First And Last - Strathclyde University, 9th March 1985

After what seemed an interminable wait (extended by the sound mixing issues and personal health problems which meant that the planned release to tie in with what then became the Black October tour never materialised), The Sisters of Mercy finally unleashed their debut album First And Last And Always on March 11th 1985. Although the tour which started two days previously was officially called “Tune In, Tune On, Burn Out” (an adapted quote from 60’s hippy guru Timothy Leary), the Strathclyde gig was certainly a perfect fit for the First and Last aesthetic:

- The FIRST gig of the crucial year of 1985.

- The FIRST live outing for key tracks on the FALAA album.

- The FIRST gig where Eldritch wore his trademark hat on stage, a key part of the band’s visual image.

- The start of the LAST tour with Gary Marx, who left after the final UK gig at Brighton on April 1st (although he did appear on the Old Grey Whistle Test recording the next day).

- The start of the band’s LAST set of live shows of the 1980’s.

However, mention the Strathclyde ‘85 gig to any obsessive TSOM fan and they will think of two things: the extra-long soundcheck, a poor quality audio recording of which exists and is well-known to collectors, and the eye patch which Andrew Eldritch sported during the gig. The latter was not some piratical affectation, but the essential consequence of an incident that had allegedly taken place the day before in Leeds. The singer is of course entitled to his privacy, so I have not researched any further the rumours printed at the time that the injury resulted from an altercation regarding a dispute with a jealous boyfriend, but Eldritch referred to the very obvious white bandage which he was sporting in the customary inter-song banter. “My vision’s a little blurred tonight,” he said. “I’d like to say thanks to Carol for the glasses” [is he referring to his customary shades or is it an ironic reference to a “glassing”?] “I spent the night in Casualty”. He pronounced the final syllable of that last word in a very obvious attempt at a Leeds accent, pausing briefly before it and pronouncing it “teh” , the only time I can recall him imitating the Loiner drawl on stage. Eldritch allegedly sported the bandage over his left eye at the following night’s gig in Edinburgh too, making photos from these gigs particularly easy to identify, such as these examples of Glasgow kindly shared on FB by Douglas G and Gyongyi. [The known photos of the Edinburgh gig are taken from the wrong side of the stage to see whether or not this was the case, so if anyone has any further pics, it would be great to see them.]

Pic shared by Gyongyi

Pic taken and shared by Douglas (Choque H pointed out that a ghostly Gary seems to be symbolically heading in a different direction to Andrew)

In the years since this gig, fans have gradually been able to piece together the events which took place between the end of the European tour of November 1984 and the March 85 UK tour: Eldritch’s recuperation in Italy, the singer working independently on the b-sides to the No Time To Cry single (which was released the day before the Strathclyde gig), the wrangling over the mixes to be used on FALAA, etc. In all likelihood, the band would have had precious little time for rehearsals, which would explain the 45+ minute soundcheck, longer than many of the actual gigs of the previous iteration of the band in 1982/83, whose recordings would fit snugly on one side of a C90 cassette (to the delight of bootleggers everywhere).

The soundcheck is notable for a couple of snippets of songs which weren’t ever played live by the band. Phil Verne of the 1980-1985 The Sisters of Mercy Facebook fan group kindly shared this extract on Soundcloud which features Wayne Hussey sketching out the riff to what would become one of the early tracks on The Mission’s major label debut God’s Own Medicine, Bridges Burning. Hussey had worked on a whole selection of new songs which Eldritch would reject for The Sisters, and clearly this would be a factor in the ultimate break-up of the band, and here he picks out the distinctive Bridges Burning melody as the group improvise whilst they tune up, after (Gary has played?) a section of Abba’s Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!. Doktor Avalanche then strikes up the familiar Ghost Rider loop, enabling the band to tune/warm-up further in a more organised but still improvised manner. Further improvisation follows, including the riff from Fleetwood Mac’s The Chain amongst many other little riffs (including Burn) on various instruments before Eldritch finally joins in for the more traditionally structured songs, starting with Stairway to Heaven, which is significantly longer here than the well-known encore version which went straight into Sister Ray after the first two verses. It was clear that by 1985 the band was more focussed on Led Zeppelin than on, say, The Ramones, as they had been at the start of their career when they had been as much a punk as a rock band. As the soundcheck continues, the band continue to warm up simultaneously but independently, with fragments of the likes of Purple Haze, No Time To Cry and Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around all competing for dominance at one moment. Eventually the Doktor again brings an end to the cacophony with the opening salvo of what is an excellent run through of then current single No Time To Cry, the first formal song performed (some twenty minutes into the soundcheck), even if Eldritch misses out a few sections. 

The singer then reverts to his a capella version of Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around, which is rudely interrupted by the opening bars of Train, with the band again sounding really tight from the opening chords, and the singer deigning to sing the full song this time. After several minutes of animated but sadly mostly indecipherable discussion between the band, the E-bow is dusted down and the familiar whooshing sound can be heard over the PA as after a brief Doktor false start, the familiar haunting strains of Marian can be heard. Eldritch’s voice is particularly low in the mix, with the Doktor’s dull thud and the E-bow’s mournful wail initially dominant, although the balance is significantly better by the German section. After further improvisation typical of the tuning up between songs of any of the band’s live shows of that era. The final bit of the soundcheck is the most fascinating, with Eldritch having a third unsuccessful attempt at getting the band to accompany him on Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around, but this time the Doktor doesn’t even wait for him to finish his stanza, and Eldritch is still singing the Stevie Nicks number over the entirety of the introduction of Burn, which the rest of the band are playing full-on, only switching to the correct song at the very last moment. Those who like to read a lot into these things (guilty as charged, m’lud) might see this as symptomatic of a band whose members were pulling in different directions. However, the soundcheck ends with a great abbreviated version of Louie Louie featuring just Eldritch on vocals and Adams on bass. Job done.

And so on to the gig itself. As with some previous posts, this review of the gig was written by Sisters expert Ollie C, to whom I am very grateful:

So, thanks to Nik's introduction we can focus directly on the setlist. As the last tour was just about three months previously, the setlist is not changed completely. A few old classics are kicked out ("Heartland", "Anaconda" and "Adrenochrome"), and instead we get some more songs from the album, some of which had already been played on the "Black October" tour. So the crowd is familiar with "No Time To Cry" (released as a single two days before as well), "Marian", "A Rock And A Hard Place" and of course "Walk Away". Probably the most notable change for this "blueprint" of all the upcoming gigs, including the last one in the Royal Albert Hall, is the opener.

As new opener the Sisters chose the title track of the album. This was a tough decision, as it had never been played live to an audience before: to start a gig with a premiere is quite a challenge for both band and fans...as a band, you feel more comfortable playing a song live for the first time after you have been warmed up a bit after a couple of songs, while of course the audience is confronted with unknown material, so you can't be sure how the crowd will react.   

Unfortunately, I only can judge by listening to this 35 year old recording what kind of effect this track had on the audience. If I try to imagine having witnessed this and hearing this track for the very first time, I probably would have been impressed by the long Doktor's four to the floor intro giving it a trance-like prelude, then Gary's guitar kicking in with maybe his most legendary guitar riff, this kind of celtic-sounding melody which probably gave it the working title "The Scottish One" before it was finished. Craig and Wayne join one by one to form the foundation for Andrew's vocals, which are a bit low in the mix for the first seconds, but this is corrected quickly. This very song is a perfect example of the typical Sisters sound of this era. The main melody is carried by Gary (who wrote it), while Wayne adds some more complex riffs and chords. Wayne also uses a kind of slow morphing flanger effect which adds a kind of psychedelic feeling. Craig drives his bass as usual, but also starts to play some more melodic stuff. The Doktor changes into a glopping groove that honors his name. So, in good mood and shape, "First And Last Always" is performed very powerfully, the guitars sound fresh and clear, and Andrew's voice is very strong and even delivers some high sung notes, not typical for later versions of the song. So, the premiere was fulfilled par excellence. And, if we go back to the question why this song has been chosen as the opener, to me it works so fantastically well that it can be regarded as probably the best opener ever (OK quite a personal opinion, and to be fair "Kiss The Carpet" gets very close ;-) )

The set goes on with both sides of the first WEA-single "Body And Soul" and "Train", followed by three tracks off the album in a row, all from side A and so all Hussey compositions ("Marian", "No Time To Cry" and "Walk Away"). These work well together and fit perfectly in the set, showing the direction the album takes on side one. Then we move back to some 1983's classics ("Burn" and "Emma"), both appreciated by the audience. With the following "A Rock And A Hard Place" the first side of the album is finished for this set.

What follows is the second premiere for this evening (and unfortunately the second and last song played from the second, "Marx" side of the album...("Possession" will be played the next day). We get the first ever performance of "Amphetamine Logic". The crazy thing about it is the title. To choose a title that shows your drug abuse so obviously is kinda naughty. In fact the complete title didn't make it on the album cover, due to distribution fears. The lyrics leave no room for misunderstandings regarding what the song is about.

After Eldritch's introduction and the first steps of the Doktor the song starts with a riff by Gary, who will again carry the whole song with his theme, Wayne again adding some real rough and razor-sharp chords during the verse, changing to some really thrilling staccato-like high notes in the chorus. Andrew sings his lines very close to the recorded version, preparing the audience and himself for the climax, that is of course the end of the refrain when he, backed by Wayne, gets to rise his voice an octave higher to present us the final words closing the song, nearly getting out of breath, the screamed "Give me my Speed". Well, to me, this premiere is also delivered very well.

The time for new songs or surprises is now over, we are now back on track for the setlist played the tour before, which means we get a firework of old classics ("Floorshow", "Alice", "Body Electric"), then finishing the main set with "Gimme Shelter". The songs are all well-played and the band seem to be in a good mood, which is a good sign for the upcoming encore section. The first one "Knockin’ On Heaven's Door" is always welcomed and is played here in a nice version with even some improvised parts from the vocals here, accompanied by Wayne's typical guitar solo.

The second and final encore is the highlight for many fans, and probably for the band as well. Nobody ever knows if it's going to be "Sister Ray", Ghostrider", "Louie Louie" or a combination of two or three of them. I wonder how the decision was made. Did they go backstage, take some refreshments and someone suggests "Hey, let's do Ghostrider/Sister Ray" or "Louie Louie" or what else now??? Or was it decided on stage after the Doktor's groove started??? I would be very interested if someone has an idea about it.

Well, tonight we get "Sister Ray/Louie Louie" for a very pleasing 10 minutes, that show the band in a great mood, having fun in improvising. It sounds if they are enjoying playing together after a break, feeling relieved maybe they successfully went through the first gig of the new tour and the new songs went well... so why not play some dirty Rock'n'Roll? Wayne's flanger effect gives the whole thing a Hawkwind-like space-rock feel, while Andrew has fun with some improvised screaming parts. Of course the medley ends in a cacophony of the hammering Doktor and droning guitars, with some final screams. A perfect ending for the first date of the tour!

Thanks, Ollie!

The Strathclyde University venue was one arguably the highest the band ever played, being situated on the eighth floor of the University Union building. The Union still stands today in the very heart of Glasgow, but they sadly no longer put on gigs, which is a shame given the recent fire at the nearby 02 where The Sisters played as recently as 2015, their most recent gig in Scotland. Back in 1985, like most Students Union buildings in the UK, licensing laws meant that only members could be admitted, with the result that many people couldn’t initially get into the gig. Sisters fan Rob C was at the gig (as indeed he has at every Scottish gig the band has ever played) and recalls, “I don’t think Eldritch liked this and it got sorted.” This had also been the case the previous year, an event recorded in this preamble to an interview in Scottish fanzine Deadbeat in 1984.

Like so many who witnessed the band that year, those who did manage to get in to the Strathclyde gig thirty-five years ago saw a band at the forefront of the musical zeitgeist at the beginning of the end of what for some was the first and last great era of The Sisters of Mercy.

My thanks for this post are due to in particular to Ollie C and Phil V, as well as Douglas and Gyongyi for the photos, and Choque, Rob and others for their comments. I would also particularly like to thank Alan for sharing an excellent new audio source of the gig. Those who are interested in finding our more about the gig are invited to join the debate and discover further artefacts in The Sisters of Mercy unofficial 1980-1985 fan page, expertly curated by Phil V.