Live Review: Mercury Rev + Nicolai Dunger, Islington Assembly Hall, London – 19th March 2025

This was the second of two nights in London (they’d played Earth previously) for Mercury Rev, who seem to have decided that Europe is the place to be, as they were here at the end of last year and will be back again this Autumn.  We’re blessed.  Although, if only from the evidence of the merch’ stall, this is technically, probably, maybe, still the ‘Born Horses‘ tour as hinted at the last time Americana UK caught Mercury Rev there wouldn’t be many songs actually taken from that album, good as it is.  And in fact the set would only include ‘Ancient Love‘ which is radically different from the album version and has become a vehicle for an extended band work out like a better dressed and groomed version of Hawkwind as synthesized waves of sound.

As the constants in Mercury Rev, Jonathan Donahue and Grasshopper are bound to be focal points of attention – and Jonathan Donahue is quite the frontman, with his “tai-chi” dancing, his dramatic presentation whether it be impassioned or astonished or proffering child like bewilderment.  When he’s not singing he’s enthusiastically encouraging his bandmates, or striking down his co-founder with bolts of lightning.  Sean “Grasshopper” Mackowiak meanwhile steadily produces an incredible series of sounds from his guitar, at times soaring, often a plainly blistering attack, and every now and again redefining, in the most positive way, bombastic.  The twinned banks of keyboards are manned by the eye catching Marion Genser, who occasionally reveals her replicant side, along with Jesse Chandler whilst regular touring drummer Joe Magistro knows how to take it down to a faint presence and take it up to a thunderous power.  Chandler also adds a mean turn on saxophone taking Mercury Rev on a psychedelic space rock diversion.

Mercury Rev were impressive from the very start – perfect sound and also a perfect presence on the proscenium arch stage of Islington Assembly Hall, with the mirror ball adding a dappling light that marks their quieter moments out whilst the swirls of smoke were the ideal transmitter of the non-stop flashing light effects.  Theatrical?  Well, yes – but it fits the live music of Mercury Rev.

Kicking off with a pair from ‘Deserters Songs‘ – ‘The Funny Bird‘ and then ‘Tonite It Shows‘ – ensured a dopamine kick of the highest order likely to lead to the thought “aren’t we lucky that this isn’t the Royal Albert Hall where a band this good deserve to be when they play London.”  With the lights flicking dramatically to a hellish red it was time for ‘Vermillion‘, a song that was allowed to develop – not for the last time across the evening – into an extended band workout.   It was the only song from ‘Secret Migration‘ which also begs the question “what do we have to do to get ‘Secret For A Song’ back in the set list.”  This is, of course, of course, the problem for any band with ten studio albums to their name.

There was the reintroduction of ‘Dream of a Young Girl as a Flower‘ from ‘Snowflake Midnight‘ which veers from balladry – Mercury Rev’s form of balladry – into the waves of electronic sound that once more stirs memories of Dik Mik.  Ah, to make it very clear – Mercury Rev are really not Hawkwind – but they’d make for a superb double header.  The endless explosive force of the reshaped ‘Runaway Raindrop‘ makes that abundantly clear – everything about this song is devastatingly good, but Joe Magistro adds such drama that he makes a good claim to stealing the performance as he’s egged on to greater heights by a posturing Donahue.

The jazz has gone from the only cut taken from ‘Born Horses‘ and now ‘Ancient Love‘ makes a perfect bridge from the fast passion of ‘Goddess on a Hiway‘ to the epic ‘Tides of the Moon‘.  With still plenty of time left the evening heads into the mountain climbing of huge epic upon huge epic, as each peak from ‘All is Dream‘ and ‘Deserter’s Songs‘ rises higher and higher.  ‘Holes‘ aches beautifully, as time slips away and drains into the perpetual universe, and the spacious questioning now includes a long musing on exactly ‘how does that old song go?‘ as Jonathan Donahue finds himself in conversation with his mirror image that finally resolves through a long coda to a final realisation that plans never quite play out as intended.

‘Opus 40‘ turns intimacy inside out, making the small gesture and the quiet emotion a thing of vast importance.  No-one could argue with ‘The Dark Is Rising‘ as a closer, it embodies everything that is most significant about Mercury Rev – magical soundscapes of endless power coupled to emotional doubt, of lives lived better in dreams and the failures of real life.  It brings the set to a close in a final wall of sound, as the players on the stage collapse into repose.  There would be no encore – why would there be as all has been given across the last ninety minutes.

And whilst this was an audience of predominantly those who could be – and probably were – long term “RevHeads” there was more than a smattering of those who…oh don’t laugh…were not even born when the band formed.  And whose parents were probably still listening to Five Star when the first incarnation of the Rev got it together.

The evening had been opened by Nicolai Dunger, who intrigued at the Americana Music Association UK Showcases earlier this year and had the recent ‘Melody Rules‘ to promote.  Given that the Swedish singer has a dozen albums to his name and mostly records in English – and has collaborated with the likes of Will Oldham, Garth Hudson and, umm, Jonathan Donahue he should already be better known.

He took the stage a little behind the announced scheduled time as the room was still filling up. Dressed to the nines in a morning suit and bow tie, and wreathed in smoke and brightly blue lit he launched into a series of, appropriately, blues played on electric guitar.

After what seemed too brief a time Dunger launched into his closing segment with a request to the audience – did we want a Tom Waits or a John Martyn song?  After the second asking he declared “Ok, I’ll do them both.”  The Tom Waits song involved ripping words out with little or no regard for his larynx, whilst the set closer of Martyn’s ‘Back To Stay‘ drew out the ambiguity of a love song which also gives the singer licence to stray whenever the opportunity might arise “Girl don’t cry…although there might  be other people in my life.” And then, after a short twenty minutes or so he was gone.  Longer next time, maybe?