It looks like Sunday will be the coolest day next week. Us vampires are pleased about this forecast because that is the day the Sisters of Mercy, one of the greatest goth bands of the 1980s, perform at the Moore Theatre. Of course, us vampires—and I can speak for all of us in Seattle (although I descend from the Count Dracula played by Al Lewis in The Munsters and, of course, the Lone Ranger's Barnabas Collins)—know that this show should have happened in January. Remember how darkling those days were? Our star, the sun, rose and fell in no time. Now it shows up at a ghastly 5:30 am and falls at almost 9 pm. How awful. Sun all day long. By the time the Sisters of Mercy show begins on the thankfully mostly cloudy Sunday, we will still be, to mess with the name of a vampirish and avant-garde jazz piece by Cecil Taylor, entering evening. But no matter. We will leave our coffins and make our way to the temporary temple of what the Sisters of Mercy have always been and will always be about, the graveyard-dramatic baritone of Andrew Eldritch. When he demands, "Give me the ring!" we Seattle vampires will throw our dark-gemmed rings at the stage.
Now, here is something that's worth considering. Despite Pacific Northwest's mostly goth-positive weather, it has never produced a really big goth band. Indeed, the only thing that even comes close is Oldominion, but despite all the support they received from PNW vampire heads, they never blew up. How the world is so unfair sometimes. Oldominion were amazing—Seattle's Wu-Tang Clan and Odd Future. Despite dropping dark gem after gem, they never got the recognition they deserved. So, this is what I recommend you do tonight: Turn the lights out, take a hit of Charlotte's Web, drink a glass of blood-red wine, and listen to this gothic hip-hop classic, One.
Sisters of Mercy play the Moore Theatre Sunday, May 21, 8 pm, $51.50, all ages.
