With enough smoke to contravene at least six sections of the Clean Air Act, masters of the dark and melancholic, Sisters Of Mercy, returned to their home town of Leeds for a rare show on UK shores.
Subdued lighting, swirling smoke and dark silhouettes, created one atmospheric show featuring songs from across their illustrious back catalogue from the mournful ‘Marian’ and the swirling, melodrama of ‘First and Last and Always’ from the debut album through to ‘More’ and ‘Ribbons’ from their 1990 swansong release, Vision Thing.
A mysterious looking Andrew Eldritch, bedecked in shades, held the attention with that rich, dark voice that combined the majesty of David Bowie with the depth and sorrow of Leonard Cohen both mournful yet grandiose in scope on ‘Alice’ and ‘Dominion/Mother Russia’.
Not satisfied with rolling out a collection of vintage cuts and classics Sisters of Mercy teased the crowd with hints of what is to come with brand new songs ‘But Genevieve’, that boldly opened the show and ‘Black Sails’, both harking back to those darker days of the 80s.
Long term guitarist Ben Christo and new addition Dylan Smith added some muscular riffs while the iconic Dokter Avalanche drum machine, the only other original “member” alongside Eldritch, taking care of the rhythm section.
As a more acoustic based ‘I Was Wrong’ and ‘Flood II’ soothed and caressed the big, bold bombast of ‘Lucretia My Reflection’, ‘Temple Of Love’ and ‘This Corrosion’ thrilled the crowd to their deepest, darkest core.
Review and Photos By Mick Burgess
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