Mercury Rev & The Royal Northern Sinfonia - Review
Posted on: 2017-07-18
Our rating:
Mercury Rev had only planned three exclusive UK dates so it’s fantastic that they came to our city – which we all know is definitely the place to be when it comes to all genres of music.
The American band, Mercury Rev, performed with a full on orchestra in a different environment than they expected last night when their planned Colston Hall performance was moved to the O2 Academy instead.
Due to investigation works in the Colston Hall happening in the last week because some debris had fallen from the ceiling into the main hall, a certain amount of shows have been moved across the road to what is a standing venue, instead of the originally planned seated arrangement.
However, despite this change – the band took it all in their stride and the Royal Northern Sinfonia, Orchestra of Sage Gateshead, set a beautiful scene as they literally filled the entire stage with their various instruments and overwhelmingly beautiful and serene sound.
They are the UK’s only full-time chamber orchestra and the Queen bestowed the Royal title on them in 2013, meaning they are recognised as one of the UK’s finest. The perfect accompaniment to Mercury Rev’s dreamlike tunes, they really added an unforgettable sparkle to the whole gig.
The first song of the night was 'Central Park East', which was met with a grateful applause, and the whole gig featured a range of tunes from their large back catalogue of albums; including selections from their legendary albums Deserter’s Songs and All is Dream.
Frontman singer, Jonathan Daniel Donahue, was on point when it came to interacting with the crowd as he kept the laughter flowing in between songs with his observations and opinions. He talked about “the urge to conduct” being overwhelming when on stage with this orchestra and how he was the only one on stage who can’t read or write music. He got the most amount of laughs though when he said how the band have always had dreams about the oboe instrument because they craved working with an orchestra from the very start. It was lovely how he thanked their fans for turning their dreams into a reality.
He also did an on stage interview with Simon Raymonde (of Cocteau Twins), where he asked Simon about his late father Ivor’s work in the music industry. We discovered that his dad had written big hits, such as 'I only want to be with you', which Dusty Springfield went on to sing.
It was fascinating to hear Simon talk about how he didn’t appreciate his dad’s work until after he passed away; the breaks between songs being performed and chatter on the stage further helped to provide an intimate feel to the evening.
We were also in for some treats during the night, like when they performed 'There you are', which is a song that Jonathan had recorded with Flaming Lips. During this tune, he picked up his guitar and the latter part of the song was filled with the beautiful and clear sound of a flute.
'When you wish upon a star' put a trance like hush over the room because what was clearly a room full of long time fans took every word in, but the biggest reception of the whole night was in force when the opening sound of their final song of the evening started up – well-known hit 'The dark is rising'. It all came to a crescendo that meant we knew this was the finale and Jonathan comically used a lightsaber to conduct the final sounds from the orchestra.
This was an enjoyable performance but the change in venue, although a great back up plan as it was so close to the original hall, wasn’t the ideal setting for this sort of gig. It slightly took something away from the experience. Still, I am sure everyone who was at the gig will agree that they were glad this show went ahead in Bristol last night. Mercury Rev had only planned three exclusive UK dates so it’s fantastic that they came to our city – which we all know is definitely the place to be when it comes to all genres of music.
3 out of 5
Article by:
Kelly worked as a journalist for the BBC for 12 years before she changed careers and went into the field of marketing. Having worked at BBC 6 Music for several years, she is passionate about many different genres of sound. Her other interests include theatre, comedy, books, food and days out with the family (she has a young daughter who she describes as a "whirlwind of fun.") Kelly is married to Vik who is a true Bristolian to the core! She is also studying nutritional therapy.
