MERCURY REV/THE DUKE SPIRIT Glasgow Barrowlands, Sunday 6th March 2005

On paper the Duke Spirit look a strange match for the Rev. And so it turns out on practice. Plenty of rock dynamics but very little in the way of tunes. The last song is an impressive racket and one or two others are decent enough but the Duke Spirit are resolutely Second Division . You can't help but feel that their current profile owes much to the singer's looks rather than her voice.   The main attraction could almost be said to be the flip side of that assessment because they ain't much to look at! (Actually that's not fair - Jonathan has developed into a riveting, if somewhat unconventional, front man). First shock is that there are now only 5 Revs and that Jeff has moved from behind the drum-kit to become keyboard maestro. The early part of the show indicates the band's confidence in the new material as they lead off with  four songs off the new LP.

These are followed by a radically different version of 'Tonite ...' relying on piano rather than guitar. In truth the first couple of songs slip by me, the bass sounds tentative in the mix and 'Funny Way' is slightly out of focus. But from 'Secret for A Song' onwards the Rev find their feet. In general the new stuff sounds great and the version of 'Holes' played is the best I've heard in a long time. Other highlights include 'Funny Bird', 'Little Rhymes' (complete with creepy keyboard intro), the 'Melt You Down' number (which turns out to be 'Mirror For A Bell' off the 'Across Yer Ocean' single) plus an epic 'Dark Is Rising' The set no longer features any pre-Deserter's Songs material (with the exception of the JD era Flaming Lips 'cover') so the psychedelic noise has gone as well. Which is a shame. But at least 'Opus 40' retains an extended finale (including elements on Dylan's 'Gotta Serve Somebody') which deserves to be captured on disc somewhere. Musically, 'The Secret Migration' hadn't gripped me before seeing the live show. To some extent the songs do blend into each other on record, perhaps the production is slightly over cooked, but on stage these songs do gain new life. It's worth commenting too on the adulation offered to the band. The applause after 'Goddess' is prolonged and not unexpected but the same sustained tribute had been given to a wonderful 'My Love' earlier and it really was quite moving. But if the crowd are enjoying themselves then so are the band. It looks like the days of 5 Rev gigs in a year are gone and, whilst the emphasis in the music may have shifted, they remain one of the best live prospects around. Don't miss them.

Mercury Rev Setlist Arise In A Funny Way Secret For A Song Black Forest (Loreli) Tonite It Shows Mirror For A Bell Vermillion My Love Funny Bird Opus 40 There You Are Holes Wilderness Little Rhymes Goddess On A Hiway Spiders and Flies The Dark Is Rising

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