Mercy. (aka A Letter to Ash)

Dear Ash:

Last night Matt and I ventured to Webster Hall to see the Sisters of Mercy and within minutes of the first song I thought of you. Not cause we saw Dean there or because we saw *imagine me making a hand gesture where it looks like I'm chopping my neck, which actually has to do something with hair length and is the symbol for some chick you liked back in the day* (Don't ask me, folks, this is a Matt and Ash thing), but because I was reminded of that time so many years ago when we saw Johnny Marr and you yelled "PARODY" at him to the point of absolute annoyance and to our extreme embarrassment. Well, you were wrong then and you are even more wrong now. I'll explain, but before going further, this is the dictionary definition of the word:

par·o·dy P Pronunciation Key (pr-d)
n. pl. par·o·dies
A literary or artistic work that imitates the characteristic style of an author or a work for comic effect or ridicule. See Synonyms at caricature.
The genre of literature comprising such works.
Something so bad as to be equivalent to intentional mockery; a travesty: The trial was a parody of justice.
Music. The practice of reworking an already established composition, especially the incorporation into the Mass of material borrowed from other works, such as motets or madrigals.

In my mind, a musician we like would be a parody if they were trying to recapture the magic of their youth or relying on their past of reputation to get them by. You see, Johnny Marr falls into none of those descriptions. When we saw him, he wasn't playing Smiths songs or prostituting his youth and/or past. He has done what he wants, his own way, and while you may not have liked that direction, you have to respect that he wasn't trying to rip off his past. Would you have preferred half ass Smiths songs? Anyhow, let me tell you about some recent parodies that I have encountered.

I heard the new Ministry album and something called "The Revolting Cocks" recently. Neither record is out yet, and neither is going to do any business simply because we have a now clean Uncle Al, clearhearded and obviously unaware of the last 20 years, being a total parody. Someone has basically told him that making a Revco album without Barker, Rieflin, Connelly or any other previous Revco members is OK. This idea and subsequent album falls under "Something so bad as to be equivalent to intentional mockery; a travesty" This person should be shot and killed immediately. This same person probably played a now sober Uncle Al a copy of PSALM 69 and LAND OF RAPE AND HONEY and said "The shit where you hate Republicans is what the kids liked from you when you were on drugs, now go do this". And instead of trying to create something fresh, new and worthy of his history, Al went and tried to recreate the magic, long after it's time had past and without the collaborators who made these works brilliant. This new Ministry album can be filed under "artistic work that imitates the characteristic style."

But anyway, last night, Matt, his cousin and I walked down the block in hopes that maybe the last time we saw the Sisters of Mercy (at Roseland circa 2001, a gig so bad that Matt and I got insanely shitfaced and ignored the entire gig) was a bad fluke. I kinda knew going into it that it was going to be bad, especially when I found out they STILL don't have a fucking bassist, which is the ultimate insult to the Sisters Legacy, because their history is so heavly rooted in awesome bassists like Craig Adams, Patricia Morrison and Tony James. Also, I was suckered into the fact that this was the 25th anniversary tour and was hoping that they would play a new setlist that deviated from the one that they have played for the last 10 years. Thirdly and very vaguely (is that a word), I thought maybe this meant a CD of new material would finally be available soon. Again, as Eldritch once sang: I was wrong (on all counts).

And so Eldritch, some dude called Robochrist, and some guy who you know was in a metal band at some point came on and played the most limp version of FIRST LAST AND ALWIYS I will ever hear in my life. Eldritch, to his credit, looked much better than I thought he would and wasn't wearing the industrial bullshit gear I had heard he'd been sporting. He does his gimmick, same as always: vocals mixed too loud, over the top delivery, and very little in the way of working the crowd (who seemed incredibly bored the whole time). The guitarists were very good but had very little to work with. It's the same set list from when we last saw them (and the time before that) and the "new songs", which I like, are now almost 15 years old and have yet to appear on a CD! What the fuck, right? Even Hypefactor will have record out in that time frame. Speaking of which how's the mixing going?

So then they keep playing and I'm reminded of seeing them in 1990 with Tony James on bass and with a keyboardist who sang back-up and I'm thinking back to all those interviews where Eldritch talked about how the Sisters of always been a Rock N Roll band, but I just can't take it seriously now when I hear all these great basslines I learned as a kid now relegated to the backing track. It's like DUDE, you already use drum machines, you NEED a fucking bassist.

Anyhow, the big shocker of the night was Robochrist, who is big in Poland. He's VERY good on the guitar, often alternating between electric guitar and acoustic 12 stings. He looks like Bryan Black's younger outgoing brother. He's basically everything Tom should have been during the height of the aggression (more on that in a minute). I thought this guy was going to be a silly industrial D-bag, but he was a classy rocker who had presence but wasn't a ham. He was confident and played well. I like him (Matt liked him so much that he Emailed him for reasons I don't think I could understand). The other guy, who is brand new, played the parts, had some energy, and that's about all you need. But again with no bassist, what's the point? The problem is not with the musicians, the problem is with what they DON'T have, which is what made them so great before.

The set dragged on. It's a blur. They played ANACONDA, which I really wanted to hear. It sucked. However, the last two songs of the set, WHEN YOU DON'T SEE ME and FLOOD 2 (of course I thought about the aggression's FLOOD) and the encore were actually quite good, so I give them that. They were smart in that they played reworked arrangements of stuff like LUCRETIA and TEMPLE OF LOVE. Sadly, they should have given this much creative thought to the main set. It could have made up for the bulk of these issues I have (but probably not all of them).

And then it was over. It was a Parody. It screamed "paycheck" simple because of the horribly inflated price (I'm paying half to see Dickie there in a few weeks) for this show and a set list that hasn't deviated in a decade plus. This is the 25th Anniversary? Fuck you. Parody. So you see, Ash, Johnny Marr is not a parody, but Andrew Eldtrich is. So is Al Jourgenson. See? I hope I have made my point clear. it KILLS me to write all this. I don't see how guys like these can't look at someone older, say like a Bowie or a John Cale or a Cerati (who is younger, but you get the idea) and see just how the fuck to retain some fucking class and dignity while satisfying your core audience. Those are the examples we need to follow as you join me in the third decade of your life.

What I'm saying, Ash, is that I guess this letter to you is meant to help you understand what parody truly is. Also, this marks the true end of my musical childhood. It's crushed. Destroyed. Between the Sisters and Ministry (the two original direct influences on the aggression) totally just sucking and not evolving, I feel that I can move onto the next stage of my musical adulthoodtood with the Hypefactor experionce. I find myself going back full circle to Peter Hook, my original and most direct influence, who is a riot, and often cheesy, but is never a parody.

I think it's exciting that we have ended the aggression just in time for me to watch everything that I love that influenced it go to shit. It's funny, because many people were convinced that once we played the "last ever" show in January that it would be a restart and/or continuation of the aggression. Everyone from Kruger to Irene was like "Here we go again". But I KNEW better. Do you see now? That's why you can take the quotation marks off the phrase Last Gig Ever. Cause that was truly it. The end. And I mean, you HAVE heard the Hypefactor album, right? Yes, it IS that good.

Anyway, I hope you're well and mixing, cause our future is currently in your hands. I wish you only the best as you begin your musical future with your gig on the 25th, which everyone can learn about at http://www.inloving.net/. Sadly, I won't be there, but you don't need a frontman anyway ;-)

Love,

F