Mercury Rev/Doves - Boston

May 20, 2005
Doves rejoined Mercury Rev on tour after their lead singer recovered from a bout of laryngitis that kept them out of the Coachella Music & Arts Festival. Mercury Rev, who did appear at Coachella, opened the show and played a set similar to the one out there. The sound and projected images did not come across as well as in the desert, but it was a good show nonetheless and I was right up against the barrier in front of bassist Carlos Anthony Molina (he joined core members Jonthan, Grasshopper & Jeff on the All Is Dream tour playing keyboards, and now moved to bass, recording with the band on The Secret Migration; drummer Jason Miranda was added for this tour with Jeff moving to keyboards).

Mercury Rev added a cover of Dylan's "Gotta Serve Somebody" after "Opus 40," replacing the Talking Heads' "Once In A Lifetime" which they'd used in that spot in the past. I was disappointed that "Tonite It Shows" was crossed off the setlist as it is one of my personal favorites and it has been reworked for this tour to sound more like the original album version (with some harmonica thrown into the mix). "Tonite" was most likely nixed due to time constraints as it was an early show and Avalon kicks everyone out when they change over into a dance club later in the evening. The crowd did get treated to an extended version of "In The Wilderness" before closer "The Dark Is Rising."

This was my first time seeing Doves, and they put on a great show. They played a lot of the best tunes from their three albums, the majority coming off their latest, Some Cities, including "Black And White Town" (replete with B&W Americana clip reel), "Almost Forgot Myself" (which lead singer Jimi Goodwin dedicated to his mum), "Walk In Fire," and more. Live favorite "The Cedar Room" made the list as did "There Goes The Fear" which saw Jimi close the show banging away the last few tribal beats on a standing drum setup. Jimi also sat in on drums during "The Storm" which features regular drummer Jez Williams on vocals and harmonica (which a lucky fan near me in the front row scored when Jez inexplicably sent the mouth harp flying off the edge of the stage; he was out of luck when, at the end the show, he mimed to my section that he was looking for it). Jez's bass-playing brother, Andy Williams, and keyboardist Martin Rebelski round out the four-piece.

You won't be able to tell from the pictures I took, but the Doves' light show was quite good. In the little bit of banter we were treated to, Jimi cracked on Boston traffic, stating that part of us Americans' driving test there must be "taking a bunch of acid."