Through a shroud of mist, the Sisters of Mercy emerged onstage. Guitarist Ben Christo and his beautifully voluminous hair took his place on the left, while Kai, a rather mysterious and androgynous-looking guitarist, stood to the right.
At the back, and unfortunately mostly out of sight, was ‘Ravey’ Dave Creffield operating the band’s drum machine, ‘Doktor Avalanche’. And, of course, centre stage stood the band’s last original member (aside from the ‘Doktor’) and frontman, Andrew Eldritch.
Dressed in all black and wearing his iconic sunglasses, Eldritch moved around the stage in a hauntingly ghoulish manner, quite reminiscent of a 1920s Nosferatu.
The stage was lit almost exclusively by coloured backlights that changed for every song, save for the occasional spotlight casting an eerie glow on Eldritch’s face, making him look like another famous vampire from a little movie called Dracula (1931).
His appearance was accompanied by his deep, brooding vocals, which seem to have been the topic of discussion in recent years, with some arguing that they have grown weaker. Personally, I am not sure whether it was his singing, the mixing, or perhaps simply where I was standing in the room, but I found the lyrics rather difficult to make out.
Nonetheless, instrumentally, they sounded great. Their dark post-punk and industrial sound created a bewitching atmosphere. But of course, they are not goth. Nothing goth to see here.
Their setlist had a lovely flow, never letting things get dull.
Many of their songs have very danceable riffs, so hardly anyone around me stood still—myself included. From the very first song, Don’t Drive on Ice, a group of young people were already headbanging with rather infectious joy, while others swayed the way you would see in a bat cave or opted for a more reserved form of headbanging: the humble head bob.
Their setlist had a lovely flow, never letting things get dull. By the time they played ‘More’, much of the crowd seemed to have grown considerably livelier.
What makes seeing the Sisters live so special is that they perform a good number of songs that have never received an official studio release, such as Summer, Crash and Burn, and one of my new favourites, I Will Call You.
Towards the end of the show, the band treated us to some of their biggest hits, including Temple of Love, followed in the encore by Lucretia My Reflection and This Corrosion, rounding off the night in style.
It had been a sold-out show, but it was only while heading down to the cloakroom that I realised just how crowded the venue had been. But even the long queue couldn’t dampen the high spirits (quite unusual for goths, perhaps?) or the post-concert afterglow, with someone somewhere always singing ‘Hey now, hey now now...’.
All in all, seeing (not sure if that is the right word) the Sisters of Mercy live was a real (late-Halloween) treat.
