Venue: Roundhouse
A feeling of anticipation was in the air throughout the day before this particular gig (which I had to spend at work - darn you Saturday Librarian). An ATP/Don't Look Back event, Mercury Rev were going to play the whole of Deserter's Songs. I listened to this album a lot during my first year at university, and as that was such a crazy mixed up time not all the memories it evokes are particularly happy ones. Such issues are not helped by the fact it is such an evocative record anyway, even if you only associate it with cleaning out the hamster cage on a Sunday afternoon. But, although part of me was apprehensive, part of me was also very excited. I was delighted they'd decided to do this particular concert, as for me Deserter's Songs always seemed somehow bigger than the band, with their other work more of a pale imitation.
P (full of tales of limited edition vinyl purchases at the first Independent Record Label Market on Berwick St. which I was gutted to miss) met me after work and we went for a really nice Thai dinner on Charlotte Street. The Roundhouse was pretty busy when we arrived, but as usual there was no hassle and it was easy to get a drink and a reasonable viewing position even though we were fairly near the back. It seemed to be a real crowd of proper gig goers - lots of earplugs and hardly any chatting. Brilliant!
As the band took the stage it was swathed in purple light and dotted with flickering candles which added to the atmosphere. As soon as "Holes" began I knew we were going to be in for a real treat. Front man Jonathan Donahue delivered the songs with a real theatricality, which put me in mind of some kind of weird old time musical song cycle. I'd never real thought of it as a 'story' record before put I guess this is indicative of the fact the album works so well as a whole. I loved the way they celebrated the weirdness of the record, which was even more apparent live. The biggest cheer of the night was reserved for "Goddess on a Hiway", and afterwards Donahue spoke briefly about what the success of the record meant to them. He was touching in his recognition of what it meant to the crowd too, understanding that it is one of those albums people cling to when growing up, and saying how as an adolescent in the Catskill mountains he felt like Holden Caulfield, thinking everyone else was a 'phony'.
All in all, tonight surpassed all my expectations. They captured the essence of the record without replicating the studio sound in a brilliant interpretation which meant new memories were formed rather than old ones merely being invoked.
After finishing the album, they came back to perform a few other songs, a highlight for me being "The Dark Is Rising", the opening song from All Is Dream. Listening to this album on my iPod on the way home I thought perhaps I had been wrong about their other albums too.
A great night.
Whilst I was writing this, I discovered this website: http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/mercury-rev/2011/roundhouse-london-england-73d3d6b5.html
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