Mercury Rev

Mercury Rev

May 18

‘HOW DOES THAT OLD SONG GO?’

 

When: 27 April 2018
Where: CCA
Support: Lyla Foy
Band Previously Seen: 13 November 2008, Shepherd’s Bush Empire

 

Deserter’s Songs is one of those albums that once you hear it stays with you forever, it has its own special sound and mood. The fact that it saved the life of the band that recorded it adds to its allure. It is no surprise that it often features in lists if the best albums of the 1990s. This tour was a celebration of its 20th anniversary with ‘a very special acoustic and intimate Performance’ – and we were not disappointed. This was an exceptional gig.

 

I am not a great fan of the CCA space but tonight the spectral music from Deserter’s Songs triumphed over the cold functionality of the room, in the quieter songs you could have heard the proverbially pin drop whilst the rush of ‘Goddess On A Highway’ transported you to somewhere brighter, faster and more glorious. They were, lead singer Jonathan Donahue told us, happy to be abel to present the album in the manner it was created, in their attic, playing in hushed tones so as not to disturb the neighbours.

 

JD’s vocals were superb throughout the evening. He talked a lot between songs, especially about the struggle they had after their third album, See You On The Other Side was a commercial  flop (JD claimed it sold only 29 copies) which led to them almost giving up but how out of this despair arose Deserter’s Songs. Throughout the evening his quiet intonation entranced the audience as his stories pulled you into their experiences of recording the album. The rest of the band were in imperious form, from Grasshopper’s lead guitar (not entirely acoustic!) and occasional telling harmonica, to Jesse Chandler on keys and JB Meijers on lap steel and at times, thrillingly, on trumpet; they were also joined also for most of the set by support act Lyla Foy on guitar. There was no drummer and the solitary drum standing on stage was only used once.

 

The set was obviously dominated by the album we had all come to praise, Deserter’s Songs, but the band also played several others, including a song from See You On The Other Side and a beautiful version of ‘All Is Dream‘. They also did a few covers, including Sparklehorse’s ‘Sea of Teeth’ – JD told us they knew Mark Linkous and the cover was sublime, one of the best moments in an evening of highs. But it was the Deserter’s Songs that we had come to hear and  ‘The Funny Bird‘, ‘Endlessly’, ‘Holes’, et al were presented gloriously. When I last saw MR, way back in 2008, I knew them mainly from Deserter’s Songs, The Secret Migration and All Is Dream and was surprised by just how psychedelic and heavy they were and by their penchant for long instrumental jams. Tonight that side of them (an echo of tehir early days and JD’s coupel of years in The Flaming Lips) was represented by one freak out at the end of a song, ‘Opus 40’, which had the whole band flying on all cylinders, with Lyla Foy smashing a standing drum with full, but syncopated, abandon.

 

Deserter’s Songs is a very special album and this was a very special gig that fully did it justice. It was full of love and hope and memory and was pure joy.

 

Band page

 

Sample video