Symphonic Pop Rockers MERCURY REV Finally Back In Belgium This Friday - Here's TURN UP THE VOLUME's Proposed Playlist

20 June 2023

MERCURY REV. One of my favorite bands ever, on record and on stage.

The band was formed in 1989 by a bunch of students from the University at Buffalo
in New York. Their first three LPs (Yerself Is Steam – 1991 / Boces – 1993 / See You On
The Other Side – 1995) were dope-infused psych rock-out records. Check them on Spotify

The great breakthrough came in 1998 with the majestic masterpiece DESERTER’S SONGS .
From there on, I started to go and see them play live. The magic about them performing on stage is that it doesn’t feel like a rock concert, but rather a spiritual experience. Always spellbinding and hypnotic.

With goosebumps vocalist and co-songwritter Jonathan Donahue (who also played for
2 years with fairytale eccentrics The Flaming Lips) and musical orchestrator Grasshopper (born Sean Thomas Mackowiak) as the beating heart of the Rev, another 5 albums followed with The Light In You as the most recent one, released in 2015. Full discography here .

All that said, I’m warming up now to see/hear MR for the 12th time, the first show since they played Brussels in 2015. They play in Sint-Niklaas, Belgium this Friday, 23 June. For the occasion, I made a playlist of 12 magnificent Rev pearls. Actually, 12 I want them to play.

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Below photos and impressions of their 2015 gig in Brussels.