I
first happened upon this rather splendid outfit when they ably
supported Bob Mould in Wolverhampton, barely a month after the
release of their breakthrough recording ‘Deserter’s Songs’ many
moons ago. By the end of that same year, thanks mainly to good old
fashioned word of mouth, a bemused yet delighted band deservedly
received the much feted ‘Album of the Year’ gong courtesy of NME,
and thus their legend was born.
That
seems a lifetime ago now as Mercury Rev, down to just the two
original members, Jonathan Donahue and Sean ‘Grasshopper’
Mackowiak are hitting the road for the first time this decade on the
back of recent release ‘The Light in You’, ending a 7 year
hiatus. Naturally,
their defining work still burns bright with fans here in the UK,
evidenced by the merchandise stall doing a brisk trade in t-shirts
emblazoned with the Deserter’s
Songs
album cover artwork on the front. Brudenell is also brimming with
expectant punters, eager to see their heroes once more and in such an
intimate setting. ‘Rev did play The
Duchess of York
a few times back in the 1990s but graduated to venues many times
bigger as their stock grew.
Donahue
and Grasshopper are joined on stage by Anthony Molina (Bass) Jesse
Chandler (Piano/Flute) and Jason Miranda (Drums), all finally
appearing after a lengthy intro for ‘Are You Ready?’ the lead-off
single from their new album. Immediately you’re grabbed by the
short and curlies although only after performing a double-take at the
amount of clobber the band members are all wearing…..surely there
is no need for a jacket and scarf here, you’ll be fainting in 10
minutes!
We’re
then taken straight into familiar territory with a soaring ‘Funny
Bird’ as Donahue swigs from what looks like a bottle of plonk,
clearly glad to once more be in front of a live audience, intending
to mine a rich seam of their back catalogue in the next hour or so.
We’re even treated to a brace from debut ‘Yerself Is Steam’,
the flute appearing for ‘Car Wash Hair’ followed by the grunge
epic ‘Frittering’.
There’s
some of ‘The Light in You’ but not too much, ’Autumn in the
Air’, ‘Queen of Swans’ and the terrific ‘Central Park East’
are squeezed in between old favourites. ‘Endlessly’, a track I’d
completely forgotten about still sounds wonderfully eerie, complete
with its ‘Silent Night’ chorus, similarly ‘Holes’ has lost none of
the atmosphere it had when kick-starting the album that saved their
musical careers. ‘Opus 40’ is another tour de force, closing
their main set in style with a wall of sound.
The
encore starts with a curveball, a cover of Sparklehorse’s ‘Sea of
Teeth’, followed by a rousing ‘Goddess on a Hiway’, ending with
‘Dark Rising’ as Jonathan flexes his muscles at the breathless
crowd.
‘Rev
play 6 Music Live during their brief tour of the UK and on this form,
they’ll be tearing Maida Vale studios a new arsehole.
Mercury Rev official
Brudenell official