Sisters Of Mercy – Mandela Hall, Belfast – 8/07/2014

Paul Verner 10 July 2014 Event Reviews

Having had the support act cancel last minute, and with the doors opening a good 2 hours before the headliners were due to go on stage, there was a buzz in the air of the gathering audience, no-one knowing quite what to expect. Finally the pulsating beat of ‘More’ thumped out through the Mandela Hall; and with dry-ice machines in overdrive, Sisters of Mercy took to the stage to entertain the expectant crowd.

Hiding behind a fairly thick layer of smoke Chris Catalyst (guitars, backing vocals), Ben Christo (guitars, backing vocals), Ravey Davey (Doktor Avalanche operator), and of course the charismatic Andrew Eldritch on lead vocal, rip through a set covering all three of their studio albums and occasionally inserting an unreleased track into the mix, just for good measure.

The crowd seemed to take a while to get into the spirit of things, this might have had something to do with some initial sound problems which had Eldritch’s vocals somewhat lost in the mix at times, but it also felt the band lacked a certain volume level that only comes when you add a live rhythm section to a band, instead of the programmed Doctor Avalanche bank of Mac books sitting to the back of the stage.

As thy played through their back catalogue though, the crowd began to participate more and more, singing along, some of them reliving Sisters of Mercy concerts from 20 years ago, some seeing them for the first time. Such was the varied age of the crowd, but everyone seem to go away having heard exactly what they came for.

The music still seemed fresh and brilliantly dark, Catalyst & Christo’s guitar work was slightly restricted to the expected material, but on one or two occasions there were glimpses of what these two guys could really do, but undoubtedly Eldritch held the whole show together, at times pacing about the stage like a mad scientist, his vocals sometimes guttural and sometimes haunting.

As the set concluded with ‘Temple Of Love’ I can see where bands like Rammstein and Deathstars draw a part of their musical inspiration. Sisters of Mercy have probably been slightly under-rated over the years, but it is a real testament to their longevity that they can continue to pull a decent crowd, especially since a large portion of the audience were probably not even born when their last studio album hit the record shops back in 1990. Imagine what might happen if they did put out some new stuff?

Setlist:
More
Ribbons
When You Don;t see Me
Alice
Crash And Burn*
Gift That Shines (cover)*
A Rock and a Hard Place
Amphetamine Logic
Arms*
Dominion
Doctor Jeep/Detonation Boulevard
Top Night Out (Instrumental)*
Kiss The Carpet
Flood II
This Corrosion
Rain From Heaven*
Lucretia My reflection
Vision Thing
First & Last & Always
Misirlou (instr)
Temple Of Love