A Night At The Mercury Lounge: 08-08-11

by Carolyn Del Valle

On August 8th 2011 For the first time ever I went to the Mercury Lounge, I had passed this place by on many occasions because a friend of mine lives nearby but I never thought to go in, I didn’t even know they had shows there. That night 4 bands played in this order: The Blue Pages, Follower, Lunic, The Shakedown

I had never heard any of the bands previously, I only checked out a few songs by The Blue Pages previously and from what I heard, I knew I would like them. I almost missed their entire set because I had something to take care of beforehand, but luckily I did see them play a few songs. The worst thing ever is when you go to a show and the band sounds better on a recording then in person, but this wasn’t the case with them at all. While watching them perform, I could not help to think of Coldplay as they just gave that vibe off especially in the song Run Back Home. They are a band I definitely plan on seeing again in the near future.

The next band up was Follower, their first song sounded good, It’s a shame that I can’t even remember what it was if I heard it again. Like I mentioned, the worst thing is to see a “studio” band live. While The Blue Pages were not, the same could not be said for Follower. At first listen I could compare then to the likes of My Chemical Romance on sound alone, but that was only because of the first song.

The truth is they were bloody terrible. One of the banter segments before a song had them share how they have only played 6 shows together including this one. However even if they had played 20, when you are terrible, you just are well terrible! Now don’t get me wrong, I respect anyone who has the courage to go up on a stage and perform as it is not for everyone. However this does not excuse you from putting your best talent on showcase. Screaming at the top of your lungs half the time in a piss poor attempt to sound metal is not the way to go. I am not even sure what their genre is but you could not pay me to see them again.

The 3rd Band was Lunic, a 3 piece all female Electropop band from NYC. However due to sickness, we got a 2 piece showcase. I came out to support their drummer who I met through my best friend. Considering the only think I technically knew of them was their genre, I was expecting an overproduced auto tuned band, but I am glad to have been proven completely wrong. The songs were extremely catchy & I could only imagine how much more so they would be when all 3 are together!

The final band of the night was The Shakedown, a straight up Americana band from Upstate New York. While I admit to not really listening to this genre of music, I was impressed with the majority of the songs played on what seemed like a never ending set. From seeing & hearing them for the first time that night, I can tell that they have great chemistry as it resonated through their performance. There was a touching moment as before one song, the keyboardist dedicated it to his grandmother who had passed earlier that day. He deserves a lot of respect for being able to perform after such a day. Even though I don’t listen to their genre, I could not help but want to see them again.