I’ll always remember when I first heard The Merry Thoughts. I walked into Resurrection Records, a fantastic record store (and label) who operated in a basement on Camden High Street between the markets. I walked in and Andy (the owner), after saying hi, said “This is not Sisters of Mercy”. To be honest he did need to say that because the music coming over the speakers sounded like new Sisters material. Even after I’d snapped up the album I was not convinced it wasn’t actually Andrew Eldritch in communicado bringing out new music under a different name and band to bypass his contentious recording contract with his EastWest record label.

That thought of “Is it really not him…?” continued pretty much for the next few years until they announced a gig at The Borderline in London and I saw them live. I “knew” it probably wasn’t Eldritch in disguise, but it really did take me finally seeing them on the stage to completely know it wasn’t.

Nekromantic were a goth band from Shrewsbury who were signed to the Nightbreed label. I think they eventually released an EP and a full LP, as well as having various tracks on Nightbreed complilation tapes. I think this was the only time I saw them live (they split up at the end of 1998) but they were very good live.

I’d seen Revolution By Night a number of times, and had even travelled up with a former incarnation of them (Revolution II) for a gig in Nottingjam a few years before (GIG 163). I hadn;t seen them live for a couple of years, although still caught them socially around the pubs and clubs, so it was good to catch them on stage again.

The Merry Thoughts was my main attraction of the evening though. I loved their 1993 album “Millennium Done I: Empire Songs” and their second album “Psychocult: The Interim Versions” was just released, hence their visit to the UK for the gig. They were great live, favourite songs such as “Second Generation” and “Pale Empress” were as stunning live as they were on the album. I only got to see them live this one time, which is a real shame as I really enjoyed them and loved their albums. Sadly record company conflicts seem to have destroyed the band a couple of years later.