Sisters of Mercy

Anyone assuming Andrew Eldritch is a spent force should think again.

Now aged 66 and having wilfully avoided releasing any new material for well over 30 years, the erstwhile "prince of darkness" and perennial music industry outsider has somehow managed to reboot Sisters Of Mercy in recent times to startling effect.

The goth pioneers certainly have an unusual touring set-up. They've never employed a live drummer, and also continue a trend of years by eschewing an on-stage bassist, with the dynamics around Eldritch being provided by twin guitarists.

That duo, the long-serving Ben Christo and the relatively recent recruit Kai, quickly found their feet at the outdoor venue during a lively opening salvo made up of unreleased tracks Don't Drive On Ice and Crash And Burn, both of which have become staples of the Sisters' sets in recent years.

A medley of the glam anthems Doctor Jeep and Detonation Boulevard from the band's third and so far final album Vision Thing raised the temperature at the closing event in Regular Music's wonderfully diverse, 15-date Summer Nights season — with an awesome More further dissolving the 35-year gap to that last studio-led shot at mass communication.

Stalking the stage dressed, of course, all in black and shades with a cigarette hanging permanently from his lips, frontman Eldritch comes across like a more scuzzy Phil Oakey these days.

Impressive support act Elisabeth Elektra had earlier made her own statement on the current crisis in the Middle East, holding up a Palestinian scarf and telling the audience, "Be on the right fucking side of history".

For his part, the Sisters legend kept the politics brief, a pointed "If it's genocide call it genocide" being his intro to a suitably epic Dominion/Mother Russia.

"We don't forgive and we certainly haven't forgotten," Eldritch enigmatically declared as the band launched into another recent song, Here. Whatever he was talking about, it was like so much of what the Sisters do, their taut post-punk aesthetic overpowering a sometimes impenetrable message.

Throughout it all, the toned figure of Christo and the alluringly androgynous Kai demonstrated a remarkable synergy and dexterity, while also adding an essential and stylish visual edge to this latest incarnation of the Leeds legends.

The outstanding guitarists' presence was in contrast to the slightly ungainly Eldritch and his static sidekick Chris Catalyst, who was on duty at the Doktor Avalanche drum machine / techno desk looking out from the back of the stage.

His only physical exertions during the course of the gig alternately involved lifting his energy drink to take a swig and having a drag on his vape. It was all designed to keep the set moving at a relentless pace, and certainly the iconic loops and rhythms produced by the box of tricks served their purpose.

Set against this bombastic sonic backdrop, Eldritch's increasingly strained vocals provide the essential human element and thankfully held out long enough to return us to his well of angst on When I'm On Fire, ahead of an exhilarating Temple Of Love, featuring feminine howls from Japanese wonder Kai, paving the way for a celebratory encore.

A contagious sense of euphoria had gripped Kelvingrove all night, and a raucously received Lucretia My Reflection — with the new guitarist the beating heart again — and a full-blooded singalong in the shape of This Corrosion brought the proverbial house down.

It may be a contradiction to talk about a new dawn on the dark side, but Eldritch and his formidable man-machine is making it happen.


Photo credit: Andrew Welsh