Showbizz Magazine, March 1998
Posted: 16 Aug 2024, 16:02
Per @bismarck request:
(The) Sisters of Mercy
The Forum - London, 12/02
The night of the living dead.
Resurrection is the fitting word for this night, a full moon evening, and Friday the 13th eve.
On Forum's Stage (in Kentish town, north of London), The Sisters of Mercy celebrates the end of their contract with EastWest, a Warner company, from which this quintessential British rock band, found themselves in legal battles for the past 5 years.
The singer Andrew Eldritch, frontman, and the only member of the group who has survived all of Sisters' different formations since 1980 (Arguably the drum too, but that's another story), announced that a new single would come out in April. An album should follow that in a year. This single would be the first since 1993, and the album would finally break an 8-year musical feast we are currently on.
Sisters Fans in London packed the place to celebrate the return of the biggest band in goth rock history.
"Occasions like this, that force me to leave my place are rare", said Patrick Steward, wearing his long black coat, hair dyed black, and a porcelain-like white skin. "Luckily Eldritch is still the same".
Patrick was right. The singer Eldritch doesn't wear a hat anymore, his hair is blond and short he even wears red and white now. But his music hasn't changed. They played 19 tracks that night, including their 80s anthems like Dominion/Mother Russian, Marian, and Corrosion which might be considered the best part of the night. This setlist also included some eerie new songs like Will I Dream and Romeo Down.
The mood was vampire-like: lights and shadow dancing --everything covered in smoke-- causing a real commotion for the more than 2000 people that packed the venue.
Everybody was well dressed - satin, laces, velvet and leather, all black, composing the official outfit of the goths. A fine mix between a fetish party and what was deemed normal 200 years ago.
During the show, Eldritch didn't say much. The other two "alive" members of the band, Adam Pearson (Guitar and Bass) and Michael Varjak (Guitar) barely interact with Eldritch.
The only member that "chats" with Eldritch on stage is Doktor Avalanche. Every now and then Andrew will go around the Drum Machine, press some buttons, and whisper something to the nurse.
On the subject of Drums, Eldritch was the band's first drummer, around 1980-ish he then left his drummer position and decided to give vocals a shot, leaving a silly machine in his place.
Since then the Duo went through numberless incarnations of the band. The most famous being the one from 84-87 with That Guitarist and Craig Adams. Both Hussey and Adams left the band to form the mish.
The sisters recorded Temple of Love 92, which was a hit in the single charts, but things would never be the same as it was back in the day.
Having their songs in the top 100 charts is the thing that least matters to a sisters fan. For a group of people that sees morbid-like media as entertainment and read poetry from the last century more often than the news, having Eldritch live and play live is the biggest gift of all.
----------------
(The) Sisters of Mercy
The Forum - London, 12/02
The night of the living dead.
Resurrection is the fitting word for this night, a full moon evening, and Friday the 13th eve.
On Forum's Stage (in Kentish town, north of London), The Sisters of Mercy celebrates the end of their contract with EastWest, a Warner company, from which this quintessential British rock band, found themselves in legal battles for the past 5 years.
The singer Andrew Eldritch, frontman, and the only member of the group who has survived all of Sisters' different formations since 1980 (Arguably the drum too, but that's another story), announced that a new single would come out in April. An album should follow that in a year. This single would be the first since 1993, and the album would finally break an 8-year musical feast we are currently on.
Sisters Fans in London packed the place to celebrate the return of the biggest band in goth rock history.
"Occasions like this, that force me to leave my place are rare", said Patrick Steward, wearing his long black coat, hair dyed black, and a porcelain-like white skin. "Luckily Eldritch is still the same".
Patrick was right. The singer Eldritch doesn't wear a hat anymore, his hair is blond and short he even wears red and white now. But his music hasn't changed. They played 19 tracks that night, including their 80s anthems like Dominion/Mother Russian, Marian, and Corrosion which might be considered the best part of the night. This setlist also included some eerie new songs like Will I Dream and Romeo Down.
The mood was vampire-like: lights and shadow dancing --everything covered in smoke-- causing a real commotion for the more than 2000 people that packed the venue.
Everybody was well dressed - satin, laces, velvet and leather, all black, composing the official outfit of the goths. A fine mix between a fetish party and what was deemed normal 200 years ago.
During the show, Eldritch didn't say much. The other two "alive" members of the band, Adam Pearson (Guitar and Bass) and Michael Varjak (Guitar) barely interact with Eldritch.
The only member that "chats" with Eldritch on stage is Doktor Avalanche. Every now and then Andrew will go around the Drum Machine, press some buttons, and whisper something to the nurse.
On the subject of Drums, Eldritch was the band's first drummer, around 1980-ish he then left his drummer position and decided to give vocals a shot, leaving a silly machine in his place.
Since then the Duo went through numberless incarnations of the band. The most famous being the one from 84-87 with That Guitarist and Craig Adams. Both Hussey and Adams left the band to form the mish.
The sisters recorded Temple of Love 92, which was a hit in the single charts, but things would never be the same as it was back in the day.
Having their songs in the top 100 charts is the thing that least matters to a sisters fan. For a group of people that sees morbid-like media as entertainment and read poetry from the last century more often than the news, having Eldritch live and play live is the biggest gift of all.
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