First, Last and Holly!
Special Guest Review of the Sisters Of Mercy Show by the Talented Holly:
Three stars, three negative stars, whatever....
This was our first show in Austin, the self described live music capitol of the world. And there were some differences from seeing a show like this in LA. The venue, La Zona Rosa, was really small (like the size of main room at the Hollywood Athletic Club) and very dirty. But strangely the utter disgustingness didn't stop some people from dropping their coats right on the floor and letting everyone else walk all over them. There was free parking and readily available free cold water. We weren’t searched when we entered. The crowd was diverse with a visible goth presence. There were also people wearing cowboy hats, baseball caps and jeans. The crowd was mostly casual, not very dressed up, not even wearing much makeup. The music before and after the live sets was eclectic and included a lot of reggae (?). The show, the actual show, started on time at 8:00 PM. (In LA we wouldn't have left home yet at 8:00.)
The opening band, The Warlocks, was entirely forgettable. Their music was repetitive, and they had no stage presence. They made no attempt to interact with or warm up the crowd. They let the guitar reverb for far too long, almost as if to punctuate the end of each song. Argh!
The Sisters of Mercy are a band that I’ve wanted to see for a long time, and honestly never thought I would. Big fan? Oh yeah. On this tour the band consisted of the lead vocalist and two guitarists. Joe said that live drums would have made a big difference, and I completely agree. With prerecorded synths and drums the show lost the spontaneity that usually comes with a live performance. Even the breaks between songs were artificial. If you read the Sisters of Mercy website http://www.the-sisters-of-mercy.com/home.html#index, you’ll realize that Andrew Eldritch is highly opinionated with a biting sense of humor. Unfortunately none of that was expressed to the audience. I expected more dialogue with crowd beyond “thanks for coming tonight.”
Andrew, Adam and Chris did put on a good performance, dance, and pose for the crowd a lot. Although I don’t know how many people got good photos, because there was a smoke machine on full blast that shrouded the entire stage and most of the audience. I was standing three feet from Andrew and could not see him through all the smoke half of the time. Andrew even did a wardrobe change about midway through, but I’m not sure why. The band accepted cigarettes from the crowd but didn’t go for handshakes or anything else.
Most of the audience just sort of stood bobbing their heads. Others appeared to be having a good time, dancing in their little personal space, snapping photos, or stabbing the air. There wasn’t the crush of people that we’ve experienced at a lot of LA shows. But there were the three people who were moshing. Some audience members would shove back when they got slammed. Others would just cast dirty looks, and get slammed again. A few times a fight almost broke out, and Joe even rushed in to pull two guys apart from each other. At that point some audience members who helped break things up positioned themselves around the moshers like a human barricade. (Joe said that he thought those guys were bouncers, but I don’t think so. There were security personnel on site who cleared us out immediately after the show ended, but they didn’t intervene with the moshers.) The moshers continued on through the entire show, and no one attempted to kick them out. The band didn’t react to them at all.
If the evening had just been like that, I would have had a good time. However, this show gets three negative stars because THE AUDIO COMPLETELY SUCKED!!!!! There was so much distortion, that any melody was lost. And the vocals were barely audible, even as I was standing so close to Andrew. I hate to say this but The Warlocks had clearer sound. The problem was obvious, but the band didn’t attempt to fix it or call for a break to make some improvements. I could barely make out most of the songs. I shouted to fix the audio, but no one else in the audience complained. Joe suggested that maybe they’re used to it. How sad, because if they’re used to it, then they’ve never heard what real live music should sound like. Maybe that’s why The Sisters’ set was only 1 and half hours with no encore. I really want to see The Sisters perform again to actually hear what they sound like live, because after that show I still have no idea. Very disappointing. So if someone who reads this catches one of their gigs, please bootleg it for me.
Three stars, three negative stars, whatever....
This was our first show in Austin, the self described live music capitol of the world. And there were some differences from seeing a show like this in LA. The venue, La Zona Rosa, was really small (like the size of main room at the Hollywood Athletic Club) and very dirty. But strangely the utter disgustingness didn't stop some people from dropping their coats right on the floor and letting everyone else walk all over them. There was free parking and readily available free cold water. We weren’t searched when we entered. The crowd was diverse with a visible goth presence. There were also people wearing cowboy hats, baseball caps and jeans. The crowd was mostly casual, not very dressed up, not even wearing much makeup. The music before and after the live sets was eclectic and included a lot of reggae (?). The show, the actual show, started on time at 8:00 PM. (In LA we wouldn't have left home yet at 8:00.)
The opening band, The Warlocks, was entirely forgettable. Their music was repetitive, and they had no stage presence. They made no attempt to interact with or warm up the crowd. They let the guitar reverb for far too long, almost as if to punctuate the end of each song. Argh!
The Sisters of Mercy are a band that I’ve wanted to see for a long time, and honestly never thought I would. Big fan? Oh yeah. On this tour the band consisted of the lead vocalist and two guitarists. Joe said that live drums would have made a big difference, and I completely agree. With prerecorded synths and drums the show lost the spontaneity that usually comes with a live performance. Even the breaks between songs were artificial. If you read the Sisters of Mercy website http://www.the-sisters-of-mercy.com/home.html#index, you’ll realize that Andrew Eldritch is highly opinionated with a biting sense of humor. Unfortunately none of that was expressed to the audience. I expected more dialogue with crowd beyond “thanks for coming tonight.”
Andrew, Adam and Chris did put on a good performance, dance, and pose for the crowd a lot. Although I don’t know how many people got good photos, because there was a smoke machine on full blast that shrouded the entire stage and most of the audience. I was standing three feet from Andrew and could not see him through all the smoke half of the time. Andrew even did a wardrobe change about midway through, but I’m not sure why. The band accepted cigarettes from the crowd but didn’t go for handshakes or anything else.
Most of the audience just sort of stood bobbing their heads. Others appeared to be having a good time, dancing in their little personal space, snapping photos, or stabbing the air. There wasn’t the crush of people that we’ve experienced at a lot of LA shows. But there were the three people who were moshing. Some audience members would shove back when they got slammed. Others would just cast dirty looks, and get slammed again. A few times a fight almost broke out, and Joe even rushed in to pull two guys apart from each other. At that point some audience members who helped break things up positioned themselves around the moshers like a human barricade. (Joe said that he thought those guys were bouncers, but I don’t think so. There were security personnel on site who cleared us out immediately after the show ended, but they didn’t intervene with the moshers.) The moshers continued on through the entire show, and no one attempted to kick them out. The band didn’t react to them at all.
If the evening had just been like that, I would have had a good time. However, this show gets three negative stars because THE AUDIO COMPLETELY SUCKED!!!!! There was so much distortion, that any melody was lost. And the vocals were barely audible, even as I was standing so close to Andrew. I hate to say this but The Warlocks had clearer sound. The problem was obvious, but the band didn’t attempt to fix it or call for a break to make some improvements. I could barely make out most of the songs. I shouted to fix the audio, but no one else in the audience complained. Joe suggested that maybe they’re used to it. How sad, because if they’re used to it, then they’ve never heard what real live music should sound like. Maybe that’s why The Sisters’ set was only 1 and half hours with no encore. I really want to see The Sisters perform again to actually hear what they sound like live, because after that show I still have no idea. Very disappointing. So if someone who reads this catches one of their gigs, please bootleg it for me.
posted by Catterpillarboy at 10:27 AM
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