Heartland

Over the weekend there was a post on some South African Facebook groups about a possible Sisters tour before the end of the year: https://www.facebook.com/groups/thecell ... %22O%22%7D

It's not the first time a rumour of a tour here has surfaced so I'll consider myself sceptical until there is more official confirmation.

SA seems to be en vogue.
The Cure have their first dates there ever next March
Fingers crossed....

That would be second attempt, if i recall correctly.

yeah i remember then wanting to do a tour there once.

whaaaaa...december already? if this is true and i hope it is for SA they places mentioned in the group are amazing! definately Knysna, Plettt (my dad lived there) and Durban all along the coast. first two are in the Cape and omg it is beautiful there. Bloemfontein is in the middle near Kimberley and of course Jozi or JHB close to where i grew up.

crossing fingers and toes for their fans there!

MadameButterfly wrote:yeah i remember then wanting to do a tour there once.

whaaaaa...december already? if this is true and i hope it is for SA they places mentioned in the group are amazing! definately Knysna, Plettt (my dad lived there) and Durban all along the coast.

Think it was (at least) just before Trip the light fantastic back in 2000, or some tour around there, think mentioned it openly that they were planning to play there (instead of TTLF).

I am a huge fan of South Africa but cannot see them pulling any decent crowd outside of Gauteng or Cape Town - I read the entry with Plett and Knysna as a joke? I mean both are nice but small towns next to each other...

An interesting question is if they would dust off all their gear and fly 10 hours just to play 2-3 SA dates? If this rumour is true, I guess there is another big tour in the making.

euphoria wrote:

MadameButterfly wrote:yeah i remember then wanting to do a tour there once.

whaaaaa...december already? if this is true and i hope it is for SA they places mentioned in the group are amazing! definately Knysna, Plettt (my dad lived there) and Durban all along the coast.

Think it was (at least) just before Trip the light fantastic back in 2000, or some tour around there, think mentioned it openly that they were planning to play there (instead of TTLF).

I am a huge fan of South Africa but cannot see them pulling any decent crowd outside of Gauteng or Cape Town - I read the entry with Plett and Knysna as a joke? I mean both are nice but small towns next to each other...

An interesting question is if they would dust off all their gear and fly 10 hours just to play 2-3 SA dates? If this rumour is true, I guess there is another big tour in the making.

all i remember when chatting to was asked if he would ever play there and him saying yes and me prompting him to do it as i have friends living there that would go to the gig.

that is true...Plett and Knysna are very close to each other and more laid back places where surfing and the wild animals are, thinking elephants or monkeyland. so probably a joke unless they are planning on a smaller intimate venue or golf course
so if they played Gauteng or Cape Town i should think at least two dates each. Bloem is a middle point so i would guess two dates there too.

we must remember that in december it's summer holidays so most people actually leave Gauteng to the coastal regions and Durban is more north east on the coastline. so two dates there too.

would be awesome if this rumour is true though.

Doubt very much the machine will be put in groove mode during 2018, it's idling in neutral in it's Leeds garage until 2019.

Most bands that make the trek here only play CT and JHB so any of the other places seem suspect. The whole post seems fishy to me but I can live in hope.

I had a chat with Ben the other night at the Killing Joke show in Portland. I asked if anything was on the horizon, given the fact that Trump is president now. He said he's in a waiting game waiting for the E to give him a ring. I don't know if we would really tell me even if he know something was planned but he seemed genuine.

He got a kick out of it when I told him I'm in a sisters tribute band in San Francisco and my stage name was Wayne Fussey.

Interesting to hear the machine is still alive at least, actually thought they would call it a day after the surprisingly successful last tour. Even if I'm not that interested anymore it is fascinating that other bands come and go (like, release records) and eventually fade off and die, but the Sisters don't release anything, just continue touring endlessly and outlive everybody else

exactly! i mean ffs how *goth* is that?

funandprofit wrote:
He got a kick out of it when I told him I'm in a sisters tribute band in San Francisco and my stage name was Wayne Fussey.

along with Hymen Sprinkler?

They skipped Dublin and Belfast on the last tour, but came the tour before, so I reckon we're due an Irish date next time around. I went to both gigs and they were both packed.

I was surprised they didn't come back last time on the back of that, but I suppose it needs a promoter to ask them. Maybe they pick destinations strategically so as to not over play and damage their marketability.

Arrrgh! wrote:They skipped Dublin and Belfast on the last tour, but came the tour before, so I reckon we're due an Irish date next time around. I went to both gigs and they were both packed.

I was surprised they didn't come back last time on the back of that, but I suppose it needs a promoter to ask them. Maybe they pick destinations strategically so as to not over play and damage their marketability.

no, its pretty much s**t promoters not being prepared to take another gamble so soon after the last without new product. thats been the official line for fucken' ages now i'm afraid.

It has definitely happened more than once (and very likely: frequently) that the Sisters have received sensible offers from promoters they have made themselves available to, but are turning them down because they don't fit into their current tour schedule. Could be due to a number of reasons, like complicated logistics, busy guitarists engaged in other bands (like Chris being busy approximately 400 days a year ) having time constraints, etc.
This very likely to happen when the sisters have more or less nailed the tour schedule and the offer comes in too late, especially if that offer comes from outside the decided tour orbit and would require complicated re-scheduling.

eastmidswhizzkid wrote:no, its pretty much s**t promoters not being prepared to take another gamble so soon after the last without new product. thats been the official line for fucken' ages now i'm afraid.

You'd think full gigs wouldn't represent much of a gamble. In my memory they were pretty full, Dublin in particular. Vicars St was full - I was on the balcony and had a good view of the crowd.

I actually just looked up the last gig on Youtube, and it was 2014!!! I could have sworn it was more recent than that. Clearly not. So a gig next year would mean a five year absence. Bizarre.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQRYAPSPlpA

I don't blame the promoters at all...anymore. What are hired bookers expected to think about getting that band without any release in decades again, when they were there just a couple of years ago, even if they sold out back then?

You could always remind your local promoter about the pulling power of the Sisters, then they go:
Until they see the ticket sales starting, then they go

Easy for us to understand, but most of the people booking them can't comprehend how such an anonymous band can pull several thousand people again and again, year after year.

euphoria wrote:I don't blame the promoters at all...anymore. What are hired bookers expected to think about getting that band without any release in decades again, when they were there just a couple of years ago, even if they sold out back then?

You could always remind your local promoter about the pulling power of the Sisters, then they go:
Until they see the ticket sales starting, then they go

Easy for us to understand, but most of the people booking them can't comprehend how such an anonymous band can pull several thousand people again and again, year after year.

wasnt blaming anyone really, just how it is. same as all things Sisters related- if you dont like it then dont do it but that realy is alll there is....for now?

I think that, through the law of diminishing returns, we can see the audiences for a proper UK tour being measured in hundreds rather than thousands in the venues picked with the promoters. It might be different for a significant one-off with a supporting cast. Otherwise business as usual and I'll probably turn up, tune in and..... nip out for a fag.

Swinnow wrote:I think that, through the law of diminishing returns, we can see the audiences for a proper UK tour being measured in hundreds rather than thousands in the venues picked with the promoters. It might be different for a significant one-off with a supporting cast. Otherwise business as usual and I'll probably turn up, tune in and..... nip out for a fag.

Except . . . except how long has this been the case? The last tour seemed to sell really well. I don't see any reason why they should stop as long as people still turn up.

They're really lucky. They wrote enough good music back when that meant something that they can continue to tour on the back of it. It is what it is. I'll keep going to see them because they offer excellent value for money. You get a good night out for the price of a ticket, listening to songs that rock.

Don't get me wrong I still love the band and over the years they have been part of the soundtrack to my life. I'd love to see the big shows at Wembley or the NEC again, but also the ones at the Fenton or Joseph's Well.

However looking forward it is unlikely that a UK tour will include, for example, all of Liverpool, Manchester and Leeds or both of Glasgow and Edinburgh. Without new product the audience is not there for the promoters or Von to take the financial risk.

Whereas, say a one-off alongside NMA or Levellers or even (hides behind sofa) The Mish would easily sell out a venue like Headingley rugby ground. Plus a few of us could walk home afterwards lol.

I'll still do the M62 gigs as always but given the quite predictable sets it can be mainly to see friends from days past to be honest.

Meanwhile over in America-

I’ll say this.... we ALMOST had the sisters...... an agency we use offered 2 weeks worth of dates and they said NO because they hate trump .... just so u know

Rise891 wrote:Meanwhile over in America-

I’ll say this.... we ALMOST had the sisters...... an agency we use offered 2 weeks worth of dates and they said NO because they hate trump .... just so u know

Interesting. But if this happened, I don't believe that was the real reason, not even if they said so. George W? Putin? Netanyahu? etc. I cannot imagine maga hat folks turning up at Sisters gigs anyway.

My guess: 1. Someone thought the 2 weeks of dates wouldn't be worth the payment offered. 2. It just didn't fit in time. 3. They really didn't like the agency.

BTW forgot to ask: When did this happen?

Has anyone looked at the itineraries of Ben and Chris to see when a tour might even be feasible? Those two seem to be keeping themselves fairly busy these days.

Ben's out with PIG supporting Killing Joke (said as far as he knows, no Sisters this year), Chris has a few EM dates this week, Ghost look pretty busy between October and December.