THE SISTERS OF MERCY w/The Ivories
LIVE @ The Astoria, London

On May 2nd, 2006, after an absence of several years, The Sisters of Mercy returned to the UK for a proper tour. Part of the near-worldwide Silver Bullet Tour, this marked 25 years since the inception of one of the most infamous yet influential bands of the 1980's. The line up has changed, more times than we care to remember, but the core remains the same. Andrew Eldritch, and the machine brain of Doktor Avalanche. But The Astoria is one of the worst venues they could have chosen. Acoustically wrong and far too small for this type of sound, if this was all they could book for the gig then things were already bleaker than they should be.

Label them as a goth band at your peril. They perhaps once fell into that category, in the earliest of early days, but they evolved with the times, to industrial, rock-pop, and finally to the usually-finely-tuned groove machine of today. New songs, which should at various times have been released on new albums that for various reasons were not to be, mixed in with some old classic anthems of yesteryear, if you've seen one Sisters show since the 90's then you've seen them all. Or have you...? The departure of long-serving co-conspirator, co-writer, and almost co-frontman Adam Pearson, and non-availability of regular alternating guitarists Mike Varjak and Chris Sheehan necessitated a recruitment drive. Enter Chris Catalyst - aka industrial-metal mentallist Chris "Robochrist" May - and the previously-little-known Ben Christo to inject some younger blood into the slightly-rusty Sisters machinery. So what should we expect before the gig? New songs? An announcement of a new album to coincide with such a major, extensive tour? Yeah right. As if. click the pics for larger views.

Not the worst Sisters gig we've been to, in fact things got off to a finestart with the support. Infamous for selecting shit support acts, for once Eldritch has chosen well (or at least someone has!) - The Ivories went down a storm. Sultry, sexy, ferocious, brooding, Siouxsie and The Banshees fused with Juliette & The Licks, fantastic stuff and a band that deserves to go far. Check out their singles "Reduce The Temperature" and "Heartstrings" if you can. The Ivories pick up the baton from Siouxsie Sioux, and run with it across the musical boundaries from punky soul to poppy thrash. 4.5 outta 5 for the support.

Now, as always, it's late by the time the stage fills up with the customary fog. By the time the customary interlude music comes to a stop. By the time newcomers Chris Catalyst and Ben Christo taketo the stage, and, eventually, a fur-coat clad Eldritch appears - vaguely - through the smoke. The Sisters have always been about smoke, and mirrors, and lights, but in this shitty venue - The Astoria's far inferior to the Brixton Academy or Kentish Town Forum where we've seen them before - the stage is too fog-filled, and you can barely see anything even though we were at the front by the stage.

We could barely hear the now-shaven headed Eldritch over the guitar and backing vocals from both Catalyst and Christo. No one-liners from Eldritch, like he couldn't be bothered to turn up and sent a muteclone in his place. Only thing he uttered all night was "I can't hear me either" as the sound crew struggled to find some sort of balance. Eldritch sang quietly, like he couldn't be bothered. Gee, thanks Von. We pay to see you and you only barely turned up but left your voice at home.

Set list veered from a reasonable Crash and Burn at the start, a pumped up Ribbons/Detonation Boulevard, a surprisingly good sludgecore (think Nashville Pussy) version of Doctor Jeep, to watered down versions of Flood 1/2, Suzanne, and Summer. Things only really came to life at the end of the main set with This Corrosion, but Christo's screamed backing vocals make us wish for an appearance by long-time Sisters X-O Adam Pearson, and our hearts sink with the realisation that, with few exceptions, when you leave The Sisters, even on rare amicable terms, there is rarely a return to the ranks.

We got two encores, as is semi-customary at a Sisters gig, Something Fast, done semi-acoustic, and the legendary Lucretia My Reflection, always a stunner to hear in a live set given its almost total absence during the 90's. Second encore brought the now-customary guitar duel - now between Christo and Catalyst rather than Pearson v Varjak/Sheehan - on the instrumental track Snubnose/Top Night Out. They thoroughly enjoyed their time in the spotlight, Catalyst in particular pacing the stage like a full-size Keith Flint, and pulling mad faces at the crowd, getting cheers whenever he did so. Christo still looks a little uncomfortable with his role in such a vital position.

After this, the final song of the night, Eldritch returns for Temple of Love. A crushed, neutered version, half the song if that, either due to time constraints or the fact that the entire song's not been done live in a while. And then they were gone.

All in all, a passable sing-along night. But we could hardly hear Eldritch all night, so the crowds sang louder. As Sisters gigs go, it was weak, perhaps it really is time that Eldritch hung up the shades and the string vest and retired to his new life of computer games and apathy for the fans that made him an icon. Or perhaps the lack of response not just here but around the globe will be enough to spur him into action. Write some new f'in songs and release a bloody album! After all, McCoy blew everyone's expectations out the water with the new Nephilim album "Mourning Sun", METAL-i firmly believes The Sisters could eclipse that fantastic album if they get their arses in gear.

www.thesistersofmercy.com
myspace.com/nearmethexperience

NoiseMatters rated:
The Ivories: (3½/5)
The Sisters:    (2½/5)