Heartland

I'm fairly " unbalanced" myself when it comes to The Sisters.

Mr Wah,
Yes I'm blinded and deafened to the point that The Sisters is 99% Von and 1% rest for me, so yes I know that you were talking about his voice - and although I do agree that it sounds different than it did when he was 25, I still maintain that it sounds perfectly OK on plenty of recent recordings (as long as he doesn't get drowned in the mix - which is the only reason why I listed the recordings which I listed, as my recent favourite). He's never been Pavarotti and never will be, as I said elsewhere when he was younger he could hit the higher notes more often, yup... at the cost of getting delightfully out of tune.

Oh and I never said I was balanced, God no, by adding the balance I just meant adding it to this particular thread: if one finds something awful, and another finds it great, then probably it's just about alright.

That's fair enough, Emma. Anyway, forget 25 - I just wish he sounded a bit more like he did even in his early 40s . Not much I can do about it so, having said my bit, I'll stop being negative.

My two cents: For the North American dates, he seemed to be 'getting back into it', and it showed a bit that he hadn't yet hit his stride. Yet the longer he sings (as in the longer the tour, the longer the individual shows), the more ragged his voice tends to become. For the South American gigs, he seemed to be in good form - after having had a nice vacation.

Although I'm in full agreement that smoking hasn't helped it a bit, he tortured his voice early on - and as another person with a naturally deep voice who's lost a lot of range without years of smoking, or of singing for a living without formal training (which I did have a bit of), I can tell you that a lot of it probably is age.

And he's always said that he prefers singing - as he does speaking - fairly softly. Having to give the kind of live performance people expect has probably not helped any...

I still find his singing quite mesmerising - but would agree that it's at it best these days when he isn't forced to push it beyond its limits.

Mr. Wah wrote:Anyway, forget 25 - I just wish he sounded a bit more like he did even in his early 40s .

Oh come on, he was wheezing like an old banger already then.
But well, yeah, fair enough.

A side note but still kind of on topic - I have a really terrible version of Stop Dragging My Heart Around set as music in my cellphone - when an auntie rings, she can hear it before I answer the phone. The usual question is - "what's that terrible noise in your phone and those weird screams and howls?" - "It's a fragment of a concert auntie, it's that singer whom I travel to see, you know."

Stop dragging...he described I think as his 'drunk on the bus' song....

Hey! waddya mean"weird screams and howls"? I was at that show;the a capella Stevie Nicks impersonation was the best part!

I dunno Nadia81, ask my auntie, to my ears it's beautiful and nothing weird about it.
Oh and the look on that gentleman's face, when the 3 of us Sisters fans happened to be on the train in the same compartment as him, 2 months ago, listening on the laptop to the fresh newly recorded Flood II...
... Sisters gig ticket - 30 EUR, train ticket to get to a next Sisters gig (in the compartment with sockets) - 31,99 EUR, the look on that gentleman's face as he heard that brilliant version of Flood II - priceless.

PS! The newest piece of merchandise, available only in Buenos Aires, for 10 pesos (2 euros) each...

Front:


Back:


No, we don't have any spare ones, cause some of us thought they could still buy them in Brazil or Peru. And of course we asked Kenny first whether they're genuine. They are.

Eva wrote:PS! The newest piece of merchandise, available only in Buenos Aires, for 10 pesos (2 euros) each...

very nice...

me.want.NOW!

Cool, but I'm still waiting for swimsuits and fluffy dressing gowns.

would you like matching slippers too?

nah, bathroom dress - that's my dream. black with new logo.

LouLou wrote:

would you like matching slippers too?

Slippers? Naaaah. Something kinky, elegant, and dainty, with lots of straps and studs and a little feather, on verrrry high heels...

well , after reading this thread, i have to say a few things about the Peru gig, i think fairly that it was a really excellent concert, it started an hour later but that was due to technical problem (the fog machine), the stage was a little bit small but still they gave the best they could on the stage, the voice was powerful as usual, the guitarists were playing with the public, the ambiance took some songs before having a pogo dance for at least 4 songs, the public was as crazy as you could expect from latin people ( in the good therm of the word, they dance and sing like they are on the stage), i was at the 2006 Los Angeles concert and did not see this kind of crazyness.......anyway no drinks no smokes.......just stand up and watch...........here nothing like that, drinks ( i mean real drinks like vodka, rhum, tequilla......alcohol......and cigarettes allowed)that s the way people have fun...
indeed the price was high for local people 159 nuevo soles (53 USD pre sale) for general and 360 nuevo soles (120 USD)for the VIP section including an open bar......so with not too many goth people around here it was around a 300 to 400 people attending the concert which is not a lot but still, sisters of mercy are not very well known here since they do not sell albums for a quite long time now.
i hope they will come again next year, by the way when AE arrived at the Peruvian airport he had to take a leak and he just let know to some fan that he was first attending his emergency and after he would be available for them.....he signed a lot of vinyl and posters that are available in the Galeria Brasil (a lots of small music shops on 2 floors with really fanatic and devoted sellers), i still wait for someone to let the concert available cd format or dvd and obviously share here ....with all of you.
regards,
manasha

Thank you manasha, for this review ...

The videos on YouTube show that your account of this concert is perfectly
right. And I agree, some audio of this last gig of the tour were much appreciated.

Back to the debate about Vons' voice--I just listened to the Gary Marx demo tape from 81.No change at all

( I want that keychain.NOW.)

A great concert.

Although a Cellphone recording ain't a decent solution, i think you hear Eldo's voice quite fine and groovy up here

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slvrgOq3rJc

And I just noticed on the TOTP video the announcer says"they just released a new album,Floodland,in the States" Was Floodland not released in the UK at the same time as the US?

adebar wrote:The drum computers (oh sweety-boy, do we have a dell, an apple AND an eee! nothing else to show off...?!)

Oh, is he evaluating alternatives to host the Doktor? Now, that would be interesting...



Update yer webpage with the results, old n3rd!

Hello there! Inspired by my South American friend, I've decided to comment on the Argentina gig. (that is, if my english is up to it!). First, I have been a fan for 24 years so my credentials are valid which of course doesn't mean my opinion is to be shared by everyone. Tears were rolling down my eyes when the band appeared. I had seen them before (Boston 99) but never in my home country. So the show was quite emotional and it is only now I can write something more balanced about it. I loved the chance of seeing the band again but they are far from convincing. At least this 2009 circa. Guitars are strident, boring, pentatonic and lacking in interest. You could do so many things with these songs... anyway, Andrew's voice is more high pitched and there are more "slurs" (you fans understand what I'm saying)... there are places he can't get to and places he shouldn't go. The band sounds thin... this is hard to explain but it has to do with the sound of the "drums" and their decision to trigger the bass (complete musical suicide) from a notebook!!!!!!!!!!!! I mean, the bass from the band that owes its reputation to basses. This is impossible for me to understand. Keyboards should be present again, in my opinion, maybe not with long pads of uninspired sounds (2007 tour) but with more musicality ala floodland. In short, I am an absolute fan of this band (also a film composer) and not a day goes by without me listening to them but live they are disappointing and what gets me down is that they could easily sound so much better because the songs are incredible, the power is still there (or the idea of it) and eldritch is by far my favorite frontman... I would call this leg of the tour "the Shadow of our dark intentions" tour.... anyway, great forum... interesting people. If you want to know more about the Argentina gig (ALL MUSICAL DETAILS!) let me know. Sorry for my english! Cheers

Diego

I hear ya dh and I have stopped going to see this particular puppet show until they buck their ideas up and stop selling their devotee short, nice post, welcome

Thank you James for your welcome! now... where on Earth is the land of the Baritone Women?? I want to be there!!!

Cheers