Where spirits fly..... Manchester University, 4th May 1984

After the fanclub gig at the Tin Can Club in Birmingham to introduce new boy Wayne Hussey to fans and press alike, TSOM flew to the US to undertake their second East Coast tour to bed in their new guitarist before heading home to the UK for their first major headlining tour, which was entitled British Pilgrimage in the crew tourbook, to accompany the release of their first major label release, the Body and Soul EP. After the guitar shenanigans on the opening night in Rock City and the necessary last-minute mercy dash to Leeds en route for the second gig in Middlesbrough for Gary to obtain a strange-sounding (his description) replacement instrument, the third gig of the tour, in Manchester University Union’s Main Debating Hall, should have been a relatively straightforward affair.

                  (Andrew Eldritch on stage in Manchester, 4th May 1984 - pic Karolyn W)

Sadly, this proved to be far from the case for a variety of reasons, made all the clearer by Wayne Hussey in his recent excellent memoir Salad Daze, the final chapters of which focus on his near two-year stint with The Sisters. The guitarist explains that he and fellow “evil child” Craig Adams had made an early start on the band’s rider when the soundcheck was delayed, meaning that they could “barely stand up” by show-time. Hussey adds that Adams projectile vomited all over the audience at one point, not even missing a note of his bass part, and that whilst he himself was posing with a foot on the stage-edge monitor, the bassist had propelled him into the crowd, landing flat on his back. Recalling the incident much nearer the time, in a 1985 interview when he was asked about “the worst moment in your musical career", the guitarist stated that he ended up “lying on the ground amongst the audience – I don’t know what hurt most, my pride or my back! Anyway, I picked myself up and continued the show. Craig just laughed. Well, what else could be do? I had to go to the hospital afterwards though, but luckily my back’s better now.”

When this gig was discussed (pre-Salad Daze) on The Sisters of Mercy 1980-1985 unofficial fan page, Denise H had commented. “Wayne ended up under a bench in the Cellar Bar [a basement disco pub in the University Union building]. The band sent out a search party!”. This probably helps to explain why Eldritch (according to Hussey in Salad Daze) hosted a post-mortem at which is was decreed that at future gigs, the spirits and wine on the rider would only be delivered an hour before the band’s stage time...

(double-sided flyer for the gig from the collection of TSOM collector Bruno Bossier)

Listening to a recording of the show, kindly provided to me by live TSOM audio guru Phil Verne, who also curates the 8085 TSOM FB group (all welcome!), there does seem to be even more extensive tuning up periods between songs than at most shows of the era, but I had always put that down to Marx’s recently-acquired new guitar. However, apart from that, the band play a storming set, with an excellent version of Body and Soul (prefaced by Eldritch with “This is a new one we can’t play yet”), a blistering Anaconda (which, amongst other bits and pieces, you can hear here thanks to Monsieur Verne), a superbly plaintive and distressed vocal on Emma and a version of future single Walk Away which is probably as far away from the ultimate finished version that I have heard, with an unusually insistent Doktor Avalanche rhythm dominating proceedings.

Most of the other gaps between songs allow a seemingly good-humoured Eldritch to enjoy some banter with those screaming for songs the band largely no longer plays in its live set. (“I’m not making any promises”, ”You’re going to have to wait and see”, “There’s nothing special about that”, “Well, wouldn’t you like to know”, “This is for my friend in the front row who always wants this” etc). Marx himself niftily fills in the longest pause with snippets of Lawrence of Arabia and Hava Nagila, prompting the singer to quip “Quick tour of the Middle East!”.

Having read Hussey’s account of the gig, one or two of the other comments take on a different meaning. The otherwise innocuous sounding “Nice work!” at the end of Alice would seem to be possibly a barbed and ironic comment aimed at one or other of Adams’ actions, and the singer also warns the crowd not to wind up the bass player (not uncommon at any gig 1981-1985!) with the words, “I will not be responsible for his actions.”

Only towards the end of the gig and in the encores – presumably after a further top-up – do things start to get out of hand, with the guitar sections of Gimme Shelter unexpectedly discordant towards the end, almost duelling rather than intertwining, whilst the beginning of Ghost Rider, often a loose, improvised jam is particularly cacophonous and the recording is strictly for hardcore fans only.

Up until recently, apart from the live recording, the only known ephemera for this gig was a double-sided flyer in the possession of top TSOM collector Bruno Bossier and kindly shared online (and reproduced again  here), until my own brother unexpectedly found his ticket from the show and passed it to me to share on the 8085 site. Other fans produced their own copies of the ticket from their personal archives, and some of those who had attended the show commented (e.g. Neil Kell: “Great gig!”, David Roberts: “Top gig!”) showing that once again, the band had managed to put on an excellent show despite (because of?) their over-indulgence beforehand. More recently Karolyn W who followed the band extensively in the Hussey years shared these photos of the gig, and Craig Adams’ complexion is particularly pallid on this shot. Whether his attire was his first-choice outfit for the show (nothing would surprise me given the extensively garish wardrobe of a band reputed only ever to have worn black) or a last-minute improvised effort, only Craig will remember (or, given the circumstances, possibly not).

     (pre- or post-vomit? A pale looking Craig Adams, Manchester May 4th 1984 - pic Karolyn W)

So only three days into the band’s first major label UK tour and a key instrument smashed, the fans vomited over and a member of the band in hospital for checks to a spine injury. Hardly the most auspicious start to the first major tour by possibly the most iconic goth line-up of all time, but nothing that a resounding victory by the band leader in a fencing challenge with support band (Flesh for Lulu) guitarist and future designer spectacle king Rocco wouldn’t cure. Oh, wait…

My thanks for their help with this gig are due to Karolyn W for sharing her photos on the 1980-1985 TSOM FB page, Phil Verne who curates that group, Bruno Bossier (also one of that group's moderators), Neil Kell, David Roberts, Denise H and of course Wayne Hussey for his fantastically revealing autobiography Salad Daze.