Non NMA gigs you just got home from or are going to

[Unruh]

Lotus, if you get a chance to see Wovenhand I'd love to read your review. They're one of the most mystifying groups in my college. I don't know what it is; the music that sounds like it was somehow illegally composed in the deep woods somewhere. Maybe it's the singer whose lyrics veer from religious rapture to borderline pornography in a couple of lyrics. Comus meets Jerry Lee Lewis. It's indefinable but very cool. If you haven't heard them, the band the singer was in prior to Wovenhand, 16 Horsepower, were also excellent. Maybe not quite as unsettling but more danceable.

[Bever]

This was my 7th Sisters of Mercy gig (http://www.setlist.fm/concerts/TomDB). The first one was back in 1997, and it was horrible. I gave them another go in 2005 and liked it much better. OK, it's not the pre-1985 Sisters, but they do rock quite good. I've seen them a number of times since. Yesterday sure wasn't the best gig I've seen of them. There seemed to be some issues with the sound. I like the guitars a bit louder and there were quite some cases of mic feedback. But all in all it was a good performance. Maybe not €46.5 good, but certainly worth the visit.

I did notice that Andrew is getting old.

He even seemed to enjoy himself and was sort of interacting with the crowd, which I don't think I've seen much  before.

[Ron B]

 
 Just saw the notice that  Killing Joke  is touring The US in 2016 will Play NYC in February. That show is one I won't  miss.

[Unruh]

I saw Stiff Little Fingers not too long ago - a year at most. It was an underwhelming show but for the best of reasons. Jake Burns told us, before the first chord was struck, that he had the flu and this wasn't going to be them at their best. To me Stiff Little Fingers are a lot like New Model Army in the love and loyalty between the fans and the band. We all cheered the roof off for Jake being so honest and still coming out to give us a show, though he was clearly suffering. In a weird way, that was almost as gratifying as a good concert would have been. Everyone was shouting at him to get well soon and cheering their heads off.
    OT, as is my habit. Does anyone remember Jimmy Pursey ? Whatever became of him ? I remember he was very good at shouting.

[Bever]

Seems like the Sisters (or at least Andrew) are NMA fans

http://www.hotpress.com/news/Sisters-Of-Mercy-s-Andrew-Eldritch-in-conversation/11753628.html

[Unruh]

Can I skew the topic just a tiny bit so you can all rejoice in the tale of the worst major band concert I went to ? That would be the Cure. They pissed me off to my very core. They came out and stood. They may as well have been a painting. The audience may as well not have been there. Visions of Jerry Lee Lewis walking out and slapping the lip gloss off Robert Smith's face danced through my head. I don't care how much of a whiny, morose prick you are. Appreciate your fans. Staying at home listening to the albums would have been cheaper. Anyway my dollars no longer go to helping Robert Smith feed his family.

[Unruh]

This is cheating because it's not a concert I went to. A friend went and this guy has been to hundreds of concerts if not more. Live music is his thing. So he's seen quite a variety. For any prog-heads here, this may mean something. He told me the best show he ever saw was by the goofiest band in the history of rock - Magma. Oh how to describe Magma. Maybe what rock would sound like if the Germans won World War 2 possibly. They even invented their own language. They're so unashamedly over the top that I admit I like them myself. They're certainly true to themselves, but I still insist they're goofy. And the best concert a concert junkie has ever seen ? Wow.
     If you don't know Magma, I urge you to check them out. Their utter weirdness alone is worth it, though you may end up cursing me for a few days or weeks.

[Unruh]

There may be a sneaking suspicion that I'm actually a mole for Magma and I'm using this site as a means to help them attain world domination. Nothing could be further from the truth. I just want my fellow New Model Army fans to know there are heights of ridiculousness out there they never could have imagined. Suicide is never funny. However I was reading the liner notes to a Magma album and Christian Vander, their founder and absolute ruler, asserted that when he heard John Coltrane died he tried to take his own life. If anyone has ever ended their life for a stupider reason I have yet to hear it. Thank goodness Christian Vander failed and gave us Magma instead, though I fail to see the slightest resemblance  between them and John Coltrane. Occasional incomprehensibility maybe but that hardly demonstrates a spiritual kinship. I like John Coltrane too but was only two when he died, so I wasn't cast into the darkest pits of despond like Mr. Vander. By the time I was old enough to be aware of John Coltrane I somehow managed to come to grips with the awareness of his passing.

[Bever]

Can I skew the topic just a tiny bit so you can all rejoice in the tale of the worst major band concert I went to ? That would be the Cure. They pissed me off to my very core. They came out and stood. They may as well have been a painting. The audience may as well not have been there. Visions of Jerry Lee Lewis walking out and slapping the lip gloss off Robert Smith's face danced through my head. I don't care how much of a whiny, morose prick you are. Appreciate your fans. Staying at home listening to the albums would have been cheaper. Anyway my dollars no longer go to helping Robert Smith feed his family.

Hmmm... Have you never looked at any footage of Cure gigs prior to the concert? It is what it is. You won't see Robert jumping around on stage. Simon, maybe, but that's about it. I don't expect them to.

And in terms of fan appreciation, man, they don't come any better than The Cure. They play setlists of 30-40 songs. Three to four hours. Not the one hour, get off stage, wait for the clapping, come back for two songs, get off stage, wait for more clapping, do one more and that's it band. They ******* SPOIL their fans on their shows! Look at the gig they played at Mexico, dude. It lasted OVER FOUR HOURS playing a rocking 50 songs! Now tell me again they don't appreciate their fans.

http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/the-cure/2013/foro-sol-mexico-city-mexico-13d83549.html

</rant>

[Unruh]

I must have caught them on an off-night. I'm not sure what I was expecting. Not the Clash certainly but also not an oil painting. Also the show was nowhere near that long. But I am very happy to be corrected on my perception of their relationship with the fans. That one night they gave off such an aura  of remote indifference it was almost insulted. However I stand corrected and am happier for it.

[Master Ray]

Yay, Skunk Anansie in Manchester next February!

[Sheena]

Yay, Skunk Anansie in Manchester next February!

Ooh, I love Skin... Thanks Ray

[Master Ray]

Yay, Skunk Anansie in Manchester next February!

Ooh, I love Skin... Thanks Ray

Skunk are truly unmissable live, be sure to get a ticket!

[Unruh]

Lotus, thanks a million for that fantastic link to Wovenhand. I don't even know what I imagined they looked like but it wasn't that. And they're obviously an absolute killer live band. This is a link I'll be coming back to plenty.

[Bever]

Next up: Editors, this Saturday in Brussels.