The first half of 2023 has been a pretty momentous period for goth/industrial legends in the City of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affection. Skinny Puppy brought their farewell tour to the 3,500-capacity opera house; Ministry, Gary Numan, and Front Line Assembly produced a night for the ages at Franklin Music Hall; and just last week The Sisters of Mercy performed to a sold-out crowd at The Fillmore at their first Philadelphia show since 2008. However, most notable of all may be this coming Saturday’s Love And Rockets show at The Fillmore. The band (2/3rds of Tones on Tail and 3/4ths of Bauhaus) will be performing their first show in the 215 since their Lift Tour played Theatre of Living Arts in 1999.
This March the post-punk legends – comprised of Daniel Ash, David J, and Kevin Haskins — announced their first live dates since 2008, which kicked off last month at Cruel World Festival, followed by a run of West Coast dates. And this April they announced an additional batch of dates, including the June 10th stop at The Fillmore. Coinciding with the announcement of their return to the stage was a limited edition box set of their six Beggars Banquet albums on colored vinyl, which sold-out immediately. Since then, they’ve dropped vinyl reissues of 1985’s Seventh Dream Of Teenage Heaven and 1986’s Express on January 13th, followed by 1987’s Earth, Sun, Moon and 1989’s Love and Rockets on April 28th. And this Friday, June 9th, they’ll be releasing an expanded edition of 1996’s Sweet F.A. and a cd/digital collection entitled My Dark Twin, which features unreleased versions and unreleased songs from the Sweet F.A. sessions.
These reunion shows have seen Ash, J, and Haskins performing career-spanning sets, featuring tracks from six of their seven studio LPs (Thus far nothing from their ambient-techno-leaning Hot Trip to Heaven has been included.), including the proto-alternative of “Kundalini Express,” folk-tinged “No New Tale To Tell,” and funk-infused neo-glam anthem “So Alive,” in addition to their famous cover of Temptations classic, “Ball Of Confusion,” which launched the trio’s career. Tickets still remain for this Saturday’s show at The Fillmore, so get them while you can below. And, while you’re at it, check out their video for “No Big Deal,” from their self-titled album (also on the setlist), and pick up your own copies of their latest reissues.
*Get your tickets here.
