Mercury Rev: a 'classic album' show done right

If Mercury Rev announced a live date several years ago, I'd have bought a ticket without any hesitation whatsoever. I did in fact do this when they played the Barrowlands in support of their patchy The Secret Migration LP. I've since had to rethink my opinion of the band following the consecutive release of two dull studio offerings. When their Deserter's Songs 2.0 tour was announced, I swore that I'd only go if I could blag a guestlist place and ended up having a great time for free. The performance really changed my opinion of these 'classic albums played in their entirety' affairs. During the encore, I didn't immediately recognise the song they covered as 'Solsbury Hill' and thought they'd found a great new direction. In fact, there's been no news from the group in the months following the tour and I wouldn't be surprised if whatever they do next tanks with fans and critics alike. Still, I hope that's not the case and am glad they got to milk their solid back catalogue one last time. Review below!

Mercury Rev

Queens Hall, Edinburgh

19/5/11

****1/2

When The Flaming Lips released The Soft Bulletin in 1999, less than a year after Mercury Rev emerged from the commercial wilderness with Deserter's Songs, critics eagerly compared the two bands. Each had started out as faintly psychedelic, avant-garde noiseniks who progressed towards creating symphonic Americana under the auspices of producer Dave Fridmann. Latter-day Rev frontman Jonathan Donahue had even served a tenure with the Lips in the early nineties.

Over the following decade, the groups' careers would run in tandem, both consolidating their resurgence with a solid album before eventually succumbing to formula and familiarity. However, while the Lips regained acclaim with Embryonic, a successful return to their low-fi roots, their associates strived to break new ground on the electronic Snowflake Midnight, an experiment which seemed to alienate even their core audience. Thus in 2011 we find Mercury Rev reviving Deserter's Songs amidst circumstances similar to those in which it was originally recorded, in need of recognition and reassurance.

The difference is that 13 years on, the band has complete faith in the material. Opener 'Holes' is introduced by a swathe of stately guitar feedback, Donahue's vocals coming in atop almost ceremonial keyboards. The following 'Tonite It Shows' is even better, the singer standing flamingo-like on one leg as he conducts its swirling, balletic arrangement beyond the drama of the studio version.

If watching a band perform a classic album in its entirety sounds like a futile, predictable exercise, Mercury Rev certainly make every effort to confound us. Most interesting are the fleshed out renderings of the record's three musical interludes. 'The Happy End (Drunk Room)' is particularly notable, recast as a robotic guitar work out. Seguing into the evergreen 'Goddess on a Hiway', the band seamlessly walks the line between innovation and nostalgia. An encore that includes an electro-tinged cover of Peter Gabriel's 'Solsbury Hill' and majestic take on early single 'Carwash Hair' closes the night in a dignified fashion, interest in the group fully restored.

Lewis Porteous 

 The review as published by The Fly