Oh Mercy - Adelaide, 11th October 2012
Words: Jo Taylor
Melbourne four-piece Oh Mercy! have just released third album, the colourful and funky Deep Heat. In celebration, they played an all-ages show at The Gov as part of their 17- date national tour.
Sadly the crowd was disappointingly lacking in numbers and Oh Mercy! were greeted by only a half filled room. The venue should have been filled, however this didn’t dampen anyoneʼs enthusiasm for the highly under-rated Australian band. The band opened with three in a row from their new album, Deep Heat. The title track was followed by My Man, which warmed the evening up slowly before launching into Rebel Beats, with its addictive beats. Not surprising really, given the band have a knack for combining great beats with sweet melodies, and played live it has a whole new dimension. This was an early highlight and for an album released only recently, a lot of people were seen singing along.
Some bands excel in their recordings but canʼt quite match it with their live performances, however, in the case of Oh Mercy! itʼs the opposite. Live, they have a great dynamic whilst their recordings, though good, donʼt quite do their abilities justice. The band has a magnetic chemistry amongst each other and their live energy oozes into the crowd.
Tracks from the new album continued, with Pilgrimʼs Blues and the second highlight of the evening, the gorgeous sexy beat of Labour of Love.
Somewhat distracting was the gold theme of the evening, with gold tinsel glittering up the backdrop and lead singer Alex Gowʼs 50ʻs style gold jacket complete with Deep Heat emblazoned on the back, gave the night a slightly Prom Night feel.
Sadly the crowd was disappointingly lacking in numbers and Oh Mercy! were greeted by only a half filled room. The venue should have been filled, however this didn’t dampen anyoneʼs enthusiasm for the highly under-rated Australian band. The band opened with three in a row from their new album, Deep Heat. The title track was followed by My Man, which warmed the evening up slowly before launching into Rebel Beats, with its addictive beats. Not surprising really, given the band have a knack for combining great beats with sweet melodies, and played live it has a whole new dimension. This was an early highlight and for an album released only recently, a lot of people were seen singing along.
Some bands excel in their recordings but canʼt quite match it with their live performances, however, in the case of Oh Mercy! itʼs the opposite. Live, they have a great dynamic whilst their recordings, though good, donʼt quite do their abilities justice. The band has a magnetic chemistry amongst each other and their live energy oozes into the crowd.
Tracks from the new album continued, with Pilgrimʼs Blues and the second highlight of the evening, the gorgeous sexy beat of Labour of Love.
Somewhat distracting was the gold theme of the evening, with gold tinsel glittering up the backdrop and lead singer Alex Gowʼs 50ʻs style gold jacket complete with Deep Heat emblazoned on the back, gave the night a slightly Prom Night feel.
The sweet Keith St. from their successful 2011 album Great Barrier Grief and Broken Ears from 2009’s Privileged Woes was a delve into the back catalogue in a set that was widely based around their latest release.
Suffocated, another catchy tune from the new album got everyone dancing, so to did Europa and the funky Fever.
Revisiting another track from Privileged Woes, Lay Everything on Me was a crowd pleaser followed by another new track Still Making Me Pay which lead singer Alexander Gow introduced as “A reggae song. Block your ears if you think thatʼs a problem”. Going by crowd reaction, no one seemed to mind.
The band were joined on stage by Brisbane based support act Millions for a massive jam session for the song Drums. The invite was also thrown out to local support Bad Dreams “Bad Dreams are welcome too, just donʼt fuck it up”. Guess they didnʼt want to chance it, as they remained absent from the stage. It was a fun atmosphere on stage and the entire venue got caught up in the moment.
Closing the set with older track, the gorgeous Stay, Please Stay and an amazing version of Bruce Springsteen's smooth song State Trooper ended the night on a high.
By the end of the night, it was long forgotten that the crowd was smaller than they deserved and Gowʼs obvious appreciation for the musically rich history of The Governor Hindmarsh and Farmers Union Iced Coffee means theyʼll be back again, hopefully with a stronger crowd.
Suffocated, another catchy tune from the new album got everyone dancing, so to did Europa and the funky Fever.
Revisiting another track from Privileged Woes, Lay Everything on Me was a crowd pleaser followed by another new track Still Making Me Pay which lead singer Alexander Gow introduced as “A reggae song. Block your ears if you think thatʼs a problem”. Going by crowd reaction, no one seemed to mind.
The band were joined on stage by Brisbane based support act Millions for a massive jam session for the song Drums. The invite was also thrown out to local support Bad Dreams “Bad Dreams are welcome too, just donʼt fuck it up”. Guess they didnʼt want to chance it, as they remained absent from the stage. It was a fun atmosphere on stage and the entire venue got caught up in the moment.
Closing the set with older track, the gorgeous Stay, Please Stay and an amazing version of Bruce Springsteen's smooth song State Trooper ended the night on a high.
By the end of the night, it was long forgotten that the crowd was smaller than they deserved and Gowʼs obvious appreciation for the musically rich history of The Governor Hindmarsh and Farmers Union Iced Coffee means theyʼll be back again, hopefully with a stronger crowd.