February 16
York
February 17
Leeds
February 18
Nottingham
February 20
Birmingham
February 22
London
February 23
London
February 25
Deinze
February 26
Hamburg
February 27
Hamburg
March 1
Berlin
March 2
Erfurt
March 3
München
March 5
Stuttgart
March 6
Köln
March 7
Zürich
March 9
Prague
March 10
Vienna
March 17
Oporto
"'Hey now, hey now-na-now', moody Goth shortarse Andrew Eldritch -- who apparently spends most of his time nowadays twiddling knobs at home in Germany -- returns yet again with his legendary '80s doom merchants The Sisters Of Mercy and hits like 'Lucretia (My Reflection)' and 'This Corrosion'. Marvellous news for his legions of pansticked fans." -- TimeOut (London's mag renown for its entertainment listings), February 21-28 2001.
The band is back in London for a doublenighter in what has become a yearly tradition religiously kept since 1997. This time the fun moved to Astoria theater in the city center. Before becoming prime venue for popular middle sized Ticketmaster rock/pop shows, trade fairs and such Astoria theater used to be a real theater, and the acoustic qualities of the hall are still impressive. Naturally, the sound was clearer at the back than in the front, but that's how things go everywhere.
The crowd was generally calm with exception of ten first rows, where violence sometimes was manifested too eagerly (read a discussion about the violence here). This first show hadn't sold out, the second, slated for Friday succeeded in it.
The band were in top form, and despite a seriously looking security at the entrance, there were quite a few photos and recorders; a video of the gigs also exists. The setlist was a drastic rearrangement without much similarity to the previous ventures, first few songs and encores aside. It featured the first performance of Flood I this tour.
In both shows Andrew changed line "head on back to Kirkstall" to "head on back to Leeds 13"; if I'm not mistaken, on the first day he did it while looking at the UK following, in large part made of the Leeds crowd. Leeds 13 (aka LS13) is on of Leeds postcode districts (UK postcodes are explained in detail here).
To get an idea of the connection between Leeds 13 and Eldritch, look at this map. The circled thing is the ASDA supermarket in Pudsey, to which Andrew invited people to come and meet him during the Leeds gig; the location was specified as "ASDA in New Pudsey". the New Pudsey train station is also on the map, slightly on the left from ASDA. The Leeds city center is outside the map limits, to the right. On the very right edge of the map is Kirkstall (Leeds 5), and between it and the ASDA is Bramley, also known as Leeds 13. Making conclusions is left as an exercise for the reader.
Support acts: Tin Star, Dave Thomas and Two Pale Boys.
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Thanks to Andrius Sytas.
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By Mark Reed (thegenius@btinternet.com).
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By Chris Sampson (Chris@cgs123.demon.co.uk).
Written by Rob Fakes (rob@kebra.co.uk)
for The Sisters of Mercy Tours webzine
After a Nasty Few hours on the train, and the sudden realization that it's
as hard to breathe in our hovel of a capital as it is to get a decent pint
of Bitter, I finally made it to the Astoria at about eight. Rather peeving
as I'd greatly enjoyed David Thomas and Two Pale Boys at the three out of four
dates they had graced so far, and didn't want to miss as much of them as I
did. Not too distressing though, as Tinstar put in another blinder and
whipped the more mashed/panstick free sections at the front of the crowd
into a frenzy of appreciation and anticipation. Shoulder lifts during the
support act was a nice thing to see.
As ever I acted appallingly stupidly
for the entire duration of the Sisters set, but the only ever shouting for
Motorhead songs thing worked (well after four or five years) so what the
hell. Ribbons was as ever, blinding, but the real highlights for me these
days are the new tracks, which it is really encouraging to see improving and
maturing over the space of the last couple of tours. Summer is turning into
a monster, and even War on Drugs is sounding astonishingly good, considering
how unsure I was of it when it first appeared. Snubnose and Come Together
are two songs it would be a tragedy never to see on shiny vinyl, and I can't
vouch for the whole crowd as I'm too short to see them, but down the front
over this tour it's starting to resemble NMA/Slayer type behavior to
certain tunes, which is just peachy with me. Without a doubt seeing the
Sisters do Capricorn live is mindbuggeringly entertaining, and the Doktor
really pins it down into an industro-monster, rather than killing it as it
could well have.
What else to say? I remember very little after leaving (sober but still
concussed from a couple of days beforehand), other than looking forward to
the following day even more. A great show from a
great British leg, I only
wish I could afford to do Germany, but
Dresden and back bloody squinted me
last summer (never pillion to East Germany!), York
was special, Leeds was
stunning, Notts redeemed itself for last year and
only Brum really failed to
ignite.
See you in the summer, unless someone can bloody work out where to
get tickets for the Portugal gig!
Written by Don F Robertson (vonbek@globalnet.co.uk)
for The Sisters of Mercy Tours webzine
A stop at the George allows me to catch up with a few familiar faces from
M'era Luna last years and the
earlier dates of this tour. A few celebratory drinks later we arrive at the
Astoria in time to catch Tin Star. The performance is good and does indeed
serve as a suitable warm up for the Sisters.
First and Last and Always kicks off the main set and the crowd duly erupts into a frenzy of
movement. Ribbons is followed by Come Together, which appears to have been
reinstated since Leeds. The only other notable
change is the use of War On Drugs to open the first encore. Eldritch is less
talkative than York or Leeds, although I wasn't at
either of the Nottingham or
Birmingham gigs, so I can't say if this is the
product of his well documented dislike for London.
Overall the gig is fast and furious - a prime example of what Eldritch has
referred to as the band's current "stonkathon". All of the unreleased tracks
that have appeared between 1993-2000 are played tonight, which may be a first.
I leave tired but happy and looking forward to
tomorrow's nights performance.
Written by Geoffrey Elliott (geoffrey.elliott@uk.arthurandersen.com)
for The Sisters of Mercy Tours webzine
Before the Forum dates last
September I hadn't seen the Sisters since London in
1990. Long time. Wasn't sure what to expect but was very surprised that the new
songs, especially Summer, Crash and Burn and War on Drugs, were great. Had a
great time, jumped up and down and got right back into it.
Consequently was very much looking forward to the latest gigs and they lived up
to my expectations. I love the set and the lights, though there was not as much
smoke this time which was a shame. Sound was good, the new songs are a bit more
familiar now and the mix between old and new was good. Eldritch looks a very
happy man these days and seems to enjoy the on stage experience. He's certainly
more mobile than he used to be. Adam is fantastic, what a superb guitarist.
Sheehan is a fine foil for him. Their little jam on Snubnose is great.
Highlight song? Always Alice for me, pity they didn't play Jolene, one of my
live favorites.
You never know, one day we may get a new album...
Written by Pete French (pete@toybox.twisted.org.uk)
for Dominion mailing list
> Just back from the show. Some 20 minutes after it. People must be still
That'll be Rex from The Electric ballroom then. He's not normally that
good, we left after he started descending into his usual techno-metal set.
Written by Marge (godgirl@twisted.org.uk)
for Dominion mailing list
> Marge's underwear on display
you *whot*?
*grumble*
I'll get a reputation.
P.S. shall i wear purple knickers tonight?
Ad (from TimeOut) scanned by
Bart Kalita (admin@bart-domain.com),
Astoria picture by Tina von Stein (t_von_stein@hotmail.com),
bigger version is here.
> dancing in the venue - after the lights went on some music and impromptu
> disco started.
Credited material copyrighted by stated authors