THE SISTERS OF MERCY LIVE IN THESSALONIKI, FIX FACTORY OF SOUND, 20190912 – SOME THOUGHTS & TOP MOMENTS (THE ADVENTURES OF MAD-ART HURRY)

Months ago it was announced that The Sisters Of Mercy were to perform two live concerts in our country, one in Thessaloniki, where I live and one in Athens! A long awaited day has finally come, and on September 12th there we were, with a new good friend, to enjoy them!

We made sure that we were on the venue early enough so that we would be able to catch our place on the front rows, and that’s exactly what we did! In fact the very first one!

When we arrived the place did already count several people, but nowhere near the amount that would do an hour later.. (the photos are from the"later" 😛)

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A.A.WILLIAMS

Around 21:30, the opening act, A.A.Williams from England, about whom me and my friend knew nothing until this time, started the show and took us by a great and very pleasant surprise.

With her dark, melancholic, mysterious, elfish and etheric presence, but with a dynamic and a dynamism that would not allow her and her band to be characterized as catatonic and depressing, A.A.Williams took us for a trip through her songs. A truly melodic and perfect pitched voice and lots of chill moments.

You can listen to her songs here:
A.A.Williams on Youtube

Photos of A.A.Williams at the end of the post!

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THE SISTERS OF MERCY

The time has come and The Sisters were here with us, filling up the place with loads of smoke, lights and their unique presence!

I am going to go on this in a somewhat unusual way. Instead of beginning to describe what went by (some top moments though will come at the end of the post, along with photos of the concert & the setlist), I will refer to what I heard some other people saying about the night. They said that they were disappointed, that the band had large proportions of their music pre-recorded, that it sounded like a karaoke night, that the smokes were too much, as well as the heat and that they regretted attending it.

And, proceeding, since The Sisters started their setlist with the song “More”, I am going to go on to my own description of the night with some of its lyrics.

Some people get by with a little understanding, some people get by with a whole lot more.
The Sisters Of Mercy – More

I, on the other hand, am going by with both, depending on the situation. Sometimes even by both simultaneously.. Why being restricted by just one option just because we are supposed to?

What I would have liked to have seen?

In my wildest fantasies, an Andrew like he was back then, a bass player and masked (or not) women in vocals (well, at least one).

I would dream of a show that would transfer us to the “leather & chains, motorcycle, rainy, steamy & bad ass, dark, post punk” atmosphere and sensation we get by their video clips and sound. (Andrew strongly denies being goth as many people tag The Sisters Of Mercy and prefers the description of humanist and modernist for his band - Andrew Eldritch, Wikipedia ), even though the atmosphere they generate can also be described as such).

A perfect sound that would highlight his deep and haunting voice and the vocals. A larger and ideal space, where we would dance and sing freely and wildly (many people including me did this though).

In my little more mediocre and realistic expectations, I would have liked to see a show with at least a bassist (well, I don’t know if this is indeed a realistic expectation as Eldritch allegedly has once told one of their former bassist and vocalist, Patricia Morrison, that all he needs is somebody to hold the bass low enough - you can check out the story here -, with good sound and mixing of it and better air conditioning in the venue.

What was bad? Like already mentioned by many (as well as Eldritch himself), it was very hot and the sound was not really good. The vocals from the two charismatic guitarists and vocalists, Ben Christo and Dylan Smith, where sometimes heard louder than Andrew's (and they were awesome, but it would be even more awesome if they were at a right mixing level with the rest of the music).

Was I bothered/ pissed off/ unable to enjoy the show? Was the show even so bad at its wholeness? Bloody hell, no.. Andrew had a good voice condition and performance for his age and hell, we were standing right in front of him, looking in the eyes (well, to be accurate in his sunglasses most of the time, ok...), of a man whose music makes us feel so many things and whom many of us admire for what he has given to music. I just decided to enjoy what was offered and show my respect to this man and the new people who accompanied him and did their best they could and wanted.

People, don't be so quick to judge and excommunicate, don't be ungrateful and asking the world and the sun and the moon every freaking time.

I would be a little judgmental thought with the venue, not only this particular one, but most of them in Greece. I know that there are financial difficulties and the times are bad and blah blah blah and all of that, but it's a bloody shame that we don't have enough venues in my city and in our country that can provide us with the real experience that a live should do. Even if you don't take it so far, at least humanly decent conditions, like good ventilation, heating/ air conditioning, access and efficient moving around for the disabled and good sound engineer.

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CLOSING NOTE ON THOUGHTS

Concluding, one point of view is that when you do something that you love and there are people that believe in it and support it, you should be more eager to respect them and offer them with an impeccable experience.

On the view’s other point, whatever Andrew’s reasons are, at this moment this is what he has to offer and I believe it is not the first time they have performed for a long time, so with a little research we could be informed how it went down on other countries and choose not to give our precious euros if we didn’t like what we saw instead of crying out loud afterwards. It can be what he wants to do and the way he wants to do it, even a statement. Even their website is a statement by itself ( The official site of The Sisters Of Mercy , "Dear Doktor, . . . " , Links Index , Dominion Mailing List , Other Links ).

I did not regret for one moment that I went to see them. I am not going to be the one to condemn them and yes, I would go to see them again.

And from the closing song (This Corrosion), I also quote some of the lyrics:

I don't need no one to understand
Why the blood run hold
The hired hand
On heart
Hand of god
Flood land and driven apart
Run cold (hey now, hey now now)
Turn
Cold, burn like a healing hand
The Sisters Of Mercy – This Corrosion

I am leaving you to enjoy the photos I took, alongside with some top moments!

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PHOTOS & TOP MOMENTS

A pretty energetic and compelling Andrew, along with hyped Ben Christo, Dylan Smith as well as Ravey Davey (the operator of Doktor Avalanche) stepped onto the scene surrounded by heavy smoke (it is a “signature” for their lives) and a whole lot of lights!

The first notes of “More” hit us and so did the enthusiasm! Andrew roamed around the scene, going from Ben to Dylan and back and staring at us while singing.

“Ribbons” and the heat gets higher (figuratively, literally it could not possibly get higher)!

“Dr Jeep” & “Detonation Boulevard”

“Crash & Burn”!

“No Time to Cry”!

A very familiar sight for the night was Andrew with his cigarettes!

Alice!
Don't give it away!
Nooo!
The Sisters Of Mercy - Alice

“First and Last And Always”, “Marian”, “Susanne”!

“Dominion/Mother Russia” & just after it a new instrumental song!

At this point Andrew states: “Goddamn it's hot…” (no idea what you’re talkin’ about… 😅)

A girl shouts “Andrewww!” He looks around and says “Ok”! and some guys continue Andrewing him!

To which after a while he responds: “Now, I see you, but I'm not looking”

The show gets closer to its end with “Something Fast”, “I was wrong” and “Flood II”!

Not so fast though…
There is still time for a hell of an encore!

Four dynamites (and four of my favorite songs of them) hit us one after another:

“Lucretia”, “Vision Thing”, “Temple Of Love”, “This Corrosion” and somewhere in this timing (I can't recall exactly where), Eldritch informs us that "Yeah you're very talky! Me, not so much"...

One can say I am having a good time!

The time has come though, goodbyes have been said and the night was over! We spent about half an hour more outside the venue to catch our breath, return to normal temperature and talk with some fellow fans coming all the way from Bulgaria, as well as with Ben and Christo who also came outside and talked with people (as they shared, they were going to continue their night partying at a local club)!

You can watch the whole concert here:
THE SISTERS OF MERCY Full Concert [12/9/19 @Fix Thessaloniki Greece]

And also (unfortunately only for the Greek fellas and those not Greek but brave enough to go with Translators), you can read an interview with Andrew Eldrich taken 10 years ago, before another couple of concerts of them in Greece! It’s really juicy and informing!

Ο Άντριου Έλντριτς των Sisters Of Mercy μαινόμενος πριν από μία δεκαετία στην Αθήνα

A.A.WILLIAMS PHOTOS

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