Show 176 - The Sisters Of Mercy - ULU London - 6 May 1983

 

A quick request. If you plan on downloading this and putting it on your YouTube channel or your own bootleg page - I don't mind. But a credit to this website where you found it, and a link back to this page would be really appreciated. It helps me gauge which artists are popular - ie more chance of other restorations coming. Don't steal and take the credit. Thanks.

I'm very happy to finally to be able to bring a 2nd restoration of an early SoM gig to you (if you missed the first one, you can download that from HERE).

To me, this sounds like a mono soundboard recording although there are apparently several versions of this gig on the internet, including audience recordings. All versions apparently omit the last track, Emma.

Anyway, for this one I fixed some tape dropouts and some quite alarming variations in volume, in places (the first track in particular was far louder than the rest of the set - sound man sorting out levels, maybe). Adrenochrome has part of it missing, so I faded out and back in so it wasn't quite so jarring. I also reduced background noise and made a few other little tweaks here and there before finally getting to work on the sound itself - bringing back some bottom end and creating a bit more space between the instruments where possible. After that, some studio toys were used and the final recording now has more presence and clarity than the original I was given.

You can now download this repaired, restored and remastered version of this show exclusively for free, right HERE as one 320kbps MP3 file.

If you would like to have separate, fully tagged 320kbps MP3s or lossless FLACs of the restoration, head on over to the Donations tab to see how you can obtain these for a very small donation towards the site costs. Absolutely no obligation to do so of course - you can take the file on this page absolutely for free - but every single donation does go towards this site and domain/storage costs, and helps the site stay open.

Either way, enjoy the show! And if you like this recording, PLEASE spread the news and share the page link to anyone you think might be interested - facebook fan groups, Twitter or Instagram are a great way of spreading the word - that way, I always find out which bands are popular and can do more shows by them in the future. Many thanks.

And finally... don't forget to SUBSCRIBE TO THE NEW FREE NEWSLETTER so you never miss news on which new gigs are going to be restored and uploaded here; any news will be delivered to your inbox and I guarantee you no spam - and of course you unsubscribe at any time.

Setlist
Kiss The Carpet
Alice
Anaconda
Burn
Jolene
Heartland
Valentine
Adrenochrome
Floorshow
Gimme Shelter
Body Electric

BONUS CONTENT
As I said, all the recordings of this gig have Emma missing. So by way of a little bonus, I've also restored a song taken from a recording of their final gig of the same tour, on the 1 July 1983, at Dingwalls in Hull! Not a version of Emma unfortunately but you CAN download a restored and remastered version of Ghostrider/Louie Louie HERE, absolutely for free.

Radio Prog 9 - The Sisters of Mercy - John Peel Session Broadcast 11 July 1984

***2021 UPDATE***

As of this year, this session had been downloaded 731 times. All for free. An official version has now been released, so my version has been taken down. Go buy the official one. ;-)

This page is left here just for historical reference (and because I don't want to delete it all).

Live and Loud! Radio is an occasional series of free downloads, which started in January 2017. Radio sessions that never got an official release, sympathetically repaired and remastered and then released onto the internet, all for free.

No theme tune, no intro from me - just the original session, repaired and remastered and available in a downloadable zip file containing each separate track.

Live and Loud! Radio Prog 9 - The Sisters of Mercy - John Peel Session Broadcast 11 July 1984.

Tracklisting
1. Walk Away
2. Emma
3. The Poison Door
4. No Time To Cry

Sourced from lossless files. 2 tracks had a bit of FM interference, a couple more had missing beginnings. These were fixed, then 30 band EQ applied, which was different for each track. Mainly reducing overloading bottom end, reduction of harsh mids where appropriate and bringing a bit of clarity.

The zip file for this session contains remastered MP3 versions - and as a bonus for those who prefer them, lossless FLAC versions too.

If you wish to show your appreciation and donate towards site costs head on over to the Donations tab to see how you can receive freebies for a very small donation towards the site costs.

Either way - enjoy!

Show 92: Sisters of Mercy - Trojan Horse The Hague - 26 May 1984

A first appearance for The Sisters of Mercy, with a gig recorded in The Netherlands in 1984. There are several versions of this recording around but I believe I was sent an excellent copy of the naked soundboard recording which was a joy to work on - it's benefited from some sympathetic EQ which has improved separation between each of the instruments as well as improving the sound of each - guitars shimmer and sparkle, the drums are crisp and punchy, the bass is more distinct and Eldritch rises from the shadows. I'm really pleased with how this one turned out.

The show is now available to download exclusively for free here as 1 MP3 file.

Or, if you would like to have separate tagged MP3s, or even lossless files in FLAC format, head on over to the Donations tab to see how you can obtain these for a very small donation towards the site costs.

Setlist
Burn
Heartland
Body and Soul
Anaconda
Walk Away
Emma
Floorshow
Adrenochrome
Alice
Body Electric

Encore:
Gimme Shelter
Sister Ray

I can't pretend to be an expert on The Sisters but I am indebted to Ollie, who is! - and it was he who lobbied for me to remaster this recording. He also asked if he could write a piece about this show for me and this is reproduced below (thanks Ollie!). Incidentally, there's an interesting blog piece written by a Sisters fan about this very gig which you can find here.

Now, this is Ollie's piece:

The Sisters of Mercy have a long, wild history. You may think may 1984 is an early stage of their career, but in fact several line-up changes were behind them already.The then popular singles and EPs like "Alice" or "Temple of Love" (the original version, without Ofra Haza of course ;-) ) had been recorded with guitarist Ben Gunn, who joined the group in early 1982 and left in late 1983. So founder members Andrew Eldritch and Gary Marx, supported by Craig Adams on bass since 1981, replaced Gunn with Wayne Hussey, ex Dead or Alive.

Now in early 1984, quite a lot is new for the Sisters: new line-up, new single ("Body and Soul"), a major deal with WEA records, and even Doktor Avalanche, their drum-machine, got a make-over. Compared to 1983, the sound changed. The songs are played straighter, and Wayne Hussey adds a new guitar style by playing a 12 string...here we have the birth of what would become the sound of the "First And Last And Always" album.

The setlist is the standard one for this tour. They serve a mixture of early singles ("Body Electric", "Alice") B-sides ("Heartland", Adrenochrome"), the new single "Body and Soul" and an early version of "Walk Away", the first written by Wayne Hussey, as well as their famous cover versions "Gimme Shelter" by the Rolling Stones, "Emma" by Hot Chocolate and their dark and driving interpretation of The Velvet Underground's "Sister Ray". The Velvet's song finished their encore in a guitar orgy, the highlight and climax of a Sisters gig in this era and The Sisters at their best, captured here perfectly now in this remastered soundboard recording.

Unfortunately this line-up, regarded by many fans as the definitive one, didn't last long. They did three long tours and released one legendary album, then in June 1985 did their famous last gig at the Royal Albert Hall in London. Wayne Hussey and Craig Adams formed The Mission, and Andrew Eldritch entered the charts in 1987 with his "Floodland"- album.

The rest is history...