1999/10/11, The House of Blues, Las Vegas, NV, USA

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

This would be the grand finale for me. Four Sisters shows in six nights. Culminating with the House of Blues in Las Vegas. A sort of... Who's the band?, type of night. I didn't really know what to expect on this night. I had already heard the best of all the material. I saw the sarong in Anaheim and the Motor Head t-shirt in Los Angeles. What would Andrew Eldritch and his cohorts have in store for me next? Nothing but, pure molten rock and roll.

This show seemed to have a strong buzz to it. I myself had consumed a few alcoholic beverages before I had even arrived. Upon my arrival, I immediately had a couple more. The crowd seemed to come out off nowhere. A mixture of goths, club people and just plain old rock n rollers. I showed up after the opener on this night, I had a slightly difficult time finding an entrance. But once I was inside, it was pure heaven. I grabbed my beers and once again, headed for the stage. I was able to get to within shouting distance. They would pretty much just come out and perform. The set list was the same as San Francisco and Los Angeles, which was alright by me. I seem to have a tough time catching up with that Sister Ray, but there's always next time.

So the show goes on. First Ribbons, then the dynamic Train/Detonation Boulevard. The latter really seems to kick the show into overdrive. Adam has come up with some fabulous riffs for this piece. I really love the guitar part that fuses the two together. This song is a definite must to their set list. The other song that seems to be other other worldly is, On the Wire/Teachers/On the Wire. This could be one of there finest live works ever. The song just about puts me down in the ground, every time I hear it. I seem to melt through the floor.

All the new tracks except for War on Drugs were played. I can hardly wait for their new release. You almost wish for a studio and a live, but I'll settle for a studio. There seemed to be some controversy at the beginning of Suzanne. Or should I say, Give it a name Suzanne. Somebody at the back of the floor yelled out Lucretia, as the opening beats started to rumble. Then someone up near the front screamed Suzanne! It had quite the effect. The band then took the cue and played it raw. I could hear Andrew switch from Suzanne to Suzanne which gives it a good twist. The song just seems to cruise along forever. All of the songs are played with intensity. The Sisters have never been known to understand apathy, in fact, I've heard that they detest it. All the songs sounded fabulous. If there was a problem, minor problem I remind you. It had to end. I was doing some sort of count down in the back of my mind. I knew this night would have to end, and I just couldn't bare it. As Newton discovered, what goes up, must come down. I just didn't expect it to fall crashing.

Well, once again, I did the Sisters experience, and was totally captivated by it. I sometimes think they rule the world, but then again, doesn't everybody feel that way. If you ever get these guys to come anywhere near your town, see them. You get the total package. They give you the greatest rock and roll show in the world. They even get you to buy the same concert t-shirt twice. I want more, but I'm willing to wait. I'll see you in the neon dream, later on in life. And when you get there, rise and reverberate!!!

Written by Scott Brown (danfouts@email.msn.com) for Dominion mailing list

Perhaps as a cure for the current cynicism here -- which I usually take part in as a matter of principle -- might I suggest that one book one's self into the Mandalay Bay resort in Vegas, elevate on down to a venue actually located within the building, and catch the Sisters putting forth the best face they've worn in quite some time, if not ever here. Shortly, a formal fullest-length review gushing with hideous inevitability to the inbox of poor Andrius for lack of another outlet. But for now, suffice to say that after this amount of time, I presumed I would need more than "just a gig."

So I went in with the proverbial chip on the shoulder. I wanted a purpose delivered, a definition as to what exactly this tour is designed to do over and above just delivering the usual goods and collecting checks live once again. I may not be "owed" it, but that's what I've silently requested. And I got that -- to some extent. When all was said and done, it was very much a purposeful triumph, an intimate gig that evolved into a complete winning-over of an initially stagnant crowd -- characterized by shockingly pristine sound -- and capped by a closing promise from Andrew: "See you soon, very soon" (no individual interpretation of "soon" implicitly handed over, however).

Nothing other than the word "fun" comes to mind, and it does so repeatedly. Perhaps I should hang Agent Mulder's "I Want To Believe" poster on my wall, but I'm here feeling optimistic to the point where I'm compelled to use the word "giddy" for what I would hope would be the first and last time. Very fine-tuned and phenomenal, these Sisters, and I can't help but to have an overwhelming feeling that something is far more imminent than the understandably skeptical may lead you to believe out of habit. Some quotes, since you seem to be into those:

"Read 'em and weep. Read 'em...and...weep."

"You are very very bad people and you must be punished."

"That's not our smoke. I know what our smoke smells like, I know which way the wind blows, and that's not our smoke."

"I'm sorry, but the horns are just a bit much, if you don't mind me saying."

Written by voodoo@aimnet.com for Dominion mailing list

Las Vegas show was in many ways special. The Las Vegas House of Blues is not a large venue, and it was probably only half sold out. I feared that Andrew would be sort of pissy about the low turn out, but this didn't happen. He seemed to be in a great mood and they put on an excellent show.

Since it wasn't crowded it was possible to get right up in front of the stage, and still have room to dance about. And dance we did... The crowd made up for its small size with plenty of enthusiasm.

But for mizzuz voodoo and I one of the high points of the night was sharing a drink with Andy. About halfway through the show he took a sip out of an Evian bottle, then tossed it right to the mizzuz!

We aren't quite sure what was in the bottle. Vodka definitely. Mixed with some sort of fruit juice (cranberry? raspberry?) and fizzy water. In keeping with the good natured feeling in the crowd, we felt obliged to share our gift with all of our immediate neighbors, so we passed the bottle about like it was sacramental wine (of course we made sure to drink our fill and the empty bottle is now enshrined with our other sisters memorabilia).

Written by Darrin Revell (dmrevell@voy.net) for The Sisters of Mercy Tours site

Thought I would get this out while it was still somewhat fresh in my mind.

First, I love the sound of this line up. Less metal than the Vison Thing line up. They sounded great, especially on the older numbers. Adam Pearson did a great job. Second, not to come off like a giddy school girl after a Backstreet Boys show, but Andrew Eldritch has got to be one of the greatest frontmen in rock and roll, period. I don't smoke, but I almost want to after this show. Third, I was very pleasantly surprised (and I think the band was too) of how enthusiastic the Vegas crowd was. Vegas sometimes gets a bad rap as a tourist town, but this was a hard core crowd.