Hey now, hey now now...

Sorry people but 'tis not my fault. I've been having major issues with my computer at home which means that this MADman has been unable to update El Bloggo. I would do it at work but alas, I have not a moment to spare...

But do you care, is the question? I'll wager not.

Let me take y'all way back when to April 9th as I can hear you all asking "MADman, how were the Sisters Of Mercy?". The fact that Bro Dude and I started drinking at 16:30 suggested a long night was looming...

After smashing a quick cider with my work cartel in an oh-so-civilised way, our only real option was to hit the Crobar for a series of finest Newcastle Browns. I shan't bore you with details. Actually, that's kinda exactly what I'm going to do, and have been doing for over a year. Sorry, I'm all out of sorts today...

Right, so now we're a few beers down and on the tube. A couple of emo kids were standing opposite us talking about seeing "them for the first time in ages". I asked them if they too were venturing to the Town of Kentish for the long awaited Sisters gig. Unsurprisingly, no. Awkward silence for the remainder of the journey (wooooo! Journey! So excited about Download).

20 minutes before the gig = 1 x Brown, 1 x Jaeger, 8 x piss breaks in the Bull & Gate

And we're in. And on the Guinness. By now, Bro Dude and I were effectively steaming so although I think there was a support band, it's a bit hazy (although the haze may have been due to the 9,000 litres of dry ice. God bless the goths. Or not, as the case may be).

If I may be blunt - not James Blunt, he's a fuck - although I have the entire back catalogue of SOM music thanks to Bro Dude's oft-over-zealous music piracy, I don't know a huge amount of their songs without having the track list in front of me. This being said, I did recognise more tunes than expected.

Bro Dude and I were struggling in a big way. I was one tin of black stuff away from vomiting on the theatrically tree dancing goth to my left, Bro Dude's eyes were rolling back like he'd suffered a major head trauma so we had one option left; hit the pit.

I had no laces in my shoes so was expecting to lose them a la Rise Against ("The Pits", Tuesday March 10th) but much to my surprise, it didn't happen. The Sisters ripped through a synth-tastic array of moody anthems but for me, it came to life during Dominion and This Corrosion. The pit was an odd mix of massive hairy sweatfucks, old skool punks and vested trilby-wearers (guilty). Despite Bro Dude's drunken descent to the floor on a couple of occasions, the pit was pretty calm. Mind you, it's pretty tough to get a circle pit going to a 1980s synth beat. But praise Jesus, did we try...

The Sisters Of Mercy played an absolute blinder. They were exceptionally tight but I think a major part of this comes from the fact that their music is not complicated. There aren't hundreds of layers to work in, intricate solos and extensive vocal harmonies. Instead, it's a few blokes from Leeds moaning their way through a couple of hours of stage time. Which is exactly what we, and seemingly the rest of the crowd, were after. Okay, Andrew Eldridge said not one word to the crowd but as a goth icon, can you really expect him to? He's bald, a bit tubby, doesn't interact with the crowd and sings in a pretty monotone voice. But fuck me, doesn't he do it well.