Sisters Of Mercy, The Palladium, Worcester, MA, 11/01/08
64The Sisters of Mercy, one of my favorite goth bands from the 80’s, played at the Worcester Palladium on Saturday, November 1, 2008. With hits including “This Corrosion” and “Detonation Boulevard” I’ve often described them as “angry music you can dance to”. Unfortunately, after this performance I was angry and no-one was dancing.
I saw them first in the 90s at a downtown Boston club called Avalon where they played with Nine Inch Nails and the two groups together put on a high energy, truly rockin’ performance. Since then, I’ve kept my eyes out for their next US tour and was very excited when I heard about the November 1 date and bought tickets immediately!I predicted that the concert would have an over 40 crowd and I was correct. It was an equal mix of men and women, dressed in variations of black attire. By day, many likely wore business suits, golf shirts and khaki’s, For the concert, they un-earthed their black jeans, black tees and leather jackets. I personally layered on twice the eye make-up worn in my day to day, dug out my black anarchy symbol tee shirt and had my “old english script” M necklace on. I was ready for some goth action.
The opening band was Hypernova, which were surprisingly good. I would describe them as modern goth rock, high energy, danceable, with definite influences of Sister’s, Bauhaus and some electronica. The band’s sound was very tight and the lead singer had a unique look.
I googled the band name after the show and found out they were an Iranian indie-rock band based in Tehran. Tehran is pretty far from Worcester! Their song “Fairy Tales” on their my space page is definitely worth a listen. http://www.myspace.com/hypernovamusic
Some of My Favorite Bands
 | Papa Roach... So awesome live! Amazon Price: $5.88 List Price: $10.99 |
 | Buckcherry.. One of the few newer bands I like Amazon Price: $6.99 |
 | Depeche Mode.. I love them! They have a song for every mood, especially for singing in the car Amazon Price: $11.09 List Price: $18.98 |
![Past, Present & Future [w/ Bonus DVD]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51H7A2FA1WL._SL75_.jpg) | Rob Zombie.. Great live. Angry music I like to dance to. Amazon Price: $7.51 List Price: $10.99 |
When it was time for Sisters to come on, the stage filled with dark smoke. The crowd was ripe with anticipation. And then….disappointment. The music itself sounded decent, but you could not hear the lead singer, Andrew Eldritch. Also, the band members stood in place almost like singing statues.
The first song started and ended and the crowd barely reacted. Second song, third song..the same. This pissed me off. At that point, I dragged my guest and we rushed towards the front of club, thinking if we were closer to the band, it might sound better. It was actually worse. Instead of crazy goth dancers in the front, people were standing around chatting and a few were even texting their friends. Texting during Sisters, one of the inventor’s of Goth!! Unbelievable.
With nothing to lose, I went and complained to the sound man. Others followed. No change.
Here we were… the stage was still filled with dark smoke so you could barely see the band. The little that you could see was not very exciting- as the band members were not moving from their marks. And, you could barely hear the bands’ vocals. A recipe for disaster and disappointment.
Letter to Andrew Eldritch: We loved your music in the 80s and 90s and want to love it now. But smoke and incoherent vocals will not a fan base make or maintain.
My guest and I found a way to “cope” with the grand performance, which was by drinking more alcohol and people watching. Always a good combination.. I guess we’ll have to wait for the next 80’s band to tour.. Bauhaus, Depeche Mode… who knows.
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Seen a Sister's Live Show? Share Your CommentsLoading...
well thats a sisters show for ya. fog machine abuse is standard. crappy sound was a disapointment. the band is now some guitar guns fer hire, and backing tape for keys and bass, and many key song parts are replaced by guitar riffs. lame. my last sisters show for sure.
I enjoyed the show. My only gripe was that they played a fair number of songs that weren't on any of the albums, I don't know if they were covers or what.
I saw them last night at Irving Plaza - you hit the nail on the head. Smoke swamped the stage before Andrew Eldritch came on. He was never even nearly visible. The only time the stage cleared was when the 2 guitarist had a strange battle of the hackneyed guitar moves (while Andrew disappeared again behind stage). The back-up vocalist/guitarist voice annihilated Andrew's in terms of volume (as did everything else in the mix) and flat out sucked in terms of quality. I don't think this was a mistake. Every single review I have read of this tour is the same. Are you guys convinced that it was Andrew Eldritch? I've tossed it about in my mind and it just doesn't make sense. I think somebody bought rights and hired a "stunt double" and took them on tour.
We just went to the FL show in St Pete.
Same thing. We could barely hear Andrew. However the encores did improve. You could hear him, but you had to strain.
Smoke was to much. To the point that I started to wonder if he was even singing. You couldnt see him so how could you tell if the songs were synced to his lips.
After the show he rushed away head low. I was trying to see what he looked like to get verification if was him. The photo below does look like who was on stage.
B
Disclosure: I'm a moderator on a Sisters fan site. SO here goes a (partial) defence:
* "they played a fair number of songs that weren't on any of the albums" The last album was released in 1991, do you expect them to write no new songs in 17 years? It's not just a nostalgia-thon, the Sisters have moved on.
* "the stage was still filled with dark smoke so you could barely see the band" You never could. Have you not seen any footage of the 80s gigs? The smoke and lights are an integral part of the Sisters live experience.
* "backing tape for keys and bass" Flatout wrong. Drum patterns / keyboards / bass-lines are handled by Doktor Avalanche, which is now played live by Si Denbigh, Nurse to the Doktor.
* Complaints about Andrew's voice may be warranted; but then he never had the loudest voice in the world
And to be fair, the goth thing is a bit old, c'mon, if you go to a Sisters show expecting the lords of the underworld or some cr*p, you deserve to be disappointed.
"* "they played a fair number of songs that weren't on any of the albums" The last album was released in 1991, do you expect them to write no new songs in 17 years? It's not just a nostalgia-thon, the Sisters have moved on."
They also tend to pull out stuff that was actually released, but is probably considered a bit rare or obscure by anyone who's not an obsessive fan (like, uh, me :) ) Stuff like Train and Giving Ground - I seem to remember them playing On the Wire a few years back too, though not on this tour. I love them for it though - most bands now days wouldn't touch their b-sides live, or unreleased newer songs, or a somewhat rarity like Giving Ground.
"* "backing tape for keys and bass" Flatout wrong. Drum patterns / keyboards / bass-lines are handled by Doktor Avalanche, which is now played live by Si Denbigh, Nurse to the Doktor."
wouldn't be the Sisters without the Doktor. :) And Si, of course - formerly March Violets, correct? They've never had a drummer, always a drum machine. Though I'd like a real live bass player too.
I think On The Wire has been played on this tour, I may be wrong.
+1 for Train and Giving Ground
And yes, Si Denbigh is Simon Detroit of The March Violets (who did a fantastic reunion gig over here in the UK about a year ago) :)
I think that should they should have mastered the songs that they put out over 20 years....instead they have deteriated into garbage. The show was a joke.
Andrew needs to move on. The reason why he never released a new album is because he knows damn well that it would suck. Then he would have no fans. After this tour, I can't see anyone showing up at a Sisters show. You can definitely count me out, plus the two people I was with.
The tour was at all large venues, like the House of Blues. It would have sounded much better at a dive bar. Andrew could not take control of the crowd (maybe 200 people in cleveland), and it sounded like a cd player was turned on. I don't care about the smoke, I care about the sound. It was nearly nonexistent. You could not dance to anything being played, let along figure out what he was singing. I could even figure out This Corrosion until the chorus!! It was a muddled piece of shit. If you are standing up for Andrew, that's pretty goddamn lame.
Good lord, aren't they embarrassed? The worst show I have ever been to. The second worst show was the Sisters in 2006. The smoke and lights show is boring and absurd and as for the pitiful lack of lead vocals -- I can only assume his voice is shot, because the sound guy cannot possibly be that idiotic. My last Sisters show ever. Hypernova was fantastic, though.
As I read these reviews, they are the same thing I felt when I saw them SOM for the 2nd time in Chicago, I think it was mid 90's. A 1990 show I saw at the same venue was fantastic, with live backing female singers and great light show. I was really disappointed at the mid-90s show, and it was clear Andrew E was hardly singing, just grunting out words. The fog was present at the good show, as well as this show. But it seemed like in the mid-90s show, his vocals were shot, and turned down in the mix. That was it for me, even though they have toured a few times since - I remember the disappointment, and plan to stay away from their shows in the future.
Saw the show in Portland on 11/22. I had the SAME exact reaction. I was able to enjoy the songs I had memorized because I knew all the words. The vocals were too low in the mix. And yah, they used smoke back in the day, but you could still see Andrew. A good sound guy could balance the beats with the voice and you'd be fine. I thought it was just the fact that we were in the balcony, but lots of reviews say the same thing.
There was so much smoke, anyone could be "singing" and Andrew could stay home and cash the check. There also really needed to be female backup singers, at least one, maybe two or three.
Bright spots of the show were Lucretia and Something Fast though, all the paleo-Goths made up for the low vocals by singing their black hearts out.
I am completely convinced that Andrew Eldritch was not present for the Seattle SOM show.
That is very disturbing! I hope you did not pay a lot for your tickets.
Andrew Eldritch is king of his own little world.
I agree with you 100%, I went to see them in Chicago and had a pretty similar experience. I was actually looking for reviews of their recent experience so I could post a picture of the fog that I stared at in place of a band.
Andrew Eldritch, Lead SInger
Music Video- Lucretia, My Reflection
Isavel Ironbear 3 years ago
I too attended the concert with anticpation of good show. Instead I was greeted with so much smoke and lights that you couldn't even really see Mr. Eldrich and not only that he left the stage at one point. Leaving us to wonder wether or not he was actually singing. The band Hypernova was excelent and we talked to them. Very cool guys. All I can say is I was later found wondering around Downtown Worcester by my friends saying "I can't believe they sucked!"