Heartland

I was recently listening to the first of the Wembley 1990 gigs, and it reinforced my opinion that the live version of the Sisters in 1990 - 1991 was pretty poor relatively speaking. Bum notes aplenty, an often out-of-tune Von and, worst of all, a total lack of venom in the delivery. These are characteristics of all the 1990 - 1991 boots that I've heard.

By 1993, they'd really gotten their act together. I think from thereon in, the overall standard has remained high.

Gary Marx once commented (I think in the HL interview) that he saw the VT-era Sisters live and thought they were appalling. So, at least I'm not alone. Any other opinions on this particular live incarnation?

(BTW, if anyone can recommend a 1990 - 1991 boot that might reverse my opinion, I'd be very very grateful!)

Total lack of venom? Reading or Winterthur-91? There's nothing but venom in Von's delivery.. and -92 performances are the most venomous.

But though i don't agree with your assessment, i know exactly what you're referring to, especially -90 and early -91 gigs. Maybe just some performances are better than others, it's true that some are very monotonous. Though i don't care about things like mistakes in playing or Von being out of tune. And singing-wise Von was still searching a bit...

Oh btw, what you might not like also is that there's different effects on Von's voice at that era, i guess some reverb or chorus thing that makes him sound strange and different from -92 and -93. Anyway, not everyone likes that particular sound to his voice...and i must admit it's not my favourite either but i like it anyway.

i think they might have been also more drunk than usual? Like Hildesheim -02 Great stuff anyway.

Gary Marx obviously had to say something critical to sell the idea that Sisters with him in it were much better and he didn't agree with this new direction they were taking.

And from 1990, my favourites are Heidelberg and Rio.

Like Klipsy said, I believe they did an usual large amount of drugs and alcohol (even by their standards) that year in particular.

i thougth that i'm alone in thata opinion. some of boots are not so bad, but the lack of sisters power(sister ray )... only few of bootlegs i like to listenusualy o just skip them and listen some'97-'06.

From experience:

1990 : Wembley gig seemed poor while I was there, and the bootleg I downloaded recently pretty much confirms that they thought they were awful too.

1991 : Leeds Uni, storming gig, the bootleg doesn't do it justice, high point was Eldritch without shades (I think that's the bit where they were shouting, "lets all laugh at Eldritch, ....").

1992 : Far to many drugs I believe. I was at the NEC in June 92, and Eldritch was definitely on something. I don't suppose anyone has that gig on CD/FLAC somewhere, I lost my tape of the gig.

Didn't go to Wembley but 2 of my all time fav gigs were during 91, I think a lot depends on what you've heard/seen/remember etc.
+ you had the added bonus of volume, ability to sing, bass & hair

Some of my favorites from 91:

Hultsfred 91 - Raw sound on that bootleg.

New York 91 - Von in a _very_ talkative mode.

Reading 91 - "some day... everything you need will fall out from the sky..."

I think that those summer dates indicated what would come in 92...

In my opinion the 90/91 gigs are the best!

Now obviously, I wasn't at the gigs, I would've just been born but my 90/91 bootlegs are my favourite ones.

I remember when I was just at the beginning of my Sisters obsession and the only "bootleg" I had was Wake. Then I downloaded two bootlegs "Germany 1990 & 1991" and was absolutely blown away!

Even the look is top notch:


Wembley 90, New York 91, Stockholm 91 sound absolutely fan-bloody-tastic! Especially when Eldritch goes bonkers on the Lucretia chorus, I love listening to that on the train in the morning, full blast

Finally some balance in the thread For some reason i especially like the videos from that era, btw.

Now i have to listen to Stockholm and Hultsfred again...i haven't for a while anyhow.

They had this great bass guitar sound, I miss it, the Sisters are a rock and roll band, they should have full-time bass player ...

doctoravalanche wrote:They had this great bass guitar sound, I miss it, the Sisters are a rock and roll band, they should have full-time bass player ...

True the 90-91 combo was far from technically sound, but they rocked hard and that's all that matters.

Rumour has it that TJ played as much live bass for the girls as Patsy did.

Not that I neccesarily believe it.

Doubt it - you can hear him drop notes on at least a couple of recordings
Definitely fluffs Lucretia on one of the 90 shows

[quote="markfiend"]Rumour has it that TJ played as much live bass for the girls as Patsy did.

Not that I neccesarily believe it.[/quote]


Hmm, anyone listen to "This Corrosion" from the 24-11-1990 Wembley gig? It's already been hinted at elsewhere, but that sounds very much like a synth.

Saying that I was stood in front of him during the Leeds gig, and he definitely was playing at the start of the gig. I can't comment about This Corrosion for that gig, as I was stood before Tim by the time that started.

markfiend wrote:Rumour has it that TJ played as much live bass for the girls as Patsy did.

The bass sound changed dramatically in 92. So even if it wasn't TJ playing, it definitely was not synth bass.

Maybe it was just a roadie hiding behind the amps and playing bass, but I don't care either way. It sounded good.

Badlander wrote:

doctoravalanche wrote:They had this great bass guitar sound, I miss it, the Sisters are a rock and roll band, they should have full-time bass player ...

True the 90-91 combo was far from technically sound, but they rocked hard and that's all that matters.

et voilà

and I always loved Bricheno's way of playing. He did great stuff on Ribbons, Gimme Shelter, the intro to Corrosion, etc.

And listen to Doctor Jeep as played in Heidelberg 1990: Rawk'n'Rawl!!!

Yep, I love the Tour Thing too

itnAklipse wrote: Maybe just some performances are better than others, it's true that some are very monotonous.

I think this is one of my major objections. The performances are very monotonous. Compare to 1993, even 1992, and it's a different story.

While I'm at it, if I had to pick my favourite two years for Sisters live performances, I think it might be 1993 and 1983.

UglyasSin wrote: Hmm, anyone listen to "This Corrosion" from the 24-11-1990 Wembley gig? It's already been hinted at elsewhere, but that sounds very much like a synth.

I noticed that too, when I was listening to the boot that caused this thread!

Are we saying that Tony James was not the greatest of bass players?

UglyasSin is right, the bass sound changes dramatically for This Corrosion, as if it was taken straight off the record!

Maybe he used an effects peddle for that song... hopefully... perhaps...

the sisters basslines are not hard to play are they? i can't imagine why tj would not play 'em.

they definitely need a live bass player just for the visual symmetry more than anything else cos bass guitars look soooooo darn good. mind you, one less person on stage is one less person to fall out with!

reading was fantastic and wembley was not so good i seem to remember. although it was a long time ago (and i was drunk).

I was at both nights at Wembley 1990, the were good, no more, no less

Re: the bass, I was having a read of the UTR scans from Sharing, and Von admits that the Doktor doubled-up on Tony for TC. So what you hear is a combination of both.

The 90/91 sound reminds me of the 85 sound (post-Gazza) and of the mid/late Pearson years. Very grim, very rigid, very grey and dour, little sense of the freewheeling bedlam from other eras. Not saying that I think the sound itself is the same, more like the feeling is the same.

First night in Wembley .That was the first time I saw the Sisters live.It was an Grat gig from where I was standing.

i think Corrosion needs that synth-bass sound.

I can't remember what they sounded like or even what tunes they played in Boston, March '91. I was so overwhelmed by the fact that I was THERE, finally seeing my idols live, that it was a complete blur (and no, I wasn't drunk). All I remember is the spot in the venue where the girls I went with and I stood during the show (at the far left of the stage), who opened for the Sissies (Danielle Dax), the t-shirt I got (and subsequently wore until it was a tattered, hole-filled rag), and meeting half the band after waiting out in the freezing drizzle for an hour (and then Eldritch smiling at me from the tour bus afterwards, sans shades)... Had I died that night, I'd have died a very, very happy girl.

I can understand the feeling. When I look forward to something that much I usually have the same feeling afterwards. I don’t remember anything about the first time I saw the sisters but that’s mainly because I didn’t know them yet at that point and I didn’t quite liked it either ..