This was the fourth time I’d seen The Sisters of Mercy. The first two were at Wembley Arena (GIG 069 and GIG 070) and then outside at Crystal Palace supporting Depeche Mode (GIG 124). But tonight was at one of my favourite venues – Brixton Academy. Much smaller than an arena gig, so this was to be the most intimate Sisters gig I’d been to thus far. It was also night one of two shows at Brixton, and I had (unsurprisingly) tickets for both and was ready for some fun!

A whole crowd of us went to this Monday night. Nige, Carolyn, Nick, Natalie, Mel, Muhamed, Cameron, Sunil and a host of other friends. Decked out in the finest black we entered into a smoked filled auditorium with pints of snakebite and black in hand, and clove cigarettes in between our lips…

The opening act, La Costa Rasa, were completely forgettable. I can’t remember a thing about them but apparently wasn’t impressed by them and actually didn’t watch them the following evening, opting to stay a little longer for pre-drinks in one of the local pubs.

The Sisters of Mercy though possibly put on one of the finest – if not THE finest – shows I’ve ever seen them play. They were on fire, playing hits and back catalogue tracks alongside some great cover versions of Pink Floyd’s “Comfortably Numb” (I still remember Eldritch’s tones opening the track with “Is there anybody out there…” and Kylie Minogue’s “Confide In Me” – which actually made an incredibly good goth track when performed by The Sisters and I’d love to have a decent copy of them performing it!

Brilliant night. The Sisters of Mercy at their best.