Heartland

I've left it a couple of days to see if my thoughts about Saturdays gig have changed. They have not.

This year I went to see two connected bands after 20 years of not following them closely. Consequently I know nothing of line up changes, previous gigs this century, or any material newer than 92.

I saw them both with an open mind and reasonably low expectations.
Sat was not as terrible as I feared but it wasn't good either, the music was competent, and the vocals? Well if the likes of Terminal Gods or Daughters of Bristol can be said to be channelling their inner Andrew Eldritch then I would say Andrew Eldritch was channelling his inner Milli Vanilli..
Was he miming? Was he even there? Who knows, not me. I caught a glimpse at the start of First last and always of the man wearing Bono style wrap around shades and that was it.

The vocals seemed the strongest when the fog was thickest, was Andrew having a hit from an oxygen tank on the floor? Was he even there? Were his vocals being mixed at the desk, autotune enhanced or just miming? Not a clue.
I like the new songs, I'd like them more if I could see them performed somehow, my wife wanted to leave after about a third of the eve.

Contrast that with The m*****n (Blood Brothers) gig at Gorrilla just a few months before, That Guitarist still has a working relationship with original band members, performs solo, has undiminished vocal range and power (On that night at least) and had his audience in raptures.....

Based on these two performances I'd fly to see The Mish, but wouldn't see The Sisters Karaoke show again. I would go for a different type of show. Maybe if Andrew performed at St Pauli beach (StrandPaul),its great) or maybe the Jolly Roger pub, The TItanic in Bahrenfeld , heck maybe busk in front of "English Books and Food" anything but whatever it was I witnessed on Saturday.

I did get a nice mug though.

Miming?

I think you must have been at a different concert from me on Saturday.

We'll put you down as an "undecided" then

Pretty standard negative "review" then. Never mind, nobody's forcing you to come again.

The irony is that in the run up to this gig when we have been in St Pauli, Altona, or even Itzehoe we spot the most unlikely looking person and say "thats Andrew"

We still will but now its more poignant.

Grufti wrote:The irony is that in the run up to this gig when we have been in St Pauli, Altona, or even Itzehoe we spot the most unlikely looking person and say "thats Andrew"

We still will but now its more poignant.

If you went to the gig expecting Wake - i.e. a 25-year-old vocalist sporting clothes & hairstyle from 30 years ago - then I can see how you would be disappointed.

ROFL

I found this extra-ordinarily funny. Made my day!

I'll get my coat.

It reads as a pretty transparent attempt at kicking off a Sisters vs M****** war to me, but maybe I'm being uncharitable.

mh wrote:It reads as a pretty transparent attempt at kicking off a Sisters vs M****** war to me, but maybe I'm being uncharitable.

I'm sick to death now of all these comparisons to other bands or to the Sisters of 1985.

NB there has always been fog. ALWAYS. If you want to see Eldritch then get down the front. You will see plenty of him.

I was at The m*****n gig at Gorilla. It was great but comparing the Sisters to the m*****n is pointless. Its like comparing apples and oranges. Neither of them is trying to be like the other. Wayne is a friend of mine and I know he has no interest in comparisons being made.

The vocals on this tour have been the best I've heard for years but they're not recorded. If you got yourself to the front you would have seen for yourself.

This was the first time I'd seen the Sisters since October 84. The Hussey Sisters weren't for me so I stopped going even though I was one of the "citizens of Wakefield".
I also despised the Patricia era onwards...I'm a sour old git who hate everything after Reptile House and tolerated FALAA. Manchester to me rekindled a love of the group. Good do...and f**k The m*****n.

I/we feel a little sad and disapointed. Its not about clothes, OK I'm in my 50's and still dress like 20-30 years ago (hat glasses coat). I get comments from shop assistants about the mish, and comments in bars "that I think I have seen you before" that raises a wry smile.

I dont mind the St Pauli antifa badge included in the badge set I bought on Saturday. I like Hamburg very much too and would hope to see Andrew at the "new" Kir club, or maybe fundbureau club.

Its just that if that is what passes for a Sisters gig then its not for me.
In the same way that "axel and friends" has only a dubious right to call its self GNR,
I suppose Mark E Smiths "If its me and your nan on bongos its the Fall" could be applied, but at least Mark makes a better fist of "being" Mark E Smith.

Still I do have a nice new mug, and I really like Terminal Gods and The daughters Of Bristol track "velvet curtains" is really great.

I would have thought if he was miming then the vocals would have been better than they were

Poisonheart wrote:This was the first time I'd seen the Sisters since October 84. The Hussey Sisters weren't for me so I stopped going even though I was one of the "citizens of Wakefield".
I also despised the Patricia era onwards...I'm a sour old git who hate everything after Reptile House and tolerated FALAA. Manchester to me rekindled a love of the group. Good do...and f**k The m*****n.

million voices wrote:I would have thought if he was miming then the vocals would have been better than they were

This, basically, is all the evidence anyone should need that he wasn't miming.

Manchester was pretty unique in that it was a show where Von actually didn't mess up the lyrics as much as usual. Memory is that it was just the last verse of Temple that he left out; otherwise everything was sung well.

I think in conclusion that what I'm trying to convey after Sat (and bearing in mind I had no preconceptions or "baggage") is that If Andrew wants to live in Hamburg quietly (and it seems to be he does) and then wheel out a show from time to time then a "persona" would be an idea to consider.

Grufti

Grufti wrote:I think in conclusion that what I'm trying to convey after Sat (and bearing in mind I had no preconceptions or "baggage") is that If Andrew wants to live in Hamburg quietly (and it seems to be he does) and then wheel out a show from time to time then a "persona" would be an idea to consider.

Grufti

I think it's fair enough that you don't like their current style/music - that's all just a matter of personal taste.

As has been mentioned in the thread above, some people didn't like the change in style/music/personnel between the 80-83 Sisters and the 84-85 Sisters, but for whatever reason no one has suggested that they should have changed their name in early 84 AFAIK. And the change in style/music/personnel between the 84-85 Sisters and the 87-88 Sisters was even more dramatic. And the change in style/music/personnel from the 87-88 Sisters to the 89-93 Sisters. And numerous changes since.

What I mean to say is that the changes in the band's style/music/personnel have been a continual feature of the Sisters (and most bands, unless they're just coasting it and uncreatively churning out more of the same in return for a steady income) since the fairly dramatic changes in guitar sounds and song structures after 1983.

Adopting a "persona" of a nostalgic snapshot in time is what tribute bands do, and I think that you'd probably enjoy a tribute band more than a "real" band. Again, this is fair enough and not a criticism.

BTW I've got nothing against tribute bands (there are several members of Sisters tribute bands on this forum, and they're very good people) - they're just not my kind of thing, in the same way that the Sisters in 2015 are not your kind of thing.

Show me one person that looks and sounds the same now as in their early 20s, or writes the same type of songs in the same musical style for the entirety of their career. The band and the fans would be bored as f**k by now.
I'm baffled as to why someone would expend this much effort on a band they supposedly gave up on over 30 years ago. And why this seems to be such a common thing, along with people taking Von's hoodies as some kind of personal affront 😂. It'd be hilarious if it wasn't all so serious. It's OK not to listen to songs and albums you don't like! You even have the option of NOT seeing them live! Wild concept!

d0gbones wrote:Show me one person that looks and sounds the same now as in their early 20s, or writes the same type of songs in the same musical style for the entirety of their career.

It is a great song though

Show me one person that looks and sounds the same now as in their early 20s, or writes the same type of songs in the same musical style for the entirety of their career. The band and the fans would be bored as f**k by now.


errrr..
The Cure
Bruce Springsteen
Primal scream
Jesus and mary chain
Richard Thompson
Muse
Radiohead
Rolling stones
The Wedding present
MBV
etc etc etc

I was at The Roundhouse on Sunday night and, as a curmudgeonly, approaching 50 year old pain in the arse, I enjoyed the whole experience a lot more than I thought I would.
The two guitarists are very good. Eldritch was vocally a lot better than I had expected him to be from certain reports over the past few years ("he smokes too much.....his voice is f**ked" etc). I like a real-life bass player (I'm just starting out on being one myself) but the sound was still perfectly OK with it being fed into the mix along with Doktor Avalanche.
I would love it if there was some kind of cryogenic way of preserving Von to look like he did at the Royal Albert Hall (I'm sure he'd love it too) and wheeling out Marx, Adams, Gunn, Hussey etc, looking and sounding like they did in the early-mid eighties but I wasn't expecting anything like that and with everyone being connected online nowadays and people who have been attending Sisters gigs over the past 15 or so years reporting back, I'd be astonished anyone thought it would be like that.
I wasn't sure I'd fall for it all again. I went with a sense of hoping I'd really enjoy it but not really thinking I would much but that I'd be consoled by the fact that it was my birthday and I was hooking up with an old mate I hadn't seen since 1990. I was wrong. I had a great night and will definitely be back for more next time.

deirfiur wrote:Show me one person that looks and sounds the same now as in their early 20s, or writes the same type of songs in the same musical style for the entirety of their career. The band and the fans would be bored as f**k by now.


errrr..
The Cure
Bruce Springsteen
Primal scream
Jesus and mary chain
Richard Thompson
Muse
Radiohead
Rolling stones
The Wedding present
MBV
etc etc etc

Nope. None of them.

deirfiur wrote:errrr..
The Cure
Bruce Springsteen
Primal scream
Jesus and mary chain
Richard Thompson
Muse
Radiohead
Rolling stones
The Wedding present
MBV
etc etc etc

You really must be taking the p!ss by now - so many of those bands have done wildly different LPs in wildly different styles at different stages of their careers. Are you really trying to claim that Psychocandy has a similar sound to Darklands, for example?

mh wrote:

deirfiur wrote:errrr..
The Cure
Bruce Springsteen
Primal scream
Jesus and mary chain
Richard Thompson
Muse
Radiohead
Rolling stones
The Wedding present
MBV
etc etc etc

You really must be taking the p!ss by now - so many of those bands have done wildly different LPs in wildly different styles at different stages of their careers. Are you really trying to claim that Psychocandy has a similar sound to Darklands, for example?

I thought the inclusion of the Stones on that list was the clue that this was less-than-serious. The only band/artist I can think of who changed more dramatically over their career is Bowie.

And as for Primal Scream - I'm sure I'm not misremembering that they used to be of an indie-rock persuasion before a sudden change in musical style to that whole Acid-House-Indie-Dance thing with Screamadelica?

deirfiur wrote: errrr..
The Cure
Bruce Springsteen
Primal scream
Jesus and mary chain
Richard Thompson
Muse
Radiohead
Rolling stones
The Wedding present
MBV
etc etc etc

Got as far as The Cure & knew this couldn't be serious in the slightest.
Never heard of etc etc etc though.

Grufti wrote:I did get a nice mug though.

Take care. It's not dishwasher-proof ... ...