Sun, 17-Feb-1991
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Leeds Polytechnic, Leeds, England, UK
The 2nd night of The Sisters 10th Anniversary in 1991 and the introductory concerts to their 45-gig long
Tour Thing II travels in 1991. The concert on the night before was a free gig for Reptile House members
at Leeds University. A transcription of the press review of both gigs here is down below.
An audience recording from the present night is in circulation among the fanbase...
Setlist
- Afterhours (Intro)
Review / Press cutting
RETURN OF THE PRODIGAL
THE SISTERS OF MERCY - LEEDS UNIVERSITY / LEEDS POLYTECHNIC
| ELDRITCH is playing a dangerous game coming back here. | positively heroic, the victorious cry of a champion back from |
| Some people have never forgiven him for the things that went | on the ropes. |
| on after the split. They're out there now, waiting for him to fall | "Thanks... for everything." No, Andy. Thank you. |
| on his face. And, you know what? He very nearly does. | |
| SUNDAY | |
| SATURDAY | If yesterday saw Eldritch coming dangerously close to losing |
| If the mask of detachment that for so long shadowed Eldritch's | his grip, tonight he takes no chances. He's in ferocious form, |
| every move has finally begun to slip, tonight it almost crashes to | laying waste any suspicions that his gargantuan self- |
| the floor. But Eldritch has never stuck to the expected and he can | assurance and artistic belief might be faltering. The |
| always be relied upon to immerse himself into the sort of | performance of "Ribbons" is the most grippig few minutes of |
| situations which, by rights, shouldn't concern him at all. All the | the whole weekend, Andy turning his flock like a scorned |
| dry ice and lighting technology on offer cannot conceal that | messiah: "I tried to tell her about Marx and Engels, God and |
| here is a man walking a very public tightrope. For years now, | Angels/But she looked good in ribbons!!" |
| he's hidden behind hats, beards, silence and sunglasses, but | The band have transformed overnight into a powerhouse of |
| tonight he lies harshly exposed. | electric overload. Where last night's "Amphetamine Logic" |
| "First And Last And Always" and "Amphetamine Logic" are | sounded lame and insecure, tonight it whips itself into a |
| always safe bets, yet the band seem ill at ease, delivering | panicked frenzy, all staring eyes, motor-beating hearts and |
| these pinnacles in far too robotic a fashion - the mechanised | "nothing but the night to live for". |
| efficiency of this unproven line-up falling far short of the | Steve Sutherland's criticism of the Wembley show re: the |
| implosive tension of the original band. Eldritch senses trouble, | drum machine, appear to have been noted. Not only are the |
| and yet, at his most vulnerable, pushes himself further, | band militarily rehearsed but the rockier songs from the |
| removing his shades to reveal an Andrew (a man who always | insubstantial new LP have been shelved, their sheen-like guitar |
| knows a good Bowie when he sees one) as the strung-out Major | wank unsuitable for the thud-fizz of the Doktor's metal beat. |
| Tom of the "Ashes To Ashes" vid, a frail, ashen, chain-smoking, | Indeed, this a far less rocky incarnation of the Sisters than |
| paste-eyed figure, wracked by worry and punishing doubt. | expected. Andreas Bruhn, in particular, retains that stark, |
| &nsbp; As the drum machine false starts the intro to "Burn", | European decadence of the records, and Tony James, for all |
| Eldritch stands metaphorically naked, the crowd responding | his sins, just plays bass. No clashing egos here. Only Tim |
| with a cruel, excruciating chant: "Let's all laugh at Eldritch"! If | Bricheno is unconvincing, displaying the same pedestrian |
| the first five years of the Sisters were spent creating an elaborate | tendencies that gave us the dullard All About Eve. |
| enigma and the last five in stretching it to breaking point (the | Tonight, though, Eldritch could tear us apart if backed by the |
| white suit, Patricia, the adoption of Tony James and MTV rock), | Portsmouth Sinfonia. He's Burton, Presley and the Devil rolled |
| now, surely, Eldritch has gone too far. | into one, and I even caught a Humphrey Bogart impression |
| Suddenly, something twitches. Eldritch hunches over the mike | during "Alice". Hecklers are neatly disposed of, as are the |
| like some strange psyche-out of Alvin Stardust and wrenches | songs - a shimmery, sensual "Body And Soul", a monolithic |
| out "Marian". He grins at the crowd, delivering a devastatingly | "Dominion" and a storming "Vision Thing". Andy's thespian |
| impressionistic vocal and hanging, drained, over the mike | tendencies are foremost during "Temple"; glancing at the |
| stand long after the song has ended. Things click quickly after | crowd like a harlot giving the come on and giving an |
| this. "This Corrosion" (Eldritch as Robert Palmer as Bryan Ferry) | admirable impression of a helpless imbecile. |
| crackles, the band finally looking into that dread-filled, | The shades are off again for "Jolene" ("Look, nearly human") |
| deadened groove that made their mentor's name. In a snatch of | and the stops are out for a crushing "1969", which closes the |
| ironic theatre, Eldritch raises an eyebrow a la Roger Moore as | weekend and a decade's worth of Sisters in a chaos of |
| he lashes out the "Hey, now, what is this?" refrain with mock | frazzled, strobe-lit intensity. |
| surprise. From God knows where, the enigma returns. | As Eldritch walks away, he leaves the tingling taste buds of a |
| "Gimme Shelter" is a cold, brooding eulogy, despite | thousand baying for more. Another 10 years, perhaps? |
| Bricheno's overly matter-of-fact playing (yes, Wayne is the best | Some people are so undemanding. |
| guitarist the Sisters ever had) and "Temple Of Love" is | DAVE SIMPSON |
