By Chesney Hearst, Senior Contributing Reporter
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – English post-punk band, The Sisters of Mercy will perform live at Vivo Rio in Flamengo on Sunday, September 18th. Best known for their songs “Lucretia, My Reflection”, “Temple of Love”, and “This Corrosion”, the group has only released three studio albums in their almost four-decade long run and currently tours with only one original member, singer-songwriter Andrew Eldritch.
Formed by Eldritch and Gary Marx in Leeds, England in 1977, the duo named themselves after the Leonard Cohen song “Sisters of Mercy.” Explaining, reluctantly, on their website; “Leonard Cohen wrote a song in which – like us – ‘The Sisters Of Mercy, they are not departed or gone.’ He should know. Is that why we picked the name?”
Answering himself, “Almost. We did feel that the song would help the dimmest of the dim to interpret the name. There is an order of nuns called The Sisters Of Mercy. And significantly, the name is a popular reference to prostitutes.” Later adding; “Why use the name for a rock and roll band? Because dogma and prostitution go hand in hand in rock and roll.”
After multiple line-up changes over the years, the group now consists of Eldritch and guitarists Chris Catalyst and Ben Christo. The longest-lasting line-up for the group, the trio have been touring the world together for eleven years.
One additional key member of the band is Doktor Avalanche, a drum machine/sampler/synth device that has changed and evolved during the group’s history. “Recently The Doktor – actually a cornucopia of samplers, synths and effects boxes that does the drums and bass at the live shows – underwent an overhaul,” Chris Catalyst told The Quietus during an interview in early September. “We said goodbye to the dead DOS 3.3 computers. We now run the live MIDI info from a bunch of Macs into the various samplers.”
The group is known to perform new songs along with their well-known hits during live performances. During the current tour, they will play three shows in Brazil, stopping in São Paulo first on September 16th, followed by a stop in Curitiba on September 17th before heading to Rio de Janeiro on the 18th.
Who: The Sisters of Mercy
When: Sunday, September 18th, 8PM.
Where: Vivo Rio, Avenida Infante Dom Henrique, 85 – Parque do Flamengo
Entrance: R$60 – R$290