The Sisters of Mercy

Horror novelist (and recovering goth) Poppy Z. Brite once said, "You can only maintain a gothic frame of mind for so long before you either go crazy or kill yourself." To wit, Joy Division singer Ian Curtis and Christian Death singer Roz Williams both shuffled off the mortal coil, but it doesn't look like goth guru and Sisters of Mercy singer Andrew Eldritch will follow suit anytime soon. He's having too much fun chastising audiences at the Sisters' shows, so much so that he happily posts onstage comments like these: "We are the light at the end of your sorry little tunnel," "You are very, very bad people and you must be punished," "Shut the fuck up," and "Okay, hippie scum, here it comes!" To his credit, Eldritch has fronted what is the most important band of the goth genre for more than 25 years, and the Sisters' status as underground post-punk pariah was only briefly challenged by a 1993 stateside tour with Public Enemy. After that, SoM "semi-retired," and a death-rock fan's only chances to see the British band live were some sparse "surprise shows" that were never promoted at tiny clubs in random cities. The band's Valley stop is part of a modest, 20-city U.S. tour, and probably the last chance we'll get to see the Sisters of Mercy for a very long time.