Heartland

& on the 22nd March

Tiffany's, Merrion Centre, Leeds 1981

Guildhall, Portsmouth 1985

Warfield Theater, San Francisco 2006

23rd March:

2009, Helsinki https://sisterswiki.org/Mon,_23-Mar-2009

2016, Zurich https://sisterswiki.org/Wed,_23-Mar-2016

4 dates for 24th March

Warehouse, Liverpool 1983

Lyceum, London 1985

Crystal Ballroom, Portland 2006

Fri-Son, Fribourg 2016

and 5 for the 25th ...

1983 - The Golden Eagle, Birmingham, UK

1985 - Lyceum, London, UK

1991 - Waterloo University, Kitchener, Canada

2006 - Premiere, Seattle, USA

2009 - Glav Club, St. Petersburg, Russia

& a whole load more for 26th March..

Francs, Colne 1983

Powerhouse, Birmingham 1985

Massey Hall, Toronto 1991

Commodore Ballroom, Vancouver 2006

B1 Maximum, Moscow 2009

27th March:

In 1983, the Sisters played the Manchester Gallery (https://sisterswiki.org/Sun,_27-Mar-1983).

Also on this day, the Alice EP/12" was released.

In 1985, they played Nottingham Rock City (https://sisterswiki.org/Wed,_27-Mar-1985)

And in 1991, they played Montreal, Le Spectrum (https://sisterswiki.org/Wed,_27-Mar-1991)

March 28th, and the gigs (or not) of today have been so far:

- a lovely gig @Mr Kiesa's in Leicester, UK in 1985

- a cancelled gig @Birmingham, NEC in 1997 and

- a rare gig in iEstonia @Rock Café, Tallinn in 2009

Being645 wrote:- a cancelled gig @Birmingham, NEC in 1997

A lot of people got ripped off as I recall.

markfiend wrote:

Being645 wrote:- a cancelled gig @Birmingham, NEC in 1997

A lot of people got ripped off as I recall.

Oh yes, some info about these events can be found @SistersTours and also under the links mentioned there ...




29 March saw The Sisters play in

- 1982 @Funhouse, Keighley, England

- 1985 @Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool, UK

- 1991 @Citi Club, Boston, USA

Being645 wrote:

markfiend wrote:

Being645 wrote:- a cancelled gig @Birmingham, NEC in 1997

A lot of people got ripped off as I recall.

Oh yes, some info about these events can be found @SistersTours and also under the links mentioned there ...




29 March saw The Sisters play in

- 1982 @Funhouse, Keighley, England

- 1985 @Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool, UK

- 1991 @Citi Club, Boston, USA

I really like the review of the Boston show, it seems like the reviewer got where the band were coming from.

It's March 30th & as it is March 30th let's see what happened

F-Club, Leeds 1982

Ritz, New York 1991

Heineken Music Hall, Amsterdam 2003

Stodola, Warsaw 2009

Pista wrote:It's March 30th & as it is March 30th let's see what happened

Ritz, New York 1991

Another good review (this time from the NY Times), I like the final line, makes a change from the usual summary:

Smoke began pouring onto the stage of the Ritz half an hour before the Sisters of Mercy appeared on Saturday night. A good haze is essential to bands like the Sisters of Mercy. Fans call them gothic, a category that requires gloomy, cryptic lyrics, an aura of mystery and a pounding dance beat; the music draws audiences that wear black clothes and heavy makeup, signifying sensitivity, angst and an acute fashion sense.

By the time the Sisters of Mercy turned on their drum machine and started to play, the members' faces were obscured while the smoke caught dozens of spotlight beams in geometric splendor. Only Andrew Eldritch, the Sisters' singer and songwriter, was fully lighted during the set, between bouts of flickering strobe lights and dramatic silhouetting; then again, he kept his sunglasses on. But fans were thrilled to see him at all, since it was the English band's first tour since 1985. For the occasion, he wore white and stalked the stage as if he'd been studying Jim Morrison's poses in "The Doors."

The band's various lineups have been united by its drum machine and by Mr. Eldritch's bass-baritone vocals. In his lowest register, he is a stoic voice of doom; at emotional moments, his voice rises with a pained vibrato or on occasion a joyless yodel. His lyrics move between romantic suffering and images of apocalypse and anomie, seeing the world as "four billion empty faces." His writing has made some progress in the Sisters' 11-year-old career; while the sentiments haven't changed much, recent songs are less likely to string together cliches like those in "Marian": "in the sea of faces, in the sea of doubt, in this cruel place, your voice above the maelstrom."

In the title song of the Sisters' new album, "Vision Thing" (Elektra), Mr. Eldritch cynically spits out the phrases of George Bush; introducing the song at the Ritz, he snarled, "I used to think, once upon a time, that you didn't all vote for him. Now I think I was wrong."

The Sisters of Mercy have toyed with keyboards and choirs, but the current band is lean and guitar-centered, with its riffs punctuated by guitar solos or feedback; Suzanne Josefowicz's keyboards are less prominent than her descant backing vocals, an octave or two above Mr. Eldritch. The stripped-down arrangements emphasize both the bleak tone and the momentum of the songs, but at the risk of sounding repetitious. For those who don't already think Mr. Eldritch is a deep moral philosopher, the Sisters of Mercy work best as an ominous dance band.

Three gigs from 31st March,

1983, Hull Dingwalls - https://sisterswiki.org/Thu,_31-Mar-1983

1985, Bristol Studio - https://sisterswiki.org/Sun,_31-Mar-1985

2009, Krakow Klub - https://sisterswiki.org/Tue,_31-Mar-2009

Warsaw and Kraków 2009 - two of the worst gigs i've ever been to. Absolutelty dreadful, waste of time and money.

Kraków was particurally bad, no interaction whatsoever, even as for TSOM standard, no sound, crowd was twice louder than band.

Pinch punch, 1st of the month &

Night Moves, Glasgow 1983

Top Rank, Brighton 1985 **Gary's last gig**

Citadel Center, Washington DC 1991

Jahrhunderthalle, Frankfurt 2003

Sporting Arena, Athens 2006

Archa Theatre, Prague 2009

Bartek wrote:Warsaw and Kraków 2009 - two of the worst gigs i've ever been to. Absolutelty dreadful, waste of time and money.

Kraków was particurally bad, no interaction whatsoever, even as for TSOM standard, no sound, crowd was twice louder than band.

Ouch. Have you been back for more since?

April 1st has had a lot of shows:

1983, Glasgow Nightmoves - https://sisterswiki.org/Fri,_01-Apr-1983

1985, Brighton (Gary's last stand, unless you count OGWT) - https://sisterswiki.org/Mon,_01-Apr-1985

1991, Washington - https://sisterswiki.org/Mon,_01-Apr-1991

2003, Frankfurt - https://sisterswiki.org/Tue,_01-Apr-2003

2006, Athens - https://sisterswiki.org/Sat,_01-Apr-2006

2009, Praha (Prague?) - https://sisterswiki.org/Wed,_01-Apr-2009

Yes, I did, Kraków 2014. And since they're about to play in my backyard, I'll give them a (last?) chance on upcoming tour.

Praha - Czechs (one, two three) write name of their capital city this way; while, obviously, Prague it's English manner to solve this issue.

Praha/Prague ... I should know, I've been there. But I was a much younger man then, and spent the majority of the trip drinking through the night. Would like to go back in a more serene state.

I'm doing Utrecht on this tour, not so much a last chance, but a return to my pre-parenthood life, when we used to use Sisters gigs as an excuse to travel. Last time at the Roundhouse was the first time I felt that Sisters gigs were starting to blur into one memory, so time to bring something new to the mix again (can't see Andrew doing it for me)

On the 2nd April

Old Grey Whistle Test, BBC TV Studios, London 1985

Agora Theater, Cleveland 1991

Haus Auensee, Leipzig 2003

Principal Club Theatre, Thessaloniki 2006

Just a couple today

Latin Quarter, Detroit 1991

Stadthalle, Zwickau 2003

Pista wrote:Just a couple today

Latin Quarter, Detroit 1991

Good setlist tweak for Detroit

April 5th brought us these

Riviera Theater, Chicago 1991

Pier 2, Bremen 2003

Coliseu, Lisbon 2006

... and three events have so far taken place on an April 6th

1991 - a Tour Thing gig @Orpheum Theater in Minneapolis, USA

1992 - the official Some Girls Wander By Mistake record launch event @Galerie Abriss, Hamburg, Germany

2003 - a concert during the Smoke And Mirrors Tour @Columbia Halle, Berlin, Germany

Three from 7th April:

1983, Leeds Warehouse https://sisterswiki.org/Thu,_07-Apr-1983

1984, Birmingham Tin Can https://sisterswiki.org/Sat,_07-Apr-1984 (Wayne's first show)

2006, Madrid Riviera https://sisterswiki.org/Fri,_07-Apr-2006

Mothra wrote:Three from 7th April:


1984, Birmingham Tin Can https://sisterswiki.org/Sat,_07-Apr-1984 (Wayne's first show)

Rogue ticket scan klaxon!

Let's have a look at what happened on the 8th April then...

The Balch Fieldhouse, Colorado University, Boulder 1991

Hala Mera, Klub Stodola, Warsaw 2003

Razzmatazz 1, Barcelona 2006

Academy, Leeds 2009