Scardwel wrote:
And that's my quibble about the setlist on this tour. No pre-85 material apart from Alice and the second half of Temple.
first off I totally get what you're saying
Simon. we're both lifelong lovers of the band and i guess as we're of the same age that that was the era we first fell in love with them (there not yet being any later for me as it was feb 1985) and -by definition- the era we have been listening to the longest. whether or not that era is any one persons favourite is irrelevant (myself i have a different love for all the different eras): it isn't represented in the set and that means a disappointing lack of some awesome and much-loved songs.
BUT: The Sisters Of Mercy have never, ever been a reformed band performing just their golden oldies (or the Hezbollah for that matter!) for the masses.
Much to the chagrin of the 'Back in the day i loved the sisters ....when wayne was wiv em and before Eldritch sold out and now i wouldnt wipe my arse on them...or on floodland...or vision thing....' brigade; who regardless of whether or not they fuc
king
loved Dominion et al at the time, through some reversed rose-tint effect hind-sight and/or a deperate atempt to acheive 'elitism' by 'association' (idiots have missed the point that being a Sisters fan grants automatic elite status) and now consider/profess everything post-85 to be bollocks. Often these people are dismissive / ignorant of Mark's role in the band and think Benjamin Matthews is a Norfolk turkey farmer....
Fair to say the same people would only complain about how dreadfully the current band performed the Golden Oldies if the Sisters
were just a nostalgia-trip....and do in fact anyway, so fu
ck 'em!
No, whatever the end results -or lack thereof- have been, The Sisters have always been a work in progress. an evolving entity operating in the PRESENT, moving ever forward, albeit in mysterious ways, in accordance with Eldritch's ineffable plan.
Now: even as a devoted and loyal fan one could be forgiven for thinking that the state of affairs we've lived with for the last 10 -15 years was how it was always going to be, more or less, from now. fewer tours; no new material; DEFINITELY no new product. hope springs eternal but realistically we were prepared for that. better that than no Sisters at all eh? like Lemmy said ''and if thats all there is , it aint so bad...''.
However, another tour, another change of personnel, and here we are: witnesses to an utterly Gallifreyan-esque (Doktor Who!) regeneration of all things Sisters! so much hope! so much potential! so much joy! and of all the happiness ive seen recently the most exciting to see was Andrews. heres an Eldritch with a vocal performance worthy of any legacy Sisters song and able to stick 2 up the nose of any cu
nt who says otherwise. heres a creating Andrew with a creating band happily creating and performing new songs. we've heard more new music in the last 2 weeks than we did in over 18 years. the years of feeling becalmed are gone as once again the wind blows stronger, cool and long! Here's The Sisters with a line-up worthy of BEING The Sisters of the PRESENT! moving forward into a glittering promising future that maybe even includes... -fu
ck it i'm going to say it: a new album.
SO: if that means we have to allow Eldritch's dislike of the 'Baby Photos' songs to preclude them from being played live then i think its a small price to pay. along with cloaks, sideburns, ripped jeans, cowboy hats, snakeskin shirts and the occasional little black dress : ALL of them wonderful, eternally beautiful and never to be forgotten parts of the history of everybody's fave beat combo.
JESUS LOVES THE SISTERS.....but not as much as we do.
... AND it is printed on the front and back of the shirts ...
...
