Nashville in Bremen
Mercy Union from New Jersey played an acoustic concert and reminded us what makes a song
Mercy Union. Photo: pfa
During Mercy Union’s concert yesterday, the author of these lines was still thinking about what he could write about the acoustic show. The music was very original, raw and direct in the stripped down version without drums and bass, but with three guitars. The good TV series Nashville came to mind. The way Mercy Union arranged their songs, the band would certainly have fit well in the TV production. As if frontman Jared Hart had taken up this idea, he spoke between two songs about the Bluebird Cafe in Nashville and that he once performed there.
The Bluebird Cafe is about the size of the Tower’s dance floor and is equipped with chairs and tables. The cafe was a filming location in the TV series in question. As in the series, big stars and young (and older) newcomers actually perform there. It’s a place of music, Jared described the cafe, where people talk about music and exchange and tell stories. On and in front of the stage. The focus is not on the people, the guests or the musicians, but on the songs.
And songs were also the focus in the Tower. Not just those by Mercy Union, but also Jared’s solo songs, cover versions (unamplified of Rancid’s Olympia, WA in the encore) and the own songs of his two band members. It is an ancient (but in this form very American) tradition to share songs, to sing together, to sing to each other and to tell stories. Direct, live and immediate. Just like it could be in the Bluebird. Or just yesterday in Bremen.
Mercy Union actually has a punk rock background. Jared Heart previously played with Scandals, who, like Mercy Union, released their records on Gunner Records. Musically, Mercy Union has little to do with punk rock, but the attitude of how songs are played and presented is very similar. The music is more based on heartland rock, New Jersey and Mid-West sounds and of course country and folk. In the acoustic version, the folk element, coupled with the punk attitude (hence the Rancid cover – which worked surprisingly well acoustically and reconciled punk rock and country or reduced them to the same genes) was in the foreground.
She danced slowey singer Oskar played solo beforehand and impressed not only Mercy Union frontman Jared, who paid his respects from the stage, but also the early audience.
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