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Matrix - Tube, Bochum, Germany
08th October 1005
Elusive and The Mission

After their comeback with the CD “AurA” and the following support tour together with HIM in 2001 and their headliner tour in 2002, it became a bit calmer around The Mission. Now they are back on the road again with the new live DVD “Lighting the Candles”. Together with them on the road were the “Pandaimonium” protégés Elusive from Norway who introduced their second fulltime album “The great silence” during the tour to the audience.

 
Elusive

Elusive are a quite unknown band from Norway even though they are existing since the mid 90ies. But their current members are not that unknown; so Tommy Olson was fulltime member of the Goth metal band “Theatre of Tragedy” while Morten Velad was vocalist/guitarist of “Tristania”. The first album “Destination Zero” was released in October 2001 whil the second album followed in summer 2005. The trio consists nowadays of Tommy Olsson (guitars, programming), Jan K. Barkved (vocals) and Kristian Gundersen (guitars). http://www.elusive.no/



Music
The music and the look of the band was fitting very well to the evening. The musicians looked like a mixture of old “The Mission” and “The fields of the Nephilim”. Musically this mixture was completed by some bits of “The Sisters of Mercy”. The audience enjoyed this style and the music even though bass and drums came from backing tapes. Looking at the reactions of the audience you might recognize that there even seemed to be some fans of the band this evening which sang along every line. The last song was the Billy Idol cover “Rebel Yell” (Again! How many cover versions must exist of that song?) that was performed quite well and made the whole audience to sing along with the band for the first time. I found it less inventive (the more so as there are better songs of Billy Idol).



Performance
You felt that Elusive did not stand on stage fort he first time in their life. They played their set very experienced. Unfortunately the sound was as bad as always in the Matrix, but quite ok for a support band even though still a support deserves something better. Also the light show was quite limited. Mostly dark blue spots enlightened the stage. However there seemed to be no real pleasure in playing on stage… the musicians acted on me a bit too static and introverted. All in all an ok performance that probably could satisfy the one or another.

Rating

Music 6
Performance 4
Sound 5
Light 7
Total 5 (5.4)




The Mission

After Wayne Hussey (guitar, vocals) and Graig Adams (bass) left “The Sisters of Mercy” in summer 1985 they founded a band called “The Mission” in 1986. After 10 years (several albums and Single hits) they split up only to reunite in the year 2000 to celebrate their comeback with a tour and the album “AurA” (2001). Several line-up changes mark the history of the band. After Graig left the band a few years ago too, only Wayne remained of the original line-up.  http://www.themissionuk.com/



Music
The concert was living from the old classics - above all “Butterfly on a Wheel” and “Deliverance”. Into the classics, the new single “Breathe me in” and the brand new song “Family” – which will probably be released on the forthcoming CD – were interlaced. Who was on “The Mission” concerts before might have recognized that the setlist usually consists of about 10 established songs around which lesser known ones are arranged. So, in Bochum the played older songs like “Fabienne” as well as “Naked and Savage” and the Neil You classic “Like a Hurricane” (both from the album “The first Chapter”) or “Heaven knows” (from the “Neverland” album). The sound however was not very exciting which is usual for that location – the chant was hard to hear and understand, the bass was dominating an the sounds was much too loud.



Performance
The “Tube” was getting hotter and after a longer rebuilding break “The Mission” entered the stage. Due to the fact that Rob Holiday had other allegiances, Mark Thwaite was back on stage again on the guitar. The band showed real pleasure in playing live and loved to be celebrated by the audience. Partly the audience was even taking over the chant like during “Butterfly on a wheel”, “Deliverance” or “Like a Hurricane”. Wayne was again very communicative and was looking for some audience contact. Also Mark Thwaite on guitar and Richard Vernon on bass were very agile and used the space on stage. Surely there are always people thinking that the band has hit it´s peak long ago, but the “Tube” was filled very well and the audience was rocking to every song like the band did the same on stage - even though the audience seemed not to be as fanatic as during other “The Mission” concerts which was probably caused by the loudness and the bad air in the concert venue. Definitely it was not due to the band. The light show adapted the mood of every song. The focus was always on Wayne though. The stage was decorated by a big backdrop with the “Mission” logo and big red curtains at its sides. Besides that a lot of enlightened candles created a dreamy mood.
All in all a very good concert where the band proofed again that they rightly acclaim their place in today´s music business.  The show was living from the interplay between Wayne Hussey and the audience and made you waiting for the new album full of expectations and anticipation. And according to Wayne Hussey there might perhaps be a special “20th Anniversary DVD”.



Setlist
01. Intro
02. Serpent’s Kiss
03. Evangeline
04. Severina
05. Heaven Knows
06. Garden of Delight
07. Breathe me in
08. Fabienne
09. Butterfly on a Wheel
10. Family
11. Naked & Savage
12. Beyond the Pale
13. Deliverance
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14. Amelia (instead of wake)
15. Like a Hurricane
16. Bird of Passage (Wayne & Mark only)
17. Wasteland
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18. Tower of Strength



Rating
Music 9
Performance 10
Sound 5
Light 8
Total 9 (8.55)





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