1998/02/06, Maritime Hall, San Francisco, CA, USA

Written by R. Logan Mirto (speedking23@hotmail.com) for The Sisters of Mercy Tours site

All The Love, All The Haight...

Thursday's show was awesome, Friday's was better. I hit the Maritime Hall smoking one of Andrew Eldritch's cigarettes, feeling really good about life in general, wondering what could top the night before. I was front row center again, thanks to a couple of great folks in the front. Lucky Me played a tighter set, and the lead singer had on a cute little wig, but kept baffling the audience with stories that didn't seem to go anywhere. I finally met the mysterious cameraman, who has been taping shows since '91, shared a drink and talked to him for a while... but I can't talk about that. Sorry. Set changes made for a great second show, with every single song hammered out like clockwork. If there was a show to tape, it was this one. Raw gonzo over driven technical perfection. Oh yes.

Black and red Chinese jacket this time, Ugliest Shirt On God's Green Earth (man... it's So cool...), no Motörhead T. After the third song, Andrew said "Now that we've had sex, I'm gonna smoke" and flicked a cigarette at the front row. It landed between the feet of the gent behind me, but I managed to dive for it. (I don't know how I ended up with so many random interactions with AE. Go figure.) I smoked it during Summer (Andy's intro: "I have an announcement: after this, it will never rain again"), and shared it with the front row. I offered another bottle to him but he grinned and shook his head. I had my camera this time, and managed to get at least ten solid shots.

The guy who got the wine bottle last night gave him a pair of shades this night, but other than that direct crowd/band interaction was nil. They had done a relaxed show on Thursday, Friday they were kicking ass and taking names.

Kiss was a deadly opener, Body Electric was great. Vision Thing should be played at every show as it has a groovy furious feel live. (I could have sworn they played War On Drugs both nights. The chorus and close actually had a bunch of us singing along "Seven shades of Shiva rising, let's do the war on drugs." It was grand and the band seemed to get a kick out of us actually knowing the words. Maybe it was Thursday... Hell, I don't know... The time in between the shows is kind of a blur). For the second night in a row, the lightshow was stunning. The sunset fade during Summer and the white flares during Anaconda stood out the most. And Body Electric was awesome. Like Matt said.

F&L&A and then This Corrosion again for encores, louder and angrier than before, with the whole place singing on command... and then it was over.

Post-concert fury

So after the show, I'm talking to Rob from Lucky Me, and he can't get me back to meet the Man. I tell him that the one of the Sisters Crew put me on the list for Hollywood, and Rob says " Well... tell you what... If you can make it to the XXXXXXX Hotel by 7:30 in the morning, meet me in the parking lot, and you can ride down with us". I couldn't turn it down. The Force was with me. I had enough cash for an early flight back to S.F. (My flight back to Texas wasn't until noon on Sunday), I was in, all I had to do was to kill 6 hours in a strange city. I say goodbye to my Dallas pals, put all my belongings in a locker at the airport, and pull an all nighter in S.F. drinking coffee and walking around union square watching the sun come up. Showed up at 7:30 and...

No room in the van. None. Zero. Fuck. (thanks anyway Rob, no hard feelings) The Sisters had already left town at 4 am, so there was no chance of scoring a ride with them, and I couldn't get a plane there and back on such short time (believe me, I tried). So all I ended up with was the satisfaction of knowing that in Hollywood, on Saturday, at another Sisters show, there was a list with my name on it.

As always, if anyone got any audio or a video of either S.F. show, please contact me. I'd love to trade. Thank you Tija for driving me around all night and giving me a place to crash. You're the tops. And thanks again to everyone who suffered the crushing front with me, and let me bribe my way to the front row with liquor.

Written by Speedy Dave (dave@the-nunnery.demon.co.uk) for Dominion mailing list

I'll agree that the best of all the American shows (sound wise) was Chicago but in SF... Not good, if you'd known the hassle that went on prior to the doors opening, i.e. in-house wiring and failure to keep the power supply going for more than 10 minutes at a time plus the antique sound desk that almost exploded...

> I thought that the sound was weak on the first night, but I had no complaints for the second show.

This was due to all the problems mentioned above the second night the creases had been ironed out to some extent.

Written by Clif Duhn (cduhn@itsa.ucsf.edu) for Dominion mailing list

Andy had some nice one liners on the second night as well. After Come Together, he says "We've just had sex, so now we're gonna smoke." Think about it.

Crowd felt like it was twice as large as the night before. I liked the setlist better on the second night as well. Alice and Body Electric were welcome additions, as was Kiss. If they had to drop any song I'm glad it was War On Drugs.

Andy continued to fool the crowd with Romeo Down, by starting it off with the words to Flood II. Lots of confused looks once the unfamiliar music kicked in.

I know for a fact that both nights were digitally recorded. Also, I don't know about the first night, but there was a guy directly above me in the balcony with a video camera on the second night.

I met Adam (Pearson) after the show briefly, and gave him a set of old photos for him to give to Andy for me (Andy wasn't anywhere to be found at the time). Adam told me that they were all going to meet up with Wayne at the LA show the next night. I would have loved to have seen how that meeting went.

Of course my conversation was rudely interrupted by some drunken gothy-girl who came up and introduced herself to Adam and told him that she'd been admiring his stomach all night. He gave her that look that asks "What planet are you from?"

I left soon afterward, declining to wait for Andrew to show up (I was tired). Hell, I know it was the opportunity of a lifetime, but I honestly couldn't have thought of much to say to him anyway. I was embarrassed for my home town by the cross section of those that did stick around backstage for Andrew. A mix of drunken goth groupies, old-wrinkled industry types, and weirdo-obsessive types carrying 20 different records for Andrew to sign. I hope he doesn't think that all his San Francisco fans are like that. No, just the ones who somehow managed to get those red-bracelet things.

Didn't have the energy to even think about driving to LA for the Palladium gig, which I'm glad I didn't given the security-Nazi stories, but my ticket did go to waste.

I hope Andrew was serious when he said he'd be back. And not in another 7 years.

Written by J. Elizabeth Hahn (roylinks@favorites.com) for The Sisters of Mercy Tours site

I'll begin with how lucky I was to have been able to see The Sisters of Mercy in concert. But, that's only the beginning. It also was the day after my birthday and I also got to meet him. Which to me for some reason leads me to believe that there is a god and he has put me here for a reason. "Thank you God."

I have to set up the situation for you. First of all 2 years ago I had started to dabble in all the wrong things. But I do believe that if I hadn't, I wouldn't have come to my current understanding of things. Anyway, throughout those two years I had grown bigger and better liking of the Sisters of Mercy. At that time the Sisters of Mercy decided to do a show in Philadelphia in June of 1997, but I was unable to go -- I was on too many drugs. Soon after I got caught and since then have been clean for almost a year (thank Lord I don't want to run for president). I feared that I will never be able to see them ever again and resented myself for months after, making it unbearable for me to go into any airport for fear that it would remind me of the stupidity. Anyway, to make a long story long: I was at God's mercy.

I went to the shows and was in front for the first and the second show. It was wunderbar. All though you had to learn the Jedi ways of blocking out all the people who were singing Andrew's lyrics in your ear. Making it almost impossible to understand what he meant or even what he was saying. It was like that at both concerts. I was glad, though, to have heard Andrew tell everyone there to shut up even though they couldn't hear him over themselves.

I was glad to have met Dean, he was there video taping. I asked him after the first show if he could get me back stage passes for the next show. He told me to come back tomorrow. I did and he gave me the wristband to get into the bar afterwards. I got to meet Andrew Eldritch. Though through the gaggles of giggling girl goths it was hard. They swarmed all over him purposefully making it hard to even get a short signature.

I ended up making a fool out of myself by constantly saying thank you to for what he has given me. The worst part was that I didn't even get to sit down and talk with him like I had been wishful thinking for two years. But I did get my boyfriend's jacket signed and I got his cousin's Some Girls CD signed and a little piece of paper signed for me. He's a lot shorter than I thought he was. But he has a well aged face and is terribly quiet and nice. I like the blonde hair.

The good part was that I got to meet him, I was sober, it was a great birthday present, and it was the best learning experience I have had my whole entire 21 years of living. I'm still looking forward to more Sisters of Mercy concerts in America and hope that I could receive any information on any to come. Maybe this time I won't make an a** out of myself.

Written by Marc Spinale (sspinale@ix.netcom.com) for The Sisters of Mercy Tours site

Once again wide awake at the Maritime Hall in San Francisco for the second Sisters of Mercy performance. This show by far was a lot more intense and more exciting. The crowd was about twice as thick than the night before, with long lines at the bar, coat check and with less space to maneuver around people on the floor, thus, much more rudeness and at times, how pretentious is pretentious. Carried on overlooking the imperfections and patiently waited for Father Eldritch.

I was anticipating changes in the setlist tonight, and sure enough after the intros, the reptile house crept up and out of the dense fog and blue lights, leaving no escape, with Kiss the Carpet. Andrew appeared more lively and in a way excited about this night. The audience too was full of much energy (or was it beer?). Ribbons blasted out with a much better sound than the night before, obviously worked out the bugs of the sound system. Then came Come Together which at this point is actually growing on me. Amphetamine Logic, with a surprise to follow, Body Electric done nice and tight. Giving Ground, (We Are the Same) Suzanne, On the Wire, and another treat for the ears, Alice. Then another newbee, Will I Dream, Dominion/Mother Russia, Summer, Anaconda and Romeo Down. Flood II, and then tearing into Vision Thing. After the break was Comfortably Numb, which would be great as a B-side, slithering into Some Kind of Stranger. Another break, and Eldritch and gang were back with First Last and Always, and finally, This Corrosion, with lots and lots of goth girls suddenly dancing circles through the crowd as the night drew to a close. Eldritch said they'd be back again, and disappeared behind the fog and fading guitar.

The spirit of this show was positively the best of the two performances. I was happy with the set changes and look forward to what awaits over the horizon for the Sisters of Mercy. Certainly, quite an event to remember goth or not!

Written by Stacey J. Winklepleck (batgirl_sjw@juno.com) for Dominion mailing list

All and all I thought both shows were amazing, the second more so because I found myself in the very front - so much I was pretty much caught between the barrier and some cases that was in front (on the right). No matter I had a odd angle on Andrew so I could see his eyes the entire show - they look quite red and swollen but that's just me. I was the anti-goth girl in the chartreuse green sweater - oddly enough the same color of Andrew's funky shirt. I'm guessing he noticed because he bent down and intro'd Will I Dream directly to me (to which my reaction was to just grin stupidly). Highlights of the show for me were hearing Alice live and Dominion/Mother Russia - I loved the crowd sing-a-long during the "rain down", as well as the fun lights.

I find it odd that the security between LA and SF was so different - in SF I could've smuggled a Uzi in and no one would have noticed. And I made friends with the security guard beside me (which is how I got the setlist), who was really nice and gave me earplugs after the Lucky Me set (which was after when I needed them, I sort of knew the LM guitarist so I wanted to be in front of him so I could talk to him, but I ended up only hearing his guitar the entire set). Oh well. Security also could give a shit about he no smoking rule since we smoked the entire show and even they were smoking. I'm glad I didn't go to the LA show after having such an awesome time both nights in SF. But was anyone else disappointed that on the WillCall tickets, Sisters are not listed on them? I wanted a small momento - oh well.

Written by Matt Redman (m-redman@students.uiuc.edu) for Dominion mailing list

The second day of the San Francisco shows was way better in my opinion. Opened up with Kiss which was great. They put in Alice, Vision Thing (which was the last song in the first set) and Body Electric which had an awesome light show - totally blinding greens and blues just going crazy, couldn't see anything except for the lights. They didn't do Train/Detonation Boulevard, War on Drugs, Temple or Something Fast. The crowd seemed a little more sedate, but still good. The crowd on the first night was great - singing along, dancing, moving the whole show. I can see why Andrew likes this town. People actually show the band that they appreciate them.

Another thing of note at the second SF show: Andrew's Chinese jacket appeared to be red, not the usual yellow. Does he have two? I think he must.

Overall, two great shows. The new songs are really beginning to grow on me, I like them a lot. Both days, he said a little bit of flood right before Romeo Down. The lights are totally amazing. Off for LA tonight.:)

Written by Rokyhoror@aol.com for The Sisters of Mercy Tours site

I was at the two SF shows and they were both great in their own way. Each night they changed the setlists which for me was heaven. Having not seen them for so long, I was willing to see them do almost anything.

Definitely the second night was superior to the first. Andrew looked more comfortable with the venue. The songs came firing one after the other especially the first night. So fast in fact that you would forget what was played. But he did try his hardest to get enough of all the material as he could in those two nights. I think if I had known what was playing on each night if I had not gone both I would have been disappointed.

I liked the way Comfortably Numb segued into Some Kind of Stranger. I would like to have heard their excellent cover version of Gimme Shelter again as I did in '91, but hey, you can't have everything!

All in all I would say that both shows put together made one great night.

Written by Colin McClune (cmcclune@reed.edu) for Dominion mailing list

I don't have too much more to say than what has already been said. The shows were better than the Philly show, which was pretty outstanding, I thought. Eldritch was in a wonderful mood, second night he looked at some of us in the front who had been there the previous night and said "Come here often?" Also, nobody (as far as I noticed) mentioned that Adam plays bass on Romeo Down. That was a nice touch... otherwise, the sound is great, the new material is wonderful (seven shades of Shiva rising, let's do a war on drugs!). The second night had a wonderful set list, although I missed War on Drugs. Body Electric, Vision Thing and Alice were very welcome though.

> After Come Together, he says "We've just had sex,
> so now we're gonna smoke." Think about it.

I may be confused, but I think he said "Now that we've had sex, I'm going to smoke" after Ribbons.

Lastly, Eldritch ended the second show with "I'll be back..."

Written by Ashley Niblock (ashleyn@earthlink.net) for The Sisters of Mercy Tours site

Regarding the SF show and the smoking ban here (this could happen only in California!): after the second song, his Andrewness said 'right, we've had sex, now I'm going to have a cigarette; he then lit up and smoked throughout the rest of the show.

Great lighting, tons of (fake) smoke, and all the old favorites made it a good show, but not a great show. They're not the most dynamic of folk onstage and the lightshow doesn't make up for stage presence (cf. Portishead here a month or so ago, who were simply amazing, with great orchestration of all the different elements that make up their unique sound; as well as stage presence, moody lighting and great film/video backing.

For an old rock'n'roll show, I'm really glad I saw it - I've been a fan since they started (I'm from Coventry).

It's interesting they played two gigs in SF out of only 6 or so in the whole of the USA. There's the biggest goth/industrial scene here (not that SoM are goth of course, oooh nooo, missus). I can't work out why.