Difference between revisions of "National Treasure Tour 2019"

Revision as of 22:08, 3 March 2020

A new two-fold tour logo was introduced for this tour

After the European Summer Festival Tour with six concerts between June
and August 2019, where they introduced their new guitarist Dylan Smith
to the curious and excited crowds, The Sisters of Mercy prepared for a
worldwide autumn club tour. This so-named National Treasure Tour
started with two double-gigs in London and Brussels mid-September
and a further 16 concerts in Western and Northern Europe seeing the
band return to Denmark, Norway, Sweden (3), Poland (2), Germany (6),
Luxembourg, France and The Netherlands - 20 concerts in total of which
only three did not sell out.

The new tour logo as on front of the tour-shirts

While most of the tourdates had been confirmed already at the beginning
of the year, two pre-tour concerts in Greece were added in April. And what
surely was more exciting for the majority of the fanbase: on the day before
the first of these Greek events, a mysterious hint at a so far unknown of
performance at some strangely unavailable  venue in Antwerp appeared
on The Sisters' Live News Page. Apparently, one of the rare and exciting
Near Meth Experience trials that regularly occur before larger tours when
new members join the band. In addition, the folllowing words were mentioned
below the tour schedule like:

KICKLINE (Christo/Eldritch/Smith)
ARE WE GOING TO BE BAD? (Christo/Eldritch/Smith/Varjak)
BETTER REPTILE (Christo/Eldritch/Smith)
SHOW ME (Christo/Eldritch/Smith)
JUST ACHING (Christo/Eldritch/Smith)
etc

apparently indicating song titles and immediately raising hopes that to the pleasure of everyone a whole range
of new songs was to be presented during this tour. And so it was. Although not all of these new tracks did see
the light of day, Show Me and Better Reptile became a regular part of this tour's setlists as well as a new and
to-day untitled instrumental track that was introduced to the audience in Greece.

The last concert in Europe for this round part took place in Utrecht, NL on October 20th, 2019. Five days later,
The Sisters of Mercy embarked to Australia and Auckland, New Zealand for another six gigs. There the concerts
in Melbourne and Brisbane were sold out.

This years Latin America trip came with quite a few re-arrangements and cancellations. So that of initially six gigs only four in Brazil and the finishing concert in Mexico remained. Another visit of Chile had to be given up upon the political situation and a first envisaged concert in Uruguay could not draw enough interest to pay organisers' expenses. The final concert in Mexico City at Circo Volador was fully recorded in audio and video formats from the audience.

Btw, apparently a reissue of Gift is in planning, as flyers for this release were spread at all the concerts of this tour. Relatively soon, though, first doubts about the credibility of such announcements appeared, see the thread Gift reissue plus extras at the Heartland Forums.

2019 Gift Reissue Flyer as handed out at all the 2019 National Treasure Tour gigs

Band/Line-Up

• Andrew Eldritch - vocals

• Ben Christo - guitars, backing vocals

• Dylan Smith - guitars, backing vocals

• Doktor Avalanche - drums, bass, keyboared

• Ravey Davey - The Nurse

Support Acts

• A.A.WILLIAMS - Greece and all other European gigs, except:

• 20/21 September 2019, England, London, Roundhouse: Amenra

• 23/24 September 2019, Belgium, Brussels, Ancienne Belgique: My Diligence

• For the support acts during the Australian/NZ and Latin American legs of this tour

please check the according sections.

Pre-tour gigs in Greece

 After The Sisters' last concert in Thessaloniki 10 years ago had ended in a glorious
 but not all that orderly way, and the one in Athens that year had to be postponed,
 some years were to pass before The Sisters of Mercy would make it to Greece again.

 But in the wake of their summer festival activities, two concerts perfectly fitted in and
 The Sisters of Mercy presented the Greek crowds with their new guitarist Dylan Smith
 and the introduction of a new instrumental. To open both concerts they brought with
 them the remarkable London-based A.A.WILLIAMS, who would accompany almost
 all of the following European tour gigs.

 For extended details and more information about both concerts see:

   ●  Thursday, 12 September 2019 - Fix Factory Of Sound - Thessaloniki

   ●  Friday, 13 September 2019 - Gazi Music Hall - Athens


Full-show audience video recordings from both performances by The Sisters of Mercy as well as of A.A.WILLIAMS are available under the links above.

Near Meth Experience, Belgium

One day before the gigs in Greece, The Sisters of Mercy announced a further performance in Antwerp.
This turned out to be one of the rare, free and famous Near Meth Experience shows in preparation for
the oncoming tour.

Antwerp Secret Show Announcement

• Monday, 16 September 2019 - TRIX Club - Antwerp - Belgium
  

On the official Live News page below the tour schedule the titles of some new songs
were mentioned like

KICKLINE (Christo/Eldritch/Smith)
ARE WE GOING TO BE BAD? (Christo/Eldritch/Smith/Varjak)
BETTER REPTILE (Christo/Eldritch/Smith)
SHOW ME (Christo/Eldritch/Smith)
JUST ACHING (Christo/Eldritch/Smith)
etc

and indeed, Kickline, Better Reptile and Show Me were performed during this concert for the first time in their then still rawer versions. Thankfully, some high-quality video
recordings of these three songs (and a few more) are available on the page for this event and here below. Check also this thread @The Heartland Forums to follow the
developments as they emerged.

Tour Schedule

Europe

Australia / New Zealand

Latin America

This year, The Sisters' South America travels reached further than ever been .... or could have ...

Shirts and Merchandise

Merchandise stall (London)	Lot of new merchandise was presented in London.	2019 National Treasure Tour-shirt 2019 (front)	2019 National Treasure Tour-shirt 2019 (front)

- Thanks to the uploaders and contributors of these photos. For larger views, please click into the files. -

Some Statistics