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Amanda Gallagher enjoys a euphoric, climactic and anthemic greatest hits set from Mercury Rev
Image by Amanda Gallagher
Sean O’Hagan (previously of High Llamas) who is a longtime friend of the band, opened the show as Sean O’Hagan Ideas and warmed up the crowd with nostalgic melody and sing-along guitar songs.
Opening with The Funny Bird from the 1998 Deserters Songs album, fivepiece Mercury Rev transported us into the cosmos with immersive psychedelic vibes and entertainment for the eyes, with singer Jonathan Donahue breaking from vocals to conduct the band through the song’s surging melody. With Ancient Love the only song performed from the latest 2024 album Born Horses, the crowd enthusiastically embraced the sentimental journey back through the cosmic decades, with Empire State (Son House in Excelsis) from the 1995 See You On The Other Side album, Opus 40, Holes, Butterfly’s Wing and Car Wash Hair, featuring captivating flute and saxophone, and a whole host of experimental and distorted effects, along with a cracking cover of Pavement’s Here.
Runaway Raindrop cascaded with ethereal spoken word by frontman Jonathan on an electronic light mic and introducing trumpet, with the band experimenting with sax, drums, guitar and keys throughout the song journey. Energetically, glittering guitar riffs and looping from Grasshopper were truly majestic. Epic crowd favourite Goddess on a Hiway was musical euphoria and lyrically reminded us the night was unfortunately ‘not going to last’, followed by the final climax with an anthemic and orchestral The Dark Is Rising. The perfect ending for these technically brilliant legends and left us all wanting much more, proving the years have done nothing to diminish.
