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REV |
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There is no doubt any more - Mercury Rev are the finest band on the planet right now. Thursday’s gig just blew me away. There’s no doubt that the live Rev experience is very different to the current LP - live the Rev are a twelve legged rock monster. But even the songs off "Deserter’s Songs" fared well here with the turbo charged versions on show bringing new facets to what are tremendous songs anyway.
The set was 50% the new album, with the remainder being songs that I don’t own yet! Nothing off "Boces" and only the one off "See You On The Other Side".
It all started with "The Funny Bird", probably the song which was the most faithful treatment of the album version. Crowd reaction initially was a bit subdued but the longer the set went on the more lively it became. "Tonite It Shows" was next up and gave an early indication of the rock treatment that the "Deserter’s Songs" material would receive. Then "Delta Sun Bottleneck Stomp" - shorter and less downright funky than the album version - probably the only song to come over more mellow than on record. I had expected that this might have been part of the rousing finale, with a crashing dance beat, but I guess that shows how much I know! Then the first old song I didn’t know, although they played it in London - an absolute classic. ( "Frittering" I have since found out - although the song is still in my head.)
Then "Holes" - again just more than the LP. "Car Wash Hair" was next up with a really funky finale, before we really got into a run of stuff I didn’t know (yet). "Isolation" was first, on the current single, but treated in the same manner as the rest of the set. A bluesy song complete with moothie, which is apparently Nick Cave’s "Into Your Arms" was followed by "Peaceful Night" off "See You…" in much the same style.
The run for home continued with "Everlasting" and then "Opus 40" which is completely different live compared to the album version, even ending with a headbanging metallic freak out. They played this supporting Bob in London, and I’m not that surprised that I didn’t recognise it on the album. Another song that I didn’t recognise next ("Chasing A Bee" according to set lists of other gigs ) proved that this band didn’t come out of nowhere and that there have always been great songs, before a thunderous "Goddess on a Hiway" brought the main set to a close.
The first encore was a short punky thrash ("Syringe Mouth" again according to live set lists I’ve since seen) before the Neil Young finale, which I always thought was "Cortez the Killer", but the afore-mentioned set lists call something else. Regardless, it could almost have been Young himself on stage as Mercury Rev whipped up quite a storm, but with a Rev twist.
And they couldn’t possibly follow that, despite a very enthusiastic audience response. (Am I just getting old or do rock audiences now accept that bands just won’t come back? In my day the crowd left when they were satisfied that the band weren’t coming back, but then only after a good holler, regardless of whether or not the house lights had gone up - and sometimes it worked - the Bunnymen in Dunfermline springs to mind. But I digress.)
This truly was the best gig I’ve seen in years, certainly since Sugar in 1992 and possibly since the Pixies and Throwing Muses on the same bill in 1988. It had everything you could possibly want from any gig, songs, noise and a band who really seem to be riding the crest of a wave just now. If I could spend the rest of my life watching this band live I would. Catch them while you can.
SET LIST (Probable)
1. The Funny Bird 2. Tonite It Shows 3. Delta Sun Bottleneck Stomp 4. Frittering 5. Holes 6. Car Wash Hair 7. Isolation 8. Into Your Arms 9. Peaceful Night 10. Endlessly 11. Opus 40 12. Chasing A Bee 13. Goddess On A Hiway
E1. Syringe Mouth E2. Cortez The Killer