I went to the Sisters of Mercy show on Wednesday night. In the last year or so I have seen the holy trinity of bands from my high school years, Dead Can Dance, and Bauhaus and now the Sisters.
Overheated amps, underpowered sound system and emblematic out-of-control fog, I’m talking about ‘I got a fever and the only prescription is more FOG, baby.” The performance was a bit lackluster, which is strange considering that it was more rock than goth. Only two guitarists joined Sisters front-man Andrew Eldritch on stage and lontime band-mate Dr. Avalanche (the drum machine) for curious, yet almost indecipherable due to sound problems, rock renditions of Ribbons, Vision Thing, Temple of Love, First Last and Always and many more. Despite the problems with the sound, Eldritch was a bit out of sorts so to speak, a little stiff but quite affable and gracious with repeated thank-yous. In short, he was not quite himself. Blame it on the broken rib he appartenly suffered a day or so before the concert.
The crowd was a fun, familiar reminder that you can’t kill the goth scene, because it’s already dead! Maybe it’s just undead. Good fun was had all ’round.