ShareThe Mission supported by Peter Murphy performing their 30th Anniversary Tour at Rock City Nottingham on Thursday 6th October 2016
Images and Review by Kevin Cooper
Last night it was the turn of The Mission to come to Rock City to entertain a packed crowd, but the evening began with a set from Peter Murphy. Having been a pin up monster for the goth nation for over forty years now ever since he croaked “the bats have left the bell tower” with Bauhaus, on their classic 1979 debut single Bela Lugosi’s Dead.
This was a stripped back tour, with just guitarist John Andrews and bassist Emilio China joining him on stage; it was a set that saw him deliver Bewlay Brothers, an obscure David Bowie cover, and A Strange Kind Of Love that had the audience swaying.
Murphy threw in a three pack of Bauhaus numbers; King Volcano, Kingdoms Coming and Silent Hedges which all showed the more eerie and gothic side of his early days. But it was his frequent stage banter with the crowd that showed his more human side as he finished with Bela Lugosi’s Dead.
In late 1985 Wayne Hussey and Craig Adams left the Sisters Of Mercy and formed The Mission. They belted out four quality albums before having a couple of hiatus’, a reformation and a further seven albums. Now touring to celebrate their 30th anniversary on the back of another new release, Another Fall From Grace, they opened with oldies Beyond The Pale and Serpents Kiss which both went down a treat.
Wayne Hussey’s use of his twelve string guitar also goes a long way to defining The Mission’s sound and tonight was no exception. New tracks were introduced such as Tyranny Of Secrets, Never’s Longer Than Forever and the very catchy Met Amor Phosis, but it was Wasteland that finished the main set complete with confetti.
The first of two encores included Shelter From The Storm whilst the second had Crystal Ocean and an epic version of Deliverance, which showed that Hussey’s voice is still as strong as ever.