Bury Me Deep Purple - Utrecht, November 1984

(The next couple of posts continue the occasional series which seeks to elucidate various mysteries that still exist around the events of 1981- 1985 in the history of The Sisters of Mercy)

 After the triumphant Black October UK tour in the autumn of 1984 which had seen the band play twenty-three acclaimed dates from Edinburgh to Plymouth, The Sisters of Mercy had only three days off before the start of a scheduled eleven concert tour of West Germany. We have already seen that one of the dates (Berlin Loft Club) never took place, and was replaced with a show at Osnabruck’s Hyde Park big top circus tent, possibly for logistical issues given Berlin’s comparative inaccessibility from the West in those divided days.

However, a second date was curiously switched, with the intended opener at Bocholt’s Morian club on 6^th November 1984 (according to schedules in the German music press) instead taking place in a different country, in the Dutch City of Utrecht. The picturesque mid-Netherlands city was of course a convenient and logical stop-off for the band en route to Germany from the European mainland North Sea or Channel ports, and remained unvisited by the band at this point on their August 1983 and May/June 1984 visits to the country. Add the fact that there was a suitable venue, the venerable Tivoli on Oudegracht, a historic association very much along the same lines as the Vera in Groningen and the Paard in Den Haag where the band had previously successfully played, and the gig begins to make more sense.

Situated in a traditional and substantial city mansion, the Tivoli had a superb main room featuring a three-sided balcony and had a capacity of around a thousand, again making it a perfect size for the band at this stage. The gig was another of those taped in high quality by Virginia SJ, and gig opens with a high quality "Burn", the reverb guitar effect being particularly effective, followed as usual in 1984 by an equally blistering "Heartland", introduced as "A song about speed, cars and speeding"by Eldritch. "Marian" is the equally habitual third track, with Eldritch (cryptically at the time) announcing "This is for Hamburg". The "Black October" setlist continues with contemporary single "Walk Away" up next, followed by "Body and Soul", as usual far more potent live than in the studio. Whilst Hussey had missed a few notes in the introduction to "Marian", it is Eldritch's turn to make a mistake in "Body Soul", coming in two bars early for the opening verse. In a muttered introductory ramble to "No Time To Cry" which follows, Eldritch appears to say "This is about how bad for you heroin is", before realising that that "Anaconda" is not the drum pattern which is starting up, as it is the song after next. Perhaps realising that he is a little rusty after a couple of nights off, Eldritch merely announces "Anaconda" and "Emma" by title, and there appears to have been a brief technical issue at the start of the following track, as after Eldritch announces "A Rock and A Hard Place", there is a break in the tape, which restarts with further applause before the song starts. Continuing with the same setlist as the final "Black October" gig earlier in the week (Aylesbury), the up-tempo "Train" and "Floorshow" keep the middle of the set from flagging, and the latter in particular gets extended applause. "Alice" and "Body Electric" follow-on quickly, although it sounds as if there is a sudden guitar problem at the start of the latter, with the lead disappearing for around fifteen seconds. "This is the last one" Eldritch announces at the start of "Gimme Shelter", which ends as usual with an extended finale with the singer and bassist repeating the "It's just a kiss away" section with Eldritch ending the song acapella. More unusually, Eldritch repeats the vocal-ending only for the first encore, the cover of Dylan's "Knockin' On Heaven's Door", before the band launch into a reverb-drenched "Adrenochrome", after which the band leave the stage again, before returning for a final encore of a very extended "Ghost Rider," which is sadly faded by the taper at the end, after transitioning into "Sister Ray".

More curiously, most copies also feature what is alleged to be a recording from the soundcheck that night, which features a band jamming parts of what appears to be Deep Purple’s Black Night amongst other things. Virginia SY was adamant that this would have been recorded at the same time, and was sure that at least some band members were present and on the recording.

In order to verify this long-standing mystery, Phil Verne of the unofficial TSOM 1980-1985 FB fan page uploaded the soundcheck (which had featured on “The Grief” bootleg amongst others) toYouTube and asked for further information, launching a discussion in the FB group. Respected collector Kai S pointed out that he had had an early copy of the tape and that it did not contain the soundtrack, leading to the possibility that it had been added as a filler or enticement by an enterprising bootleg salesperson at a later date. There was much discussion as to whether the bass sound was Craig’s, and to whether the presence of a conventional drum kit made it almost certain that this was a hoax.

Attempting to solve the mystery was helped when I received information that there had been a support band at that gig, a group called “War Dance”, no doubt Killing Joke inspired, but I have not been able to find out any other information about them. This might explain the convenient presence of a drum kit when the Sisters soundchecked, making the Black Night-influenced jam more likely to be the band themselves.

Added to this was the fact that Craig Adams was a self-proclaimed fan of Deep Purple, a fact referred to in several contemporary interviews, including this direct quote from the normally taciturn bassist in the Rockpool interview in June 1985 (it was not unusual for Craig to speak only once, or not at all, in band interviews). What could be more natural than playing excerpts from a Deep Purple track during a soundcheck?

The only way to satisfactorily solve the mystery would be to ask the band themselves, and thanks to a third party I was able to do this, with both Craig and Wayne providing answers. Craig Adams confirmed that it was not him playing bass, as there was too much “buggering about” (listen to the last twenty seconds and you'll see what he means for a steady "eight to the bar" bass player) and that the guitar was also certainly not Wayne, “nowhere good enough to be him.” This fact was confirmed by Wayne Hussey, who had never heard the recording before. Although he felt that it was “Not Craig playing” the bass, but “it sounds more like something I would have played, certainly the ending…It could be Craig playing the drums using the support band’s kit with Mark [Gary Marx] playing along at the beginning (the guitar does sound like him) and then getting bored and leaving the two of us to it.” Wayne also suggested another scenario, with Von on the drums, but felt that this was unlikely, and also suggested that it could just have been members of the crew “messing about”.

So not a definitive answer, but the fact that neither of the two band members most likely to be involved in the track had no recall of it having taken place, means that it is probable that this is not a Sisters of Mercy rarity, although any further information would be gladly welcomed.

 Appropriately The Tivoli in Oudegracht welcomed TSOM for a second time in 2011 on the XXX anniversary tour, but it sadly closed as a music venue in 2014 with the opening of the new and impressive TivoliVredenburg complex, but the old venue continues a connection with the music industry by operating as a recording studio.

My thanks for this post are due to all who have contributed to the debate on this topic over the years, and in particular to Phil V of the 1980-1985 unofficial TSOM Facebook group, Mark A, VSJ, LG, Kai S and of course CA and WH. Rise and reverberate!