April 2023 • Volume 49 , Number 06 • www . illinoisentertainer . com
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COVER STORY : THE SISTERS OF MERCY
The Sisters of Mercy ’ s goth-rocking debut - First and Last and Always , along with the rest of their finite but formidable catalog ( its quantum-leap 1987 followup Floodland , a Tony-Jamesbacked 1990 Goth / metal mashup , Vision Thing , plus an earlysingles-and EPs anthology , Some Girls Wander By Mistake ). Toss in other equally-inventive outfits from that halcyon post-punk era , such as The Psychedelic Furs , Echo and the Bunnymen , and , of course , Joy Division and its later incarnation of New Order , and I ’ ve always had a gale-force wind behind me , billowing my Reasons-I-Still-Do-This sails . With all that often dark lockdown musing , naturally , came uplifting Sisters of Mercy , when guitarist / frequent-composer Wayne Hussey was still in the group , before he and bassist Craig Adams left in 1986 to form The Sisterhood , then The Mission . It was a stunning , youreally-had-to-be there affair , as the black-garbed , bolero-hatted , Rayban-masked musicians took the stage behind monolithic drum machine DoktorAvalanche , barely visible in a chilly miasma of dry-ice vapors . And similarly , it ’ s hard to describe how any Goth-Club dance floor can immediately spark to life the minute the first few notes took hold from anthemic singles like “ Marian ,” “ Lucretia My Reflection ” and an eleven-minute crescendo called “ This Corrosion .” Punks , New Wavers , Metalheads , it didn ’ t matter – if you were in the house when Eldritch ’ s voice rattled the rafters with that operatic “ Hey , now / Hey , now , now / Sing this corrosion to me ,” you fucking had to move . Your body had no choice . Tom Lanham spoke to the goth-rock godfather ( Andrew Eldritch ) about the past and the future .
HELLO , MY NAME IS VILLE VALO
The last time Ville Valo performed at Chicago ’ s House of Blues he was reaching the end of a lengthy chapter in his life . HIM , the band he fronted for 25 years , was calling it quits . It was the last time they ’ d be on that stage together ; a stage Valo wasn ’ t sure he ’ d ever return to . Six years later , he ’ s preparing to return to the House of Blues to start the next chapter of his life . Valo is back with his debut solo album Neon Noir and ready to break melancholy hearts once again . Though he ’ s out on his own , it doesn ’ t mean he ’ s completely left HIM behind . Before his big return to the House of Blues stage ( April 9 & 10 ), Valo sat down with Ashley Perez-Hollingsworth to talk about the end of HIM , embarking on this new journey alone , and how HIM will always be a part of his life .
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File
Hello My Name is Ville Valo .
CinemScopes
April Films and Streams .
Spins
Yo La Tengo , Gorillaz , Depeche Mode and more .
Media
Mitch Rosen leads at The Score .
Calendar
1300 shows and 2900 bands , it ’ s IE ’ s live music calendar .
Record Store Day Section
Complete listings , Chicago-area RSD store guide , RSD previews .
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Publisher Emeritis David Roberts
Publisher John Vernon
4 illinoisentertainer . com april 2019 Curt Baran Mike Me er illinoisentertainer . com april 2023
Publisher John Vernon
Contributing Editors Curt Baran Mike Meyer Tom Lanham Lori Vernon
Design Team Notion Pool Dragon Design Vision Design Teknigram Graphics
Classified Advertising David Gedge
Founder Kenneth L . Voss
Contributing Editors
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Advertising Director John Vernon
Website Direction Notion Pool
Senior Columnists
Rosalind Cummings-Yeates
- Sweet Home Rick Kaempfer - Media
Kelley Simms - Caught In A Mosh
David C . Eldredge - East Coast
Advertising Sales Scott Assmann Mike Engel
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