The Sisters Of Mercy at the Forum 18/04/03

Have you seen this man? Andrew Eldritch (allegedly!)

When I was younger I’d always mock my parents when they’d go to see The Hollies or Gene Pitney or any of their other favourite stars from the sixties, after all what relevance did such talents have in the early nineties? It just seemed really tragic to see talented people having to trade on nostalgia, with nothing new or interesting to offer. That could never happen to any of the bands that I was into, right? Fast Forward a decade or so and I’m waiting to see The Sisters of Mercy for the umpteenth time.

There’s the same old familiar dry ice field on stage and there’s the promise of nothing new other than the same old unreleased songs which have littered the live set for the best part of seven years now, and myths that these might one day constitute an album. Who’s eating their unkind words about the Hollies now?

There is some hope though. Rumour persist that this tour (entitled ‘Smoke and Mirrors’) is to be filmed and will form the basis a live DVD, perhaps a possible indication that we might get a few old favourites tonight that haven’t been aired for a while. Truth be told though, the promise of the DVD (and it’s inclusion of the ‘new’ songs) does seem to put the future of a new studio LP in jeopardy. After all, who but the most hardened Sisters fanatics will want to fork out for an album that consists of songs that they already have on the DVD, and most of which they probably already have on bootlegs anyway?

Don’t mention the ‘G’ word to Andrew Eldritch, but it’s nice to see that the fancy dress which was once the norm at Sisters gigs is back again in force, with most of the crowd wearing the latest Cyberdog fashions too. Maybe this band isn’t so irrelevant after all, although I’ve got a funny feeling that Andrew Eldritch is going to be the most underdressed person here!

The band begin with ‘Vision Thing’ (Hmmm, strange that’s normally the encore!), and at first we’re struck by how uneven the sound mix is - we can barely hear the forced guitar bursts or Andrew’s vocals. Then again, we are assuming that Andrew is the scrawny guy in the tight white top up there; the dry ice is so thick that it’s pretty hard to so who’s onstage holding their microphone upside down. Eldo could be at the bar at the moment with his mike in hand, whilst a roadie took his place on the stage and we’d be none the wiser! Andrew’s legendary one liners are for the most part absent tonight, aside from the wry "That wasn’t applause, that was a cry for help" in response to the reaction garnered by his first song. Tonight he’s very far removed from the pantomime villain we’ve witnessed so many times in the past.

The sound mix never really sorts itself out and it’s pretty difficult to even think of this as a live show when we can’t even see the band behind the amount of smoke and the sounds that we can hear are mostly pre programmed. Rock beast ‘Vision Thing’ fare such as ‘Dr Jeep’ and ‘Detonation Boulevard are just way too slow and really need a kick behind them. On the other hand, atmospheric ‘Floodland’ tracks such the creeping ‘Flood I’ and the more ambient ‘Flood II’ actually seem to gain something from the lower placing of the guitars in the mix. Surprises are the eerily effective ‘Marian’ (although I still can’t work out what Eldo sings in the third verse!), and at long last, a live performance of ‘Lucretia My Reflection’. I don’t think ‘Lucretia’ has been played live in this country by the Sisters since the Reading Festival of 1991, so tonight’s performance is something of a let down, all fuzzy guitar feedback and messy power chords, totally missing the tight robotic rhythm of the beloved studio incarnation.

The Sisters’ unreleased songs can be easily divided up into two categories - Ones that are pretty decent in a Steinman-esque power rock ballad kind of way, and those that are probably best left as unreleased songs. The high points are the restrained beauty of ‘We Are the Same, Suzanne’ and the pounding ‘Crash and Burn’. ‘Summer’ (Which should have been released as a single six years ago!) with it’s rolling waves of synths and dynamic guitars is also still a standout. Not so good is the hillbilly weirdness of ‘War On Drugs’ (a song that by no means should ever go anywhere near a recording studio!) and the plodding wake-me-up-when-it’s-over ‘Romeo Down’.

The Instrumental ‘Snub Nose’ begins the final encore and is followed by none other than ‘Temple Of Love’, although it’s kept to a tasteful length (so no, you’re not going to get the 1992 version) and that’s it, and even those hardcore fans assembled are given to wonder if what they’ve just witnessed was worth £20.

Tonight’s show was at best auto pilot nostalgia that gave no hint to what the Sisters can really do at their best (Anyone else remember the fantastic Forum gigs of February 1998?). But will the masses be back for more the next time a decrease in Andrew’s bank account requires him to tour?

Personally, I was so disappointed by my last Sisters show back in 2001, that I vowed I’d not bother the next time, yet I still managed to make it to the Forum tonight. Then again, Gene Pitney is performing down the road in the not too distant future, and at least you know he’ll give you nostalgia with a bit of enthusiasm...