November 26th 1990, The Sisters of Mercy at Wembley Arena

 

The Sisters of Mercy had a huge mystique about them in the eighties. Despite their claims that they had nothing to do with the G word, they were undisputed leaders in making dark, brooding anthems for a whole generation of black clad denizens, offering a cinematic scope and grandeur in their music that few of their genre peers were able to touch. The Sisters of Mercy offered something big and bombastic, a dramatic and explosive sound with orchestral flourishes and haunted choirs. It was completely over the top in all ways, but it was also really Really REALLY good, and their songs fully captured the hearts and imagination of the Goth scene at the time.

But as bombastic and epic as their recorded output was, the Sisters of Mercy weren't very well known at the time for playing shows, especially shows in North America. There had been a few dates in the US in support of the first album but not the steady flow of gigs that some of their peers were doing, and as far as I know there weren't any shows in support of their 1987 opus "Floodland" outside of some TV appearances on Top of The Pops and that kind of thing. 

If you read my last post about Depeche Mode, you'll know that a new job had me saving and planning for a vacation that year, and reading in Melody Maker about all of the great shows happening in London I had decided that would be the ideal destination, so it was just a matter of choosing when my best opportunity would be. When the Sisters announced a pair of dates at Wembley Arena I was intrigued, and my choice was made even more clear when I realized that one of the dates was scheduled on my birthday. 

So I went to London, and on November 26th 1990 I found myself at Wembley Arena for the Sisters of Mercy. This would have been for the "Vision Thing" tour, and there weren't any North American dates planned at the time so it was kind of a big deal for me. This was when Tony James was playing bass, and Andreas Bruhn and Tim Bricheno were also in the band. It goes without saying that Doktor Avalanche was on drums, it wouldn't be the Sisters without Doktor Avalanche, and of course Andrew Eldritch was doing vocals.

When the lights went down the band walked out to a drum intro that launched into First and Last and Always from the first album, and the crowd went kind of nuts. Wembley Arena is a fairly big venue, about the same size or maybe a bit bigger than Maple Leaf Gardens, and I had a decent view from the middle side about two sections to the left of the stage that gave me a great perspective of the show, close enough to see the band but far enough away to appreciate the spectacle. Eldritch was wearing a snake skin shirt with a band collar close to his neck, aviator sunglasses, and his hair was freshly cut short in contrast to all of the promo pictures for the album and shows where he had shoulder length hair. Tony James wore a top hat in a nod to his days with Sigue Sigue Sputnik, but I don't remember what the rest of the band were wearing. Whatever it was I'm sure that they were quite dashing.

After a strong opening the band moved into Lucretia, My Reflection from "Floodland" highlighting James' deep bass skills which were pretty impressive but admittedly not as strong as Patricia Morrison who had played on the original version. An elongated opening for Ribbons followed, adding to the song's tension, building around repeated guitar lines and the growing unease in Eldritch's vocals. There's always been an inherent tension within the Sisters' music, that's a large part of their appeal, and that live version of Ribbons walked a particularly fine line that night. 

Their performance of Dominion was dramatic and epic, going over the top in full Steinman enhanced glory, in contrast to Marian and Alice which were both delivered in a more direct and immediate way, rippling with a dark energy that wrapped around the audience. There were apocalyptic takes on Gimme Shelter and This Corrosion, and Temple of Love rolled on forever and ever and ever, twenty thousand people all doing an epic Goth dance while a set of three hanging mobiles raise and fell above the stage reflecting lights and bouncing lasers around the venue. They closed the night with a ferocious version of Vision Thing and a roaring run through 1969 that would have made Iggy Pop proud. It was all pretty awesome.

A few months later the Sisters finally made it to Toronto for a show at Massey Hall with Danielle Dax, and while it was still a big and mighty performance that I completely enjoyed, it had kind of lost something in a smaller venue, a certain power and driving force that was fully evident in their show at Wembley just didn't make it to Toronto. I've thought about it a little bit since and I've come to realize that the Sisters of Mercy aren't really a band made for intimate venues or for individual reflection, they don't gain anything from small spaces. They're more meant for big noisy environments with big crowds, open spaces that they can fill up with a wall of sound that threatens to topple over at any moment, crushing everything that makes the mistake of coming too close. That big sonic energy is at the heart of what the Sisters of Mercy do, and I'm glad that I had the chance to see it in full effect that night in 1990.

November 23rd 1990, Depeche Mode at Wembley Arena

 

 

Depeche Mode's World Violation Tour in 1990 holds a special place for many of their fans, a sweet spot in their history where the band's skills as songwriters and musicians was in perfect synch with their popularity. Having scaled exceptional heights of artistic and critical success with the release of "Music for the Masses" in 1987, Depeche Mode were able to reach even further when "Violator" came out in 1990, an album that many would consider the high point of their studio career. Propelled by four immensely strong singles that fully encapsulated and defined the Depeche Mode ideal, along with a selection of lushly produced and nuanced tracks that embraced and celebrated all of the darker elements that run through the band's work, "Violator" was and is a perfect album, a record that has inspired countless fans and countless artists on their own musical journeys.

Along with releasing the album, Depeche Mode went on tour throughout 1990 in support of "Violator", and those shows have gained a certain mystique since there's never been an official video release or album recording issued, giving the World Violation tour a kind of lost treasure element, a kind of "You had to be there" appeal. I was lucky enough to see it twice, once in Toronto at CNE Grandstand during the summer at a truly amazing show despite it being a wicked cold and rainy night, and a second time in London at Wembley Arena. 

See, around the time that "Violator" was released I had started working a new job, and I set a goal for myself to save a bit of money so I could take a vacation a few months later. And in thinking about where I wanted to go I was inspired by all of the concert listings that I was seeing in the British music papers. As far as I could tell from Melody Maker and the NME, there were amazing shows happening in London every day and all I had to do was wait for the right time when there were a few shows all within the same week so I could maximize the opportunity. And as luck would have it, the stars aligned over a week in London in November where there were a handful of shows that I wanted to see, including Depeche Mode at Wembley Arena. Even though I had already been to the Toronto date of the tour in the summer, the appeal of seeing the show again in such a famous venue was pretty strong, so my mind was made up. I was going to London to see Depeche Mode (and a few other shows) in the fall. 

So if this blog were a movie, now would be the time for a montage playing over an instrumental track from one of the earlier Depeche Mode albums. A shot of me circling concert ads in an issue of Melody Maker with a red pen, me on the phone booking tickets for a flight, eating mac 'n' cheese while I listen to "Violator" on my Walkman, a shot of me pulling a luggage strap over my shoulder and handing a ticket to a smiling flight attendant, all that kind of stuff, all in the service of moving the story along and getting me into my seat at Wembley on November 23rd 1990.

Depeche Mode were in fine form that evening, one of the last dates on a very successful tour that had further solidified their reputation as an excellent live draw. And I might be projecting a bit here, but I'm sure that playing London is always a thrill for a band, one of those cities like Paris and New York that has a particular appeal and excitement about it. The show opened with World in My Eyes, where the band literally invited the audience on a trip, similar to how Behind the Wheel was used to open their earlier Music for the Masses tour, suggesting a journey to be taken over the course of the night. I like that idea, there's an appeal to the thought of being taken somewhere else during a show, an escapist fantasy that further strengthens the immersive element of live performance for the audience. Plus, y'know, World in My Eyes is a pretty great song, so there's that too...

At this point in their career the band had a strong back catalog of singles, and the show that followed was a steady parade of fan favorites, along with a few album tracks thrown in for good measure, and it's a testimony to the strength of "Violator" that those album tracks were received with just as much excitement as the hits. Clean was exceptionally impressive that night, haunting and beguiling, a repeated melody that drew the audience deep under it's spell while a video of a slowly spinning cowboy hat played behind the band. The biggest cheers of the night came for Enjoy the Silence and Personal Jesus, both recent singles that had captured the imagination of old and new fans of the band alike, each of them expanded and elongated with additional instrumental grooves that gave Martin Gore a chance to strut a little bit with his guitar. Any nervousness that Gore had displayed on earlier tours was gone by then, and he was more than happy to move around the space while he played. 

The night closed with a medley of Behind the Wheel and Route 66, a sweet keyboard solo by Alan Wilder bridging the two tracks together while black and white videos (I'm assuming from Anton Corbijn?) of US highways played along in the background. It was pretty great, and even though I already knew what to expect from having seen the Toronto date on the tour earlier in the summer, it was still just as exciting, just as awesome as it was the first time I'd seen them play it.

I've seen Depeche Mode about twenty times over the years, a bunch of great shows that have all been enjoyable and exciting, but this date at Wembley stands out as a perfect mixture of great songs, an enthusiastic audience, and the band's own excitement, all contributing to an excellent performance that's stayed with me for years. Definitely one of, if not the best time that I've ever seen them play. If only there was an official video released from that night...