Thirsty Merc
w/ Falling From grace, Daddy’s Little Girl, Justin Murphy
» Thirsty Merc announce live dates following the release of 'Slideshows' - May 1, 2007
» Thirsty Merc - Wrest Point, Tas - November 19, 2005
» Thirsty Merc - Saloon Bar, The, Tas - November 18, 2005
» Thirsty Merc - Charles Sturt University Bar, NSW - August 30, 2007
Venturing out into the teeth chattering cold, I had to race or hobble I should say due to reduced leg movement in the wind to buy a disposable camera; as the twit that I am I forgot my digital. On the journey back to the Gully, we could hear the sounds of support acts resonating from the venue; in our untimely efforts for a camera we’d missed Falling From Grace, but did manage to catch Daddy’s Little Girl who were chronically heckled by stumbling drunk fools (did I mention this is at 9pm?). Also, Justin Murphy, who, juxtaposed to the appearance, sounded a lot like old school Bon Jovi; both gave good rockin' music to amp up the crowd.
As the growing, huddled bodies started to warm up, Thirsty Merc hit the stage smashing out some of their latest songs off the Slideshow album including She’s My Brother; accompanied by the high pitched “woo’s” in the right spots of the chorus from the excitable crowd singing along with lead vocalist Rai Thistlethwaite. Most people will recognise Rai by his curly afro, and it certainly caught some good air time whilst he was leaping up and down along with the songs. Whole World Reminds Me of You and Kaleidoscope were eaten up by the audience, let's be honest though, these boys couldn’t really do wrong on stage alongside their instruments.
Sean Carey (guitarist and backup vocalist) took the lead for Hey Jacinta with Rai in support; for those of you not privy to the live shows, Sean has a fantastic voice, not to mention he’s incredibly easy on the eyes. Bass player Phil Stack’s hair was so straight and shiny it managed to rival some of the young groupies' tresses at front of stage; his massive bass impressed the audience, receiving a loud roar as it got lugged on stage.
Their upcoming release Homesick (due out late Aug/Sept) flaunted Rai’s incredible (sexy) voice and talent on piano; the waves of the song enveloped the crowd and seemed to induce synchronised swaying. I was rather surprised to see handfuls of people that did not know half of the songs or own the album but snapped them up from the ‘merc’andise after the gig, but this just goes to show that the boys, although established in 2003 (though Sean joined in ’05), are still and always recruiting new supporters. Most of the passionate fans were situated in the middle and back of the crowd, singing along and finger pointing to their faves (yes, I may have embarrassed some of my fellow crowd members with my incessant “woo’ing” and loud singing but, come on, as if you wouldn’t get a little hyperactive!)
The boys definitely looked tired, no doubt from their gruelling tour schedule; this is the last tour for them for a while, but nevertheless smashed out an exceptional show.
With the inclusion of older tracks “wasting time” and “somebody build me a bridge” the show was a real crowd pleaser, the lads finished up the set with “someday, someday” and an encore performance of “summertime”, with the audience jumping in one mass leap of excitement screaming back the lyrics for the final songs of the night.
Being a Merc lover I just had to wait to talk to the boys after the show, scoring a photo and autographs. I excitedly blurted out to Ray “we have the same curly hair!” with a chuckle he replied “wow, well I never thought of mine as girl hair but thanks”.
These boys are as laid back as your old man in his deck chair on a Sunday arvo, and they’d certainly warmed up the glacial night for us with their bright personalities and soulful music.
If you haven’t had the pleasure of hearing the latest album, get off your butts and go buy it! The rock songs, relatable lyrics and ballads no doubt will have you disintegrating the play and repeat buttons on your cd player.
