Heartland

I should preference with the fact that this is only the third time I have seen the sisters in concert (Vision Thing, 1999, and 2008)... but I can honestly tell you this is not only the most disappointing concert Sisters concert I have ever seen, but easily one of the most disappointing concerts I have ever seen.

First off...

the sound.. f**king horrible. First off you could not hear Andrew at all . How about the guitars? Well, they along with the backing vocals were mixed like utter crap. I thought it could have been the venue, but since I have seen a lot of bands there I can easily say it was the sound man.

I have been to well over 1000 shows and this is only the third show I have had to cup my ears to get a better sound. It was so bad that people were screaming at the sound man to please turn up Andrew's vocals.

The fog.. It has become a parody. Please we would like to see the band once in a while... oh... I guess it is the scary goth thing you want us to latch on.



I guess that is it for now.

I was disappointed beyond belief... I hope it was only just one bad night...

setlist someone?

hmm.. different soundguy?

i'm very sorry for you that the soundman f**ked up the gig..
things looked so prommising 2 days ago..

setlist?

skeletal remains wrote:dan hultman @ dominion mailing list:

Well its over, what can I say. We got the same set list as Minneapolis. Floorshow is so good I hope evryone gets it. It is for sure mixed with Phantom, never heard it like that before. This tour is hitting its stride at the perfect time. The new soundman is outstanding. Ben is playing from the heart now and Chris is still crazy. Andrew seems to be having fun also. My tape of the 1st ave gig crashed during Dominion (I think that place is cursed.) I did however get audio and video of Floorshow tonight.
BTW IF YOUR GOING TO BUY MERCH BUY IT EARLY ITS ALMOST ALL GONE. No more hoodies among other stuff.
Crazy award goes to the girl who threw her bra at Andrew during Romeo down it didnt quite make it so security gave it back and she threw it at Ben. It landed on his mic stand and there it stayed for the rest of the show.
Im sad to be going home but ive had a great time and again met so many nice people. Till next time im going back into hiding;)

Denver
Afterhours
Crash & Burn
Ribbons
Train/Det Blvd
Fllod 1
Marian
Alice
Giving ground
Corrosion
Anaconda
Susanne
Summer
Dominion
Floorshow/Phantom
Romeo down
On the wire/teachers
Flood 2
Something fast
Vision thing
Lucretia
Top nite out
Temple

Do you ever get the feeling we're living in not-quite-parallel universes...?

Probably we're fooling ourselves saying that the sound was great while someone says it crap. Face it: if you compare the Sisters sound next to Depeche Mode live, it is a joke.

BUT.

If you think the fog aka 'the fifth band member' is too much, let me get this clear.

To me it's like the people who complain about the too many cursing and shouting about women, alcohol and lowlife over and over again in Bukowski books.

Sisters live is NOT, i repeat NOT U2, it's rather a spirit on drumbeats and if you come in the right mood, it's moving inwards.

It depends on from what referrence/perspective you attend a Sisters show.

Are you going for having fun and listen/dance to nice music in the front row, it's all fine most of the times. The quality of the sound is of lesser importance.

A different story it is, when are standing in the middle of the venue, holding a beer in one hand, being critical about sound quality of the band and venue sound, knowing how a band CAN sound this paricular venue.

Two different kind of listeners, both having a point, just different perspectives/references

Paul wrote: It depends on from what referrence/perspective you attend a Sisters show.

Are you going for having fun and listen/dance to nice music in the front row, it's all fine most of the times. The quality of the sound is of lesser importance.

A different story it is, when are standing in the middle of the venue, holding a beer in one hand, being critical about sound quality of the band and venue sound, knowing how a band CAN sound this paricular venue.

Two different kind of listeners, both having a point, just different perspectives/references

aye, having been in both of those camps ate sisters gigs that's pretty much my view too.

after going to 6 consecutive sisters gigs a couple of years ago and having a great time, i then went to see killing joke the night after and was reminded of how loud, how clear & most importantly how engaging a band could be.

some of my favourite ever gigs have been the sisters. and some of the worst gigs i have ever been to have been the sisters.

they're a very frustrating band, and their live shows these days seem to divide people's opinions more than any other band i've ever seen

most of the people i know in manchester (whom i've known for ~15 years or so) have seen the sisters every time they have played in town for the last 10 years (about 7 or 8 times?)

and each time more & more say they are sh*t and that they wont be coming back. this happened even more after the last round of gigs in 2006, where sound quality was almost universally regarded as dreadful, and the smoke was almost universally regarded as way OTT.

if they were to plan manc again i've no idea who would go. most of my mates wouldn't touch them with a barge-pole now.

i've been to a gig that i was thought was amazing but everyone else i know that has been there has said was sh*t. in truth, i can usually see why they would think it, and its only the fanboy in me that stops me from agreeing

they're a strange beast and i think its very poor form for people to get ripped to shreds for saying they didn't like a show.

don't get me wrong, there's a balance between slavishly following them regardless of their standards, and of trolling and having nothing constructive to say

in the case of trolls i would agree that they have no place here, but if they are merely trying to express their disappointment (and lets face it the sisters can be VERY disappointing - half the time that's the appeal ) then i think we need to ease up on the criticism and stop jumping down people's throats...

i know we all love the band no mater what, and we feel protective over them when newcomers insult them, but we need to start reigning it in... otherwise we run the risk of becoming the clique i expressly wanted to avoid

well said QB
I myself have seen the sisters a few times and have been disappointed on occasion.
I go to a gig expecting a "live" band not a record (showing my age). and that sometimes the live bit is absolute pants (eg leeds uni 20th ann. gig), but on balance that "one" show that is good replaces all the negatives. (eg 10th ann gig)
bearing in mind too that we have no "records" of the newer songs to reference from. I wonder what a studio version of summer really sounds like?
peoples opinion is just that, an opinion. the more the merrier, at least the US and europe are getting to see the sisters ( and thats what counts, actually seeing the band and the "i was there" factor) i take all oopinions and distil them into aa all round view of the band i dearly love (evn though they havent done any records for yonks)

That way or another, wouldn't it be a good idea to combine both threads into one?

Quiff Boy wrote: some of my favourite ever gigs have been the sisters. and some of the worst gigs i have ever been to have been the sisters.

<<noise of hammer hitting nail on head>>

The Sisters are like a box of chocolates......

Opinions can differ, but I am often suspect of one time posters conveniently being the first to post after a show.

Sorry to hear you were so dissapointed jimhb...
I completely understand those feelings as I experienced something similar at a Sisters gig years ago. They can make you wish you hadn't been at that specific gig, but then again the next one could be the complete opposite.

With the smoke I never had any problems though...

So, I went to the show last night and I have to agree with the naysayers. I've seen the girls more than a dozen times (through the 90s and 5 Silver Bullet dates) and the set list was rushed, there was pitiful little crowd interaction. The fog machine was absurd. I was front row, less than 8 feet from Chris, and I couldn't see him for half the show.

Sound quality was fair. Not terrible, but certainly not good. I can only think that they muddied Von back up after his front forward mumbling on the Minneapolis boot (THANKS FOR THAT, BTW).

Chris is still my favorite Sister of all time. While everyone else is busy being rock stars, Mr. May is just a kid having a good time. It's like watching kids play sport, something about what he's doing is just filled with joy and abandon.

I was bummed about not getting to do more dates this time because of the economy, but I'm not all that sad about it after seeing the s**t they did in Denver.

Except for Chris. I want him to come over and play with my kids.

Here's waiting for the next one to arrive.......

1. Saw Sisters in 91 and after the show me and my friends were not sure if Tony James or Tim was still in the bad because we had never seen them during the show. We only saw Von a few times. Still a great f**king show.

2. Saw Meat Beat Manifesto in 90. They had so much smoke and strobe that at one time I was not even facing the stage and did not notice because they had filled the club with so much smoke and had put strobes in all corners of the place. Great f**king show!!

3. Sisters tend to dissapoint from time to time. But that has more to do with expectations I think. Yeah and the fact that they tend to have crap sound.

4: Chris is the best thing that has happened to the band. I was about to give up on them when he joined and now I am sitting here every day again reading reviews.

Just to put my 2 cents in.

I have only be lucky enough to see the sisters 3 times, and every time it has been a vastly different experience, but every time it was 'the sisters' so I took it for what it was....

Methedrome wrote:Opinions can differ, but I am often suspect of one time posters conveniently being the first to post after a show.

Hear, hear!

itnAklipse wrote:

Methedrome wrote:Opinions can differ, but I am often suspect of one time posters conveniently being the first to post after a show.

Hear, hear!

Precisely.

An opinion is "I didn't enjoy this show, and here's why". It can come from long experience and comparison of infinitesimal detail, or from first-time-out general impressions, from broad knowledge or rank ignorance.

Even joining and posting to a forum for the first time to say "This show sucked" can be considered simply expressing an opinion, although I still don't know why you'd waste your time complaining to people who quite obviously have a higher tolerance for less-than-sterling performances, and are more likely to express their own disappointment in terms of regret rather than castigation.

But I find it difficult to feel welcoming toward folks who join after rather than prior to a show (if they are truly such dedicated fans, why did it take a bad experience to bring them out of the woodwork?) so they can stand on a box and scream that it was a waste of time and money and none of us should support a band that doesn't give them the show they expect.

Maybe it's that I've spent too much of my life supporting bands just as eccentric, changeable and unpredictable as The Sisters. Maybe I should be more demanding But whatever the case, I certainly wouldn't dream of posting remarks of the latter sort to a fan forum I'd never been part of before

7anthea7 wrote:quite obviously have a higher tolerance for less-than-sterling performances

You know, i've kinda wondered about this...the situation is dire indeed when people who find no fault in the performance or the sound or the fog have to be apologetic about it. i don't buy it.

i don't think people who like the show "endure" it armed with a positive attitude and some historical perspective, i think they mostly just like it and don't understand why someone would complain. Also if the shows were bad, why on the recordings you can only hear crowd cheering? Nah, these lone hitmen that come only to p*ss on the band are nothing to me.

If you go to a Sisters concert expecting sound that's equal to the majority of bands who use tapes...you're an idiot. If you go to a Sisters show to glare at Eldritch, you're an idiot - the show is about fog and lights and fantasy, and obviously, about f**king noize.

The way some people attack the Sisters, and also some other bands (most of my favourite bands), viciously, but then there are bands (most, incidentally, that i odn't like) who are never attacked in the same manner, or at least i haven't seen it done, is truly strange.

i don't buy most of the negative comments to any degree. Mebbe i'm paranoid but that don't mean i'm wrong.

(PS: i actually laughed out loud when i read this "review" in the morning just after i had read Dan's praise on Dominion - and was surprised with what seriousness people actually treat this guy's comments)

7anthea7 wrote:

itnAklipse wrote:

Methedrome wrote:Opinions can differ, but I am often suspect of one time posters conveniently being the first to post after a show.

Hear, hear!

Precisely.

An opinion is "I didn't enjoy this show, and here's why". It can come from long experience and comparison of infinitesimal detail, or from first-time-out general impressions, from broad knowledge or rank ignorance.

Even joining and posting to a forum for the first time to say "This show sucked" can be considered simply expressing an opinion, although I still don't know why you'd waste your time complaining to people who quite obviously have a higher tolerance for less-than-sterling performances, and are more likely to express their own disappointment in terms of regret rather than castigation.

But I find it difficult to feel welcoming toward folks who join after rather than prior to a show (if they are truly such dedicated fans, why did it take a bad experience to bring them out of the woodwork?) so they can stand on a box and scream that it was a waste of time and money and none of us should support a band that doesn't give them the show they expect.

Maybe it's that I've spent too much of my life supporting bands just as eccentric, changeable and unpredictable as The Sisters. Maybe I should be more demanding But whatever the case, I certainly wouldn't dream of posting remarks of the latter sort to a fan forum I'd never been part of before

Amen

(and agree with QB too)

I know you may not like this, but some of us read these boards for information on the band and since we don't care to be initiated into the self- appointed and often bickering fan club, we either rarely post or don't post at all. Simply put, people who castigate others for sharing their concerns is ridiculous and extremely off putting.

Further, do I need somehow to prove my sisters cred to you before I can make a judgment on a show? Do I need to post 100 times before I can criticize? What is the number? I must have overlooked the guidelines regarding posts and criticisms when I signed up. Sorry.

After reading some of the posts, I feel that since I crossed the line in offering up an opinion, I should let you know my sisters history. Will this make up for my paucity of postings? Maybe not... but I feel it can't hurt too much.

So here we go... I have been buying their music since 1985, I have only seen them three times (every time I have been in town when they played- two times I loved their live show), I own every release with a lot more unofficial releases in there. Oh.. I even bought what must of been the last hoodie at the show last night.

Can I voice an opinion now?

Last night I witnessed a show that was beyond marred for me and others by the terrible sound and overkill of the smoke. Mostly it was the sound, but maybe I'm getting older in thinking I would like to have a glimpse of a band during a 1.5 hour set. Some people like the dense fog and others think it is a bit too much. I fall in with the latter.

There is a certain element that will be hostile to your honest opinion of the show jimhb

Nothing you or ayone else will say can ever shake their belief in the band


I love the girls but they don't half f**k it up at times

Easy tiger. If this gig was a negative experience to you, that's a shame. There obviously have been some stonking shows during this tour, and apparently for you Denver wasn't one of them. However, I found your review an interesting read. What I don't like, no matter whether it comes from long time residents or newbies, is if somebody tells me what I should think of the band or their performances. You didn't do that. Thanks.

jimhb wrote:I know you may not like this, but some of us read these boards for information on the band and since we don't care to be initiated into the self- appointed and often bickering fan club, we either rarely post or don't post at all. Simply put, people who castigate others for sharing their concerns is ridiculous and extremely off putting.

My original question stands, then (although it was by way of a general observation regarding a syndrome, not about you in particular): why post at all, if that's the way you feel?

There actually isn't a lot of 'bickering' 'round here; even the most adamant disagreements are still between people who love (and sometimes hate) the same band, so I do wish you'd made clear up front that you'd been lurking, so that no one would leap to the (mistaken) conclusion that you'd only come round to complain.

Further, do I need somehow to prove my sisters cred to you before I can make a judgment on a show? Do I need to post 100 times before I can criticize? What is the number? I must have overlooked the guidelines regarding posts and criticisms when I signed up. Sorry.

Of course not - if you'll read my post, I'm quite specific that an opinion is valid no matter what it comes from, whether all the cred you can imagine or I-just-discovered-them-yesterday. It's subjective; even if the sound was horrible, there are degrees, and everyone had differing standards of what they consider acceptable.

After reading some of the posts, I feel that ...I crossed the line in offering up an opinion

I wouldn't say that. I think you just came in on the heels of someone who'd been particularly, erm, vociferous in her condemnation. I'm certainly able to see why you'd have been unhappy You'd obviously been anticipating something that you didn't get, and that sucketh mightily. And it isn't fair to punish you for someone else's sins, but I don't think anyone intended to, either.

I should let you know my sisters history. Will this make up for my paucity of postings? Maybe not... but I feel it can't hurt too much.

I, for one, don't feel you have to offer up any justification for being here.

Last night I witnessed a show that was beyond marred for me and others by the terrible sound and overkill of the smoke. Mostly it was the sound, but maybe I'm getting older in thinking I would like to have a glimpse of a band during a 1.5 hour set. Some people like the dense fog and others think it is a bit too much. I fall in with the latter.

Those are all completely valid points, and none that dis the band itself. Can't say as how anyone would take offense at any of it. I certainly don't. So don't be mad - it's hard enough that you've had to deal with a bad show









PS - It's my experience that most fan clubs are 'self-appointed' - it's the nature of fandom

I was in Minneapolis and it was outstanding, and I will argue that fact with any man, women, or animal who was also there that night.

I was not in Denver, so I can't comment in honesty.

I am merely cautious of initial posts that crap on any show.

It is not outside the realm of proven possibilities that there are individuals who may not be what they seem.