Mercury Rev @ Oval Space, Bethnal Green, London.

Back \t the Oval Space for the second time in a month for  this sold out gig. I managed to bring a GoProwith me but the review below I have precised from Tony Hardy review on Live Review and the photos are by Kevin England.

I managed to video the opening buildup followed by Queen of Swans on a GoPro
Another Video shot featuring Grasshopper showing how it should be done.

A couple of single women singers warmed up the crowd, both with interesting voices but in desperate need of a band to enhance their songs. The stage was cleared, and the smoke machine started to pump out mist with voilet lights gleaming through the haze.  By the time Mercury Rev took the stage, it was an old-time London smog. Keyboard swirls and arpeggios played over flickering violet light as frontman Jonathan Donahue raised a bottle in the purple haze. Certainly opener “The Queen Of Swans” fitted comfortably with the band’s naturalistic shtick. The sound was loud and richly filled out, though the song’s innate light and shade gave some relief.
Donahue orchestrated both the crowd and his four band mates with flapping arms and trademark wide-eyed stares, but some subtleties were lost in the wall of sound during the next two songs. “Autumn’s in the Air”, another plucked from the new album, provided a bit more contrast, yet still the keyboard, bass, and guitar ensured a dense backcloth. After the classic “Endlessly” from Deserter’s Songs revealed natural comic timing in relating anecdotes about the band’s original singer, David Baker, including his propensity to break off mid-song to get a beer from the bar amid anxieties about whether he would ever make it back to the stage. The audience loved it and returned its clear affection for the band with copious laughter.
As the set progressed, the band looked like shadow puppets onstage as lights cut through the gloom, and the brick wall backdrop lit up like an old movie set while searchlights played. Donahue picked up on the mood by wielding a lamp aloft to the heavy backbeat of “You’re My Queen”. Once you were accustomed to the volume the set was played at, standouts came thick and fast. The light piano- and heavy bass-driven “Diamonds” and guitarist Grasshopper’s shredding during the epic and glorious “Holes” were two such examples. The use of lighting effects underscored a visually spectacular show almost despite the all-pervading smoke. Bubbles rose against eerie green light while Donahue’s grey whiskery face was caught in half-light like a pantomime villain escaping the scene.
The set reached a crescendo during an outrageous wall of noise in “Tides of the Moon” while Donahue wafted arms bird-like and ended with Bach meeting all the young dudes in “Opus 40”. His warm, high-pitched voice was as strong as it was at the start and the instrumental outro as magnificent as it was indulgent. Two anthemic encores ensured a wholly satisfied crowd left clear in the judgement that we had witnessed something special, dramatic, and at times mesmerising,  a show that harked back to the days of classic rock, as loud as it was proud.

Setlist:
The Queen of Swans
The Funny Bird
Car Wash Hair
Autumn’s in the Air
Endlessly
Frittering
Are You Ready?
You’re My Queen
Diamonds
Central Park East
Holes
Tides of the Moon
Opus 40
Encore:
Goddess on a Hiway
The Dark Is Rising