First. Last. Always. For many in attendance, this will be it. The Sisters of Mercy have not visited America in some 15 years, Andrew Eldritch is well into his 60s and an aggravating apathy toward studio recording of new material does not bode well for another world tour to support such tracks.
That maelstrom of factors considered, those who had the gothic rock pallbearers on their bucket list – yet assumed they’d never get the chance to trip the light fantastic within the lower 48 – sure had their shot Saturday night at The Fillmore in Philadelphia’s Fishtown neighborhood.
Eldritch, clearly in a frisky mood and likely riding the legal high of the previous night’s sold-out show in New York City, slinked his way through the sabers of on-stage light. Long-standing guitarist Ben Christo was the most accessible of the bunch, mouthing to the crowd, posturing for photos and generally shredding those tingles and twangs of the trademark Sisters sound – Wayne Hussey should be proud of such an enduring impact. The absolute unit that is Dylan Smith, a towering rock god clad in aviators, has been an invigoration force for the band since joining in 2019.
- Update: The abrupt departure of guitarist Dylan Smith at London’s Roundhouse gig is yet another “Judas Leaves The Sisters”/”Well, we’ve got rid of the driftwood now” moment in a long line of tumult for the band’s rhythm section. Oh, we could go on about court-ordered payouts, collaborations with founding members that died on the vine and allegations of who did or didn’t do what on Floodland. Anyway, Smith’s on-stage antics (finally just air-guitaring after clearly fighting with rampant sound issues all evening) at the 9/22/23 show seems to have gotten him summarily sacked on stage. It’s all a cryin’ shame. A seamless addition with such a short tenure is testament to what could have been. A new album? Doubt it, but a talented aesthetic addition who was welcomed by fans and helped make truly great new material a reality… ugh. Godspeed, Smith, we hardly knew ye.
Add in everyone’s favorite nurse to drum machine Doktor Avalanche, Ravey Davey, and the full-swing stalk and swagger was a spectacle to behold.
Gravel & Growl
This semi-recent incarnation of the group has all the gusto of the stadium-slaying Vision Thing era. Having flown to Europe in 2017 to see the Sisters, thinking it would be my only chance and a US tour would never come, I went home in a good mood. It was a good show. It was a good time. The end. The June 3, 2023 gig in Philadelphia blew the roof off the place; no confusion, no surprise nor the trademark human pyramids, but loads of sing-alongs and skyward fist-pounding to the battery assault from the good Doktor.
And yet, as ever and always, the trappings of 1985 are somehow still present. Eldritch’s voice, while coming through just fine Saturday compared to early US tour hiccups, is overtly gravel and growl. It suited “Marian,” but it’s clearly supplemented by the two ax men flanking Von. The fog is less, the lights are more and the whole thing is like one big, angry maximum beat-per-minute disco.
The din of battle is how Trevor Ristow, author of Sisters biography Waiting for Another War: A History of The Sisters Of Mercy Vol. I: 1980-1985 equated his first time seeing the band in 1985 as a teenager in San Francisco. I interviewed Ristow for a Lethal Amounts magazine piece back in 2020 after his book shook the fan base. Here’s what he told me about that baptism by fire of Gatling gun drums, muzzle flash lights, smoke, howls and an acrid smell:
“It’s a room filled with smoke with these lights that are blasting through the smoke, especially on some of the louder, faster songs like ‘Sister Ray.’ It’s a wall of noise and this battery drum machine that has a militaristic feel to it. It’s what I imagined the people who are being shelled at Verdun must have felt, minus the being killed part of course. It’s just this awe. You’re choking in smoke. There are lights that are cutting in your eyes, the sound is just coming in your ears full volume. At the same time, you have this emotional reaction to the music. The Sisters of Mercy created that atmosphere very deliberately to create a powerful new experience for people, and it did. It worked.”
Eldritch himself knows the importance of presentation, recently telling Brooklyn Vegan, “I think you’ll be pleased because we try and convey a sense of energy and fun to the proceedings. And you were right to notice that maybe, in recent years, there’s been a bit of a dip. But, right now, we’re on fire, so we can go anywhere.”
Crash and Burn?
The visuals indeed work and always have. The substance, however, was hit-or-miss for some. As we shuffled out after the three-peat encore, a friend and fellow 1980s alternative music aficionado said he almost felt like a “fraud” for not knowing enough of the evening’s material – despite enjoying the slow burn of “Here.” One look at the set list helped set him straight: nearly half of the 20 songs played in the hour-long show have been debuted since 2019. Nobody should expect a greatest hits tour from a band just because they came on the scene 40 years ago. Still, tossing a few scraps of fresh meat to the rabid crowd would have been nice. In Amsterdam when I first saw them in 2017, there was a five-song stretch from the First and Last and Always era and it more than made up for the price of airfare.
So then… final verdict? For $50, you can do a lot worse. I hardly expect to ever be in the same room as Von again and soaked in every second of his stage-right visits. Fare well, friend. Your work has been the soundtrack to more rough nights than good times in my life, but it’s sleazy music for bad people anyway. Thanks for making it OK to indulge in excess every now and again.
And for my final shot across the bow, if the concept of a self-published concert review on a WordPress website feels outdated, I invite you to view the sole digital presence of The Sisters of Mercy – all bathed in turn-of-the-millennium retina-burning red. Eldritch has always been mother superior, the judge, jury and executioner of the corporation, and this 2023 tour proves his neon dream remains as vivid as ever.
Setlist:
Don’t Drive on Ice
Ribbons
Alice
I Will Call You
Crash and Burn
But Genevieve
Summer
Show Me
Marian
More
Instrumental 86
Doctor Jeep / Detonation Boulevard
Eyes of Caligula
Something Fast
Here
On The Beach
When I’m on Fire
Encore:
Lucretia My Reflection
Temple of Love
This Corrosion
Greg Adomaitis 