct 2023, 09:21

Interested on opinions on the best openers at a Sisters event.

The first song or two of any gig can set a tone for the rest of the set, with a poor mix effecting the audience feedback and band interaction. A good start on the other hand, then we are off & running.

So for me, the best opening combination was using Pink Floyd’s Comfortably Numb morphing into Some Kind of Stranger which I recall was used at a Brixton Academy show (circa 1997?)

Who has other ideas?
User avatar
LyanvisAberrant
Utterly Bastard Groovy Amphetamine Filth
Posts: 763
Joined: 18 Mar 2013, 21:58
Location: Where the wild roses grow.
Contact:

Loved don't drive on ice. Those 4 drum hits are bliss and very good at letting you know the show has started.
A man with a fictitious grin pondered the terrain in which he flooded with anguish, for this is England. The lion cannot be tamed, this is the game.
User avatar
Gaijin
Utterly Bastard Groovy Amphetamine Filth
Posts: 858
Joined: 27 Jan 2015, 23:14
Location: Zululand

I really like Kiss The Carpet as an opener.

Brixton '93 with the Afterhours intro is fab.
"The lambs are dead and the cows explode"
User avatar
Husek
Slight Overbomber
Posts: 1071
Joined: 02 May 2006, 05:03
Location: Canada
Contact:

Kiss the carpet
Project Personal Dok
Hardware: 100% (Single Hackintosh)
AU: 90%
Software: 90%
The Final Floorshow - My Own Sisters T-Shirt Shop
FireInReptileHouse
Utterly Bastard Groovy Amphetamine Filth
Posts: 620
Joined: 10 Oct 2021, 18:52

Yea I have to agree on kiss the carpet for this one
we will steal what we cannot buy when all is stole from us
DJW
Road Kill
Posts: 56
Joined: 19 Apr 2022, 09:46

FALAA was always bloody good.

Would love it if they changed it up more from night to night.
GC
Slight Overbomber
Posts: 1273
Joined: 27 Dec 2005, 22:05

I remeber Alice at the 10th anniversary concert in Leeds as particularly great... that thump, thump, thump.
User avatar
ruffers
Overbomber
Posts: 2715
Joined: 24 Jan 2005, 16:43
Location: Leeds of all places

Kiss the carpet for sure.


Are you reading this?
Chucking another log on
User avatar
Planet Dave
Underneath the Rock
Posts: 6792
Joined: 22 Apr 2003, 23:51
Location: Where the streets fold round

ruffers wrote: 02 Jan 2025, 15:31 Kiss the carpet for sure.


Are you reading this?
If he is we can kiss goodbye to any lingering chance of them starting with it :lol:

FWIW I 100% agree, it was brilliant at the Forum in 98 and almost as brilliant at the Poly in 2011. Equally it was spectacular as first encore at the NEC in 93 and Paris 2011. So, dearest Von, just play Kiss The Carpet. And whilst you're at it, PLYC :kiss: :kiss: :wink:
'This is the water and this is the well...'
User avatar
doctor_jeep
Amphetamine Filth
Posts: 117
Joined: 24 Jan 2004, 20:27
Location: Saarbruecken, Germany

I really liked the new intro while it was segueing into the song it was originally derived from. I still like it with DDOI coming up, but I'll admit this has gone old. So, yeah, it's high time for Kiss The Carpet.
Clearly now the past mistakes
The giant steps we had to take
The path that ever promise made to
Die in dream dissolve and fade
OriginalGS
Road Kill
Posts: 15
Joined: 04 Nov 2021, 21:07

Kiss the Carpet

A marvellous opportunity to limber up for the main event
“You’ve come from Wakefield?! To see us?!”
User avatar
ribbons69
Slight Overbomber
Posts: 1683
Joined: 24 Jan 2009, 12:57
Location: Somewhere, terrified of dying.

As someone that watched "Wake" far too many times the default answer for me is FALAA. With Kiss the Carpet a close second.
"I've seen Andrew Eldritch in an ice hockey shirt onstage, and I've given him the benefit of the doubt"
Tom G Warrior of Celtic Frost




we fall to rise
User avatar
Dan
Overbomber
Posts: 2017
Joined: 25 Sep 2002, 01:00
Location: Leeds

Original Sisters

Kiss The Carpet (1983)

Nu-Sisters

Comfortably Numb / SKOS (Pukkelpop 92 being a particularly good one because the sound guy had the vocals too loud for the first song and it was magnificent.)
paint it black
Black, black, black & even blacker
Posts: 4972
Joined: 11 Jul 2002, 01:00

Fix.
Goths have feelings too
User avatar
Being645
Wiki Wizard
Posts: 15306
Joined: 09 Apr 2009, 12:54
Location: reconstruction status: whatever the f**k

paint it black wrote: 08 Jan 2025, 20:28Fix.
Seconded these days.
User avatar
eastmidswhizzkid
Faster Than The Light Of Speed
Posts: 9901
Joined: 24 Mar 2005, 00:01
Location: WhizzWorld
Contact:

Kiss The Carpet
Well I was handsome and I was strong
And I knew the words to every song.
"Did my singing please you?"
"No! The words you sang were wrong!"

:bat:
User avatar
Erudite
Slight Overbomber
Posts: 1979
Joined: 24 Apr 2002, 01:00
Location: Lost In Space

The Astoria gigs in 2001 pulled off the trick on closing the first night with Temple of Love and then opening the second night with Temple of Love.
Almost like being a one continuous gig. Or maybe that was just space starting to curve at that point.
You are what you drink - I'm a bitter man!
User avatar
Husek
Slight Overbomber
Posts: 1071
Joined: 02 May 2006, 05:03
Location: Canada
Contact:

Vision Thing is also a cool opener, last time we had it was in what, 2008?

Hot take: Crash and Burn was actually a good opener, we were eating good and we didn't know, DDOI is a hell of a cool song but it has nothing on Crash and Burn.
Project Personal Dok
Hardware: 100% (Single Hackintosh)
AU: 90%
Software: 90%
The Final Floorshow - My Own Sisters T-Shirt Shop
ReptileHause
Road Kill
Posts: 44
Joined: 10 Nov 2011, 22:38

the greatest ever was Comfortably Numb/ Some kind of Stranger NEC '92. That was literally jaw dropping.

Outside of that - Kiss The Carpet is just awesome. That slow build is fantastic.

Vision Thing was a nice change up from the usual but always had a soft spot for Burnley from around 84...
User avatar
Phantasmagoria
Road Kill
Posts: 72
Joined: 28 Nov 2005, 17:46
Location: Sunny South Wales

ReptileHause wrote: 15 Jan 2025, 00:27 the greatest ever was Comfortably Numb/ Some kind of Stranger NEC '92. That was literally jaw dropping.
This. NEC 92 opening was just spectacular. It was just so unexpected and different - out of the hundreds or thousands of gigs I've seen over the years, that is down as one of my favourite moments from them all. Andrew walking on singing that - just fantastic.

If I pick a second choice, I like FALAA as a starter - just seems right! But I'd pick the Comfortably Numb/Stranger medley first.
User avatar
Phantasmagoria
Road Kill
Posts: 72
Joined: 28 Nov 2005, 17:46
Location: Sunny South Wales

Husek wrote: 13 Jan 2025, 22:59 Crash and Burn was actually a good opener, we were eating good and we didn't know, DDOI is a hell of a cool song but it has nothing on Crash and Burn.
Agreed. Crash and Burn is a great opener and a fantastic moment in any live show when it gets an airing these days. It's just so inherently full of energy that it gives me a proper rush each and every time. Wonderful song and great choice for opening.
Post Reply