A late report again; not that you care, but I've been busy celebrating new wine and birthdays. OK, I finally got to experience The Sisters Of Mercy live. For a long time, I thought it would be my first The Sisters Of Mercy concert, but just before now, I was informed that I had already attended one. What a surprise - unfortunately, I don't remember a thing, either because a lot of time has passed since then or for some other reason. Let it be enough said, for it's already sad enough.

Tomaz and I had an interview with The Sisters Of Mercy's guitarist, Ben Christo, at 17.30 [CET], and we arrived almost in time and then waited for a while to finally meet up with Ben. I was silently hoping to meet legendary Andrew Eldritch, too - having some questions prepared that only he could answer, like who were/are all those women (Alice, Emma, Genevieve, Lucretia, Marian, Susanne). It remained at hoping - perhaps some other time then.

After hanging out with Ben for almost an hour, Tomaz and I "explored" the venue a little. I'm not fond of concerts held in sports halls, especially if the floor is covered with a felt which tends to wrinkle - walking on it is at least challenging, if not dangerous. Besides, there is usually a lack of toilets, too, which can be a problem, at least for women. Putting toilet issues aside - everything else functioned well despite the crowd (the concert was sold out days before, and the hall was packed). The sound quality varied a bit but was satisfactory.

Somewhere between eight and half past eight, The Virginmarys took the stage, although it didn't take up much, for it's a duo - consisting of vocalist/guitarist Ally Dickaty and Danny Dolan on drums. The Macclesfield, England-based alternative/punk rock act was formed in 2006 as a trio that self-released a limited series of sold-out EPs before releasing its debut album, King Of Conflict, in February 2013. The sophomore full-length, Divides, followed in May 2016 via Wind-up Records, and again independently, two EPs, Sitting Ducks and Devil Keeps Coming, along with the third album, Northern Sun Sessions (November 2018), and quite recently, the band became a power duo. I've never heard of The Virginmarys before, and it seemed a weird choice for The Sisters Of Mercy's support band, but I ended up pleasantly surprised. The two musicians sound-wise filled the hall - no need for another one on the stage. Danny hit the drums so hard as if he wanted to finish them off - it was almost hurtful to watch. While the drums survived, many drumsticks weren't that lucky; their parts were flying all around.

The Virginmarys now seemed a more suitable choice for The Sisters Of Mercy's support band, although, a band close in genre would still fit better. But The Virginmarys truly made "praesentia" with its strong performance and also wormed up the audience for The Sisters Of Mercy in a great manner.

And then, after quite a long pause, there was The Sisters Of Mercy - fully occupying the stage (well, most of the credit went to Doktor Avalanche, which now has an operator). The stage scene was magical - some kind of knitted tubes inside which tiny lights flowed, changing colours, too. The eagerly awaiting audience came into their own with already the first song, or two, being precise, "Doctor Jeep" and "Detonation Boulevard", shortened and combined into one. The next was a newer one, "Don't Drive On Ice", followed by "Ribbons", "Alice", not a new one but never released, "Summer", and "Dominion / Mother Russia". Out of the newer tracks, The Sisters Of Mercy served also with "I Will Call You", Margaret Thatcher-inspired "Eyes Of Caligula", "Show Me", "Here", not newer but yet unreleased "Crash And Burn", "On The Beach" and "When I'm On Fire".

As expected, album tracks such as "Marian", "More", and "I Was Wrong"  received more enthusiasm, not to mention the encore, which was all hits:  "Lucretia My Reflection", "Temple Of Love", and "This Corrosion". So, out of the 20 performed tracks, nine were never officially released by The Sisters Of Mercy. If perhaps less desired, it can only be because they are new(er) and for no other reason.

The Sisters Of Mercy staged a great show - despite Andrew's not-quite-brilliant vocal performance and Ben occasionally coming to the rescue with his voice. Things change, and unless you are a specific type of liquor or food or Benjamin Button, then no, nothing gets better with age. Unfortunately, least of all health. Well, I enjoyed the show as it was, and the recently joined guitarist Kai provided good back vocals. But most of all, The Sisters Of Mercy provoked special feelings, memories, nostalgia...

I grew up with The Sisters Of Mercy's music, one of my all-time favourite bands, and I'll probably die with it, too. Therefore, I'm already looking forward to The Sisters Of Mercy's next performance and then more of them - for as long as possible. Stay tuned for the interview (any day now - for a change), and best regards until the next belated report, Jerneja

P.S. Sorry for the awful photos; we are working on getting a proper camera.

Report by Jerneja
Photos by Tomaz
Links: The Sisters Of Mercy, The Virginmarys