Having nought better to do on the long, winding road back from Tilburg I’ve decided to write a semi-formal review of the gig. Please note that this was my first live experience of the Sisters, so please bare with my
otaku enthusiasm
Anorak Nonsense
For those who are interested…
Set deep in the pedestrian zone of Tilburg, 013 – “The Choice� – was a complete pain to find. So naturally we just followed the trail of past tour t-shirts
The town centre was positively teeming with black-clad, booted Goths, leaving me feeling a little under-dressed, but it at least seemed to be a sound indication that the gig at not been cancelled (yes, I worry too much). The Choice is a reasonably sized club (not that I know what many look like on the inside
) with a 20ft or so floor and a tiered area about double the size behind it. Needless to say I naively headed to the floor. And survived, apparently :p
The guts
The band were fashionably late onto the stage, serving the tension building purpose of course, but the “Von Sucks� marquee on Adam’s amp could only keep us entertained for so long and there seemed to be some mild restlessness just prior to their arrival. This calmed down as the smoke machine started.
The dry ice was broken by a storming rendition of “Crash and Burn�, a stark contrast to Tuesday’s relatively laid back “Giving Ground�. Von was naturally dancing like a man possessed and seemed to be in good health, although we didn’t get many (audible) remarks (the only ones of note being “You’re lovely…no, you’re not
that lovely� and “Ladies and Gentlemen, Chris Catalyst, the man who eats Daleks!�). “Come Together� found its way onto the set list (with different lyrics yet again), seemingly replacing “War on Drugs�.
Mr Whammy was on his usual fine form and Chris seemed to fit in perfectly. The latter’s performance was most notable in the returning acoustic “I Was Wrong� which gave him an opportunity to show off his classical guitar skills – one which he duly took. Incidentally, Chris is a very nice man, hovering outside of the exit to sign autographs (I got one on Nurse’s set list, which a roadie handed to me at the end
) and heading round the corner into a bar, seemingly unfazed by the attention. When I told him it was my first Sister’s show, the response (which I should have seen coming) was “Well, it was my first gig too�.
With it being my first (and possibly last), I was determined to brave the pit and positioned myself a few rows from the front (though I had gotten into the front row by the time “Vision Thing� was underway). As it turns out, it wasn’t bravery after all. The atmosphere was very amiable, with apologies and slaps on the back all round whenever someone was knocked off of their feet. Some even managed a 3-high human pyramid and another managed to dance to Romeo Down on someone’s shoulders without slipping once.
After the flood
The gig, so I’ve been told, was up there with the best of them and everyone seemed to be in a good mood afterwards. It was great to meet so many Heartlanders all at once and you were all very nice people
Thanks especially to Christophe for enduring my company before the gig and to Johnny for living up to the “Very Nice Man� moniker
.
