post-Worcester musings

Eva · 02 Nov 2008, 04:13

Unfortunately there was nothing to enjoy, besides the people we met: Heather(?) and her french friend who was VERY excited about seeing the Sisters for the first time. Plus the girl who had been to Philadelphia, too. Always nice to meet people.

The Sound was crap, due to crap accoustics in the venue. Strange atmosphere. One person was excited about the gig and told us so, the security already comes along telling us to behave...

This town is exclusively built for cars. There is no center as far as we could tell, it seems dead.

An episode to forget as soon as possible.

6FeetOver · 02 Nov 2008, 04:19

Welcome to New England, kids.

Caution · 02 Nov 2008, 05:26

Agree on the sound. Terrible. I snapped a few photos with my phone and security yelled at me and told me not to take any more. Will post later. Overall an enjoyable show for me. I'm always happy to hear the "new" material, and Giving Ground was fantastic even with the crap sound.

Garbageman · 02 Nov 2008, 05:37

and so it begins

ChazMatt · 02 Nov 2008, 05:45

I thought the show was amazing. Sound, not so great, yeah. Chris Catalyst is a star. So good to hear the old songs, wish I could have heard the new ones better. Why excactly is it that there hasn't been a new Sisters record in so long, when the material is clearly there? If you have all the bootlegs from the past ten plus years, you could make your own full CD of new stuff. Is Andrew content with people learning new songs from bootlegs?
And I dunno if i like the whole "Andrew as Hunter S Thompson" look. No one expects the rail thin black haired speed freak of old, but....

Having said all that, it was a great show. Summation: Andrew still has the voice and the presence, Chris is a star, the other guitarist not so much (Michael Hutchence?), Worcester is indeed a dead, bleak and strange town. So there you go. Oh I'm new on this board and my name is Chaz.

revaaron · 02 Nov 2008, 06:16

ok... I had to sign a bunch of crap so I can't post the pictures of sisters until after they get approved. going through the 1000 of them and deleting them before mailing the band's management.

since I was there, I snapped some pictures of hypernova too.
http://www.returntothepit.com/concert.p ... 2008-11-01
the pictures of sisters will show up there once I get approval.

revaaron · 02 Nov 2008, 06:20

btw, the sound at the palladium downstairs is always pretty terrible unless they have everything right. I photograph a bunch of shows there each month. unfortunately, I couldn't hear the vocals.
there were 2-3 songs I didn't know.
A lot of others that I had to strain to figure out from the faint vocals. I was absolutely floor by the lack of people in the front row singing to anything by the "hits". Seems like they need to get a copy of some girls wonder and retire vision thing for a bit. I also thought it was funny that people were dancing like the goth's on south park.

Garbageman · 02 Nov 2008, 06:28

What merchandise are they selling?

bismarck · 02 Nov 2008, 08:01

nyc will be cool. anyone who didn't like or make worcester ought to come on down.

Ghostrider · 02 Nov 2008, 10:09

setlist anyone?

dtsom · 02 Nov 2008, 11:38

Ghostrider wrote:setlist anyone?

same as toronto(no LOGIC)

revaaron · 02 Nov 2008, 17:14

I was following along with the toronto set list.
idk the new songs so I couldn't follow along 100% and I wouldn't make out flood I (I was shooting then)

Caution · 03 Nov 2008, 00:16

dinky daisy · 03 Nov 2008, 00:36

It's getting scary if some of us will recognize in the future the right year and venue, by seeing this serie of photo's

Multifaceted · 03 Nov 2008, 03:17

Ok, so here comes a novel....

I was just (as in hours ago) clear by their PR to photograph this event.
I've been a sisters fan since around 91 and never saw them.
I will be the biggest a-hole photographing in the front and singing ever gd word.

I can't wait. will post pictures after the show.

Haha, so tell me...do you know if Andrew got mad at all the photographers? I was there front-row-center, and it seemed like right as you three all started crowding around him, he walked off stage. I think he may have even skipped part of the song (train? I think he only sang one verse before it went into detonation boulevard, although he sang more of it in Philly). Though it could have just been the lack of sound in general.

Heather(?) and her french friend who was VERY excited about seeing the Sisters for the first time. Plus the girl who had been to Philadelphia, too.

Oh hey, that was me (the girl from Philly, that is).

Sorry, but I'm really, really shy, and I tend not to speak unless spoken to. I'm usually a bit more talkative after the shows are over, at least.

Heather and Jeffrey/Geoffrey/however-you-spell-it were insanely nice, I agree! Probably the nicest strangers I've ever met.

The Sound was crap, due to crap accoustics in the venue. Strange atmosphere. One person was excited about the gig and told us so, the security already comes along telling us to behave...
This town is exclusively built for cars. There is no center as far as we could tell, it seems dead.

An episode to forget as soon as possible.

I TOTALLY agree about the town. I didn't know anything about it before going there, so I was ready to be on the edge. At first I was looking into buses and taxis... turns out I could easily walk to the hotel from the bus station (the nicest station I've ever been in, too). The venue was only another block from my hotel.

I wrote it off as another stereotypical New England town (as mentioned)....then some passer-bys told us after the show that the hotel I decided to stay in was host to a swingers' convention that night. They weren't lying, either!

I kind of disagree about the show though, but it was probably
because it was my second show of the tour, so I was warmed up to it all. I haven't really listened to the Sisters in a long while, to be honest, although they'll always be my favorite band for sentimental reasons. So I was a bit lost at the beginning of some of the songs in Philly! I know them all by heart, but my memory really sucks, and I need a good push to remember some of them.

Oh, and I got Von's vodka and cranberry juice. Two days after my 21st birthday

The employees at the venue were clueless--they didn't know why we were asking for the setlists (I tried to explain "Fans of this band tend to be a little....obsessive"). Afterwards, I heard one worker say, "It's official: that's the most fog We've ever seen". I loved the extremely high ceilings in the place--especially over top of the stage--but it probably didn't work well for the fog OR the acoustics.

I also thought it was funny that people were dancing like the goth's on south park.

You mean the lady (and possibly her shorter friend) gesticulating in the front row? I was right next to her, and oh-my-bog she was annoying. She was nice, but really crazy. At one point she held out her hand for about 5 minutes hoping Andrew would touch it... I'm almost positive he gave her this weird look, and then I couldn't control my laughter anymore!

nyc will be cool. anyone who didn't like or make worcester ought to come on down.

I passed through NYC on the way home today. I would LOVE to go to show there, but Philly and Worcester were the only ones I could make due to money and work constraints.

crazyfrenchguy · 03 Nov 2008, 05:17

Hello EVA and MULTIFACETED!

This is Joffrey, the crazy French guy you've seen at the Worcester show!
You know the one who was very excited about it lol.
It was very nice meeting both of you! You guys were truly awesome!
I guess hardcore sisters fans are all nice people, aren't we?

What a good show by the way , very nice. The venue sucked a lot though. Very bad acoustic.

Multifaceted: Thanks again for the "blessed" bottle!

I keep it safe forever. Lol.
Did they really play Train? I don't remember this one, perhaps was I too drunk?
By the way, I felt like such a stupid groupie trying to say hi to Ben.

I am going to try to see them again in New Haven, CT next Tuesday. Would love to go to NYC but cannot make it there sorry.

Multifaceted · 03 Nov 2008, 05:51

You're welcome... I couldn't imagine keeping a bottle! Sorry, but I once laughed at my friend in High School for keeping a water bottle she got from some drummer.

I guess you didn't see anyone else after I left, then? Considering how I've always seen Chris and Ben walking around before/after the shows, and how they're always extremely nice to fans, I don't really think of them as some rock star in a band that you can't even approach....or something.

I thought some of the fans in Worcester were disappointing, too... I was hoping there'd be a lot more people outside afterwards! Usually the fans waiting for the band are the most hilarious, or they have amazing stories.

And they didn't even know how to stomp/clap in unison for encores.

It was also kind of disappointing that Ben and Chris didn't come out together to answer questions at either of the two dates I was at... I only got to ask Chris one about the reissues that I always wondered about.

I would suggest trying to catch a show that's not in New England, to be honest. I passed through a bit of New Haven on my trip to/from Worcester, and it looked almost just as boring. But if you just want to see The Sisters, then hey, it's still a Sisters gig.

By the way, I never thought of asking... so can I ask why you came to the US, anyway? It wasn't *just* for the show, was it?!

DrG · 03 Nov 2008, 07:12

ChazMatt wrote:

And I dunno if i like the whole "Andrew as Hunter S Thompson" look. No one expects the rail thin black haired speed freak of old, but....

I usually describe

as the Hunter S Thompson of Rock n Roll!

So no change here!

itnAklipse · 03 Nov 2008, 09:12

Thanks for the pix, Caution.

revaaron · 03 Nov 2008, 14:57

still waiting to hear back about the pictures.

I saw that eldritch walked off and the guitar player at one point yelled at one of the photographers that the 3 songs were over, but they weren't yet. Funny cause I know all the bouncers and usually they look to me to tell them when the three songs are over. The sound was messed up for the vocals on stage so that eldritch and the stage left guitarist kept yelling at the monitor board.

I waited 17 years for that show and it was more than worth it.

glasscatfish · 03 Nov 2008, 18:55

I've lurked here for eons, but this is my first post.

(The same) two cents: Andrew was lovely, Worcester was depressing, and "Giving Ground" was absolutely beautiful. The venue employees were all bizarrely surly. I was front row, far right, directly in front of Chris and his massive sideburns.

Joffrey, I met you at the show as well, and I also thought you were fantastically nice. I was the girl in red, and you pointed the band out to me when they stepped out to (presumably) take a look at...well, Worcester. (Andrew is real. Who knew?

)

I enjoyed everything immensely. I thought I might never get to see Von at all, though, so I would've put up with hell or high water.

Did we or did we not get "Flood II"? I was nearly sure we had.

revaaron · 03 Nov 2008, 19:32

yes, and glasscatfish, I was standing in front of you most of the time (sort of) in front of the barricade looking more like I was heading off to hike (blue bandana and probably hood up, shorts) than see a concert. after songs 3.4.5, I sat by the speakers (off to the side behind the barricade) and text/sang along. I didn't know the new songs... so I almost busted out my game boy to get me through that but the sideburned guitar player kept glaring my directions. no way he could see me past the lights, but still. I didn't want to be rude.

dinky daisy · 03 Nov 2008, 20:13

welcome all. I'm the nurse at your sorry little illness.

glasscatfish · 03 Nov 2008, 20:29

Oh, hey, I remember you (revaaron, that is). I wondered what you were doing over there.

I recognized the new songs, but not well enough to know the lyrics by heart--s'ppose I haven't been studying my bootlegs enough.

My illness is sorry indeed.

rick a. · 03 Nov 2008, 20:54

I loved the Worcester show. I'll agree the vocals were buried for most of the night, but I blame that on the sound guy. I was sitting right behind the soundboard and if he heard what I did, he should have done something about it. The guitars and Dr. Avalanche sounded fine to me. It was great to hear the band after waiting almost 15 years. I brought my kids who grew up listening to the Sisters and they loved the show too. Played almost all songs I wanted to hear.
Is it me or is the sound an issue at most of the shows? It seems to be mentioned a lot.