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Originally comprised of vocalist David Baker, vocalist/guitarist Jonathan Donahue, guitarist/clarinetist Sean Mackowiak, flutist Suzanne Thorpe, bassist Dave Fridmann, and drummer Jimy Chambers, the group's lineup experienced personal conflicts from the get-go. Initially formed as a vehicle for creating the soundtracks to their experimental student films, the band’s members infrequently communicated with each until signing with Rough Trade Records. Whilst working as a concert promoter Donahue put a Mercury Rev show on with support from Oklahoma’s Flaming Lips and along with Fridmann became long-term collaborators with the group.
In 1991 Mercury Rev issued their debut full-length album “Yerself Is Steam” to widespread critical acclaim. Led by the epic experimental tracks “Chasing a Bee”, “Coney Island Cyclone”, and “Frittering”, the album lacked promotion and distribution due to U.S. Rough Trade filling for bankruptcy shortly after the release. Despite this the record earned the band a significant cult following and was supported by a tumultuous UK tour that ended with Donahue attempting to gouge out Mackowiak’s eye with a spoon. The group’s second critically acclaimed album “BOCES” arrived in 1993 following which Mercury Rev were kicked off the year’s Lollapalooza tour for making too much noise, and lead vocalist Baker was kicked out the band.
Taking leave of Baker’s darker and more experimental excursions, Mercury Rev’s third full-length, 1995’s “See You on the Other Side”, proved their most emotionally compelling to date. The same year the band issued the album “Paralyzed Mind of the Archangel”, before making their debut on the UK Albums Chart with the full-length “Deserter’s Songs” in 1998. Mercury Rev’s subsequent album “All Is Dream” arrived in 2011, rose to No. 11 on the UK Albums Chart, and landed on a number of the year’s best-of lists. The albums “The Secret Migration” and “Snowflake Midnight” appeared in 2005 and 2008, respectively, followed by “The Light in You” in September 2015.
At a Mercury Rev show one can expect to see atmospheric lights that serve as the perfect landscape for the band’s mind-blowing performance of psychedelic music. Mercury Rev manages to blend together rich, intricate sounds with an orchestral quality that often builds up to epic proportions all while managing to capture a catchy quality to each song that leaves the tune pleasantly echoing through the audience’s mind.
Main songwriters, Jonathan Donahue and Sean Mackowiak, a.k.a. “Grasshopper”, have perfect dynamics on stage when performing, knowing exactly when to hit the right note that will enhance the emotion and energy of the performance. The band plays with your typical rock instruments, guitar, bass, and drums, but often incorporate these instruments with orchestral instruments ranging from, clarinet, flute, and synthesizers. Mercury Rev often garners comparison to other psychedelic band, The Flaming Lips, which is understandable as Donahue was once a former guitarist of the band.
Mercury Rev’s recent setlists have been spanning across most of their career, but draw most heavily from their critical acclaimed and commercially successful album, Deserter’s Songs, an album that NME declared album of the year in 1998. The band is also playing several selections from their newest release, Snowflake Midnight. During the performance Donahue seems just involved with the music as the audience, gesturing with his hands, as well as dancing and entrancing himself to his own music.
Listening to a Mercury Rev album in and of itself is a blissful experience, but seeing their live performance with the mesmerizing lights and the band’s enthusiastic performance enhances the euphoria of the music and makes a connection to the audience that can only be depicted in a live setting.
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