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The Mission- Bristol Carling 15th
May 07 |
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Review- Matt Collins
Matt@bristolrock.co.uk |
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Photo’s – Sam Berry
Berrybonanza@hotmail.com |
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`The Mission
chose to kick off their
'God Is A Bullet' European tour in Wayne Hussey's childhood city of
Bristol to promote their new album of the same name. The gruelling
tour takes in 15 gigs in 7 different countries in 18 days! Including
2 dates in Israel.
Tue 15th:
Bristol Academy,
UK
Weds 16th: Manchester Academy 3, UK
Thurs 17th:
Glasgow ABC, UK
Fri 18th:
Wolverhampton Civic,
UK
Sun 20th: Zoetermeer Boerderij, Netherlands
Mon 21st: Bochum Zeche, Germany
Tues 22nd: Herford Club X, Germany
Thurs 24th:
Gothenburg Tradgarn, Sweden
Fri 25th:
Stockholm Berns, Sweden
Sat 26th:
Malmo KB, Sweden
Sun 27th: Odense Rytmeposten, Denmark
Tues 29th: Paris La Locomotive, France
Weds 30th:
London Shepherds Bush Empire,
UK |
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I had been
aware of The Sisters of mercy playing Bristol for some time as
Graham Manson the bass player in my band and long term fan of The
Sisters of Mercy & The Mission had been asking me if I wanted to
see them for the last two months, but apparently a legal wrangle had
the name changed to The Mission. I told him Kevin the main man
behind Bristol rocks went to school with Wayne Hussey and I’m sure
we could get a photo & press pass. But on the night of the gig
Graham the reviewer cried off with the lame excuse of having his
house broken into. Well I was promoted to reviewer and a mate of
mine from photography college Sam Berry was promoted to
photographer. |
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The crowd of
dedicated fans had filtered from The Hatchet into the Carling all
dressed in black and featuring plenty of tattoo’s & piercing that
made me stand out a bit, not realising the dress code which I should
have remembered as my wife was a part time Goth when I met her.
There was even a Hearse with coffin parked in the car park which
impressed and set the tone for me. The front row quickly filled with
fans all talking about the previous times they had seen the band and
there was a buzz of adrenalin for this home coming start of the
tour. |
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The band
appeared through a huge cloud of smoke as if the smoke machine had
been turned up to eleven + overdrive. Through the fog appeared a
well manicured Wayne, Mark, Richie and Steve all looking the part as
Goth gods you would expect from a band with such an established cult
following. After playing a few tracks Wayne looked very relaxed and
oozed confidence, he addressed the Bristol crowd with a smile and
said “It’s been a long time” |
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They played
the gig with a massive look of enjoyment on their faces and the
flamboyant stage presence of Wayne was a mesmerising focal point.
The sound was really tight and a well rehearsed professional
performance. The songs were a excellent mix of their classic tracks
such as Butterfly On A Wheel & Wasteland and some really good new
ones like Absolution & Belladonna. You can tell a lot of
effort has been put into the writing and structure of the new
tracks, I guess there will be a single release from the CD and my
bet would be on Keep It In The family |
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I can't wait to
see photos of the band after the next 18 days and many miles covered
I am sure the crowds around Europe will enjoy the show as much as
the Bristol fans and keep the band high enough to see them through.
The buzz as the crowd exited the venue was very up beat and
positive. |
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