Doves @ Vic Theatre (5/13/2005)

Success At The Vic: Jimi Goodwin of Doves (Photo By: Elizabeth O'Halloran)

The marquee outside the Vic Theatre gave the two reasons why so much anticipation surrounded the lenghty line forming around the venue: Doves and Mercury Rev. The sold-out show marked an important return for both bands in different respects.

It was a show that almost didn't happen. Two weeks prior came news that singer/bassist Jimi Goodwin of Doves had to be sidelined due to losing his voice. A postponement was announced and fans flooded websites posting their "get well" wishes and frustrations over the cancelled dates. But soon there was a glimmer of hope as Chicago was targeted to be the first show to jump start their tour in support of their third album Some Cities. For Mercury Rev, they had not step foot in Chicago since opening for Wilco at the Riviera Theatre in November of 2001.

The question still remained how much Goodwin's vocals had recuperated during the tour break. As Goodwin and brothers Andy and Jez Williams emerged onto the stage there appeared to be a calm about their body language. The steady pace of "Pounding" seemed to capture what had been building up inside the audience. Their roaring response was reciprocated by the band. Goodwin's vocals showed no signs of lacking strength. "Words" followed right behind with its melodic march by guitarist Jez Williams.

Spirits were high throughout the show. Goodwin often thanked the crowd for their support and understanding. Whatever spots of rust Goodwin and the others in the band could hear between one another went generally unnoticed by the audience. The seventeen song set may not have thrown surprises to some in the audience who have seen the band on earlier dates of this tour, but it blended a lively mix of material from Some Cities with their first two albums: Lost Souls (2000) and The Last Broadcast (2002).

The Manchester trio, with touring keyboardist Martin Rebelski, played a set that easily gives them license to go through the motions but they didn't. There was a geniune sense that they were excited to have gotten past their detour. The stark "Ambition" blossomed into this massive cache of color and sound. "The Cedar Room" echoed Led Zeppelin's stomp and the soulful, choir sized anthems of early U2. It was the power epic: the song that keeps building with every verse and to end it would be a crime.

It is not the band's physicality that will level an audience but its musicality. If that's the case for Doves, then Mercury Rev's would be theatrics. With their sixth album The Secret Migration recetly released, Mercury Rev essentially picked up where they last left off almost four years ago opening for Wilco.

As the primary architect, singer/guitarist Jonathan Donahue has had to face the comparisons made between his band and his past work with the Flaming Lips. Collaborations with longtime Flaming Lips producer Dave Fridmann only maintain the correlations, even on Mercury Rev's latest.

Decked out in a stylish suit that would have made Bryan Ferry stand and applaud, Donahue absorbed the cheers, gave the sign of the Cross to the audience, and opened their set with "Secrets For A Song." A video screen was in the backdrop and accompanied the music with images and random quotes from poets and movies; sometimes fitting, sometimes distracting.

Overall, it was like standing through the entire Lord of the Rings Trilogy. Each song flowed into the next like a dissolving scene. Donahue's dramatic presence was at times too much. This is what separates him from Wayne Coyne of the Flaming Lips--Coyne doesn't take himself so seriously on stage whereas Donahue plays the part of majestic conductor pulling the music from outter space. Mercury Rev played on the strange, the psychedelic, and the disturbing to make something beautiful, none more evident then during the finale, "Dark Is Rising." It was clear to see why the likes of Donahue and Coyne could not be in the same band: it just wouldn't be big enough for the two of them.

Variety in their catalog kept the set by Doves fresh. Goodwin's vocals never faltered and his bandmates provided a strong enough foundation for him to find his feet. Drummer Andy Williams was direct, focused, and not one to overreach. Jez Williams spread out the melodies on his guitar from delicate to razor sharp. There were times during Mercury Rev's set when one might wonder where one song began and another ended. For the audience, it was simply an evening to say, "Welcome back."