REVIEW: Oh Mercy at Oxford Art Factory

First off, I feel like I should start with a disclaimer: Yes, I was previously a big (read: HUGE) fan of Oh Mercy. However, I tried my best to go in without bias (but really – when it comes to these babes, how can you not?). So back to the review… On Friday 14^th October 2011, I ventured to the Oxford Art Factory to witness the bittersweet tunes of indie darlings Oh Mercy, supported by angelic Brous and grunge-rockers Step-Panther.

Opening the night, Step-Panther definitely set a tone. Faces covered in long locks, they looked like any old garage band, but they had the talents to rock the house down and had the half empty room hooked. Though the singer’s drawl was repetitive, it was an inconspicuous bonus, letting the audience concentrate on the head-banging riffs. Not even the loss of the guitarist/lead vocalist could stop these guys – they effortlessly kept playing through technical difficulties for their last track. My big thumbs up to them.

From the moment Sophia Brous stepped onto the stage, she was captivating. She managed to separate her performance between two mic’s, playing the role of both lead and back up vocal, as if it was the easiest thing in the world. Though she made comment of the restlessness of the OAF crowd, she seemed unperturbed to cut a song from the list to keep the paces going. Brous as a whole proved why they have fast earned a reputation for a professional performance; the eclectic mix of 60’s soul, latin and pure pop was perfectly executed by a bunch of very gifted musicians.

When the curtains closed for the set up for the headline performance, you could feel the tension in the air. It was obvious who everyone was here to see – excited to be there for Oh Mercy’s last performance of the year. There’d been whispers of what could be on the set-list – from our GBG faves, a couple of golden oldies, and perhaps a few newbies? Oh Mercy ticked off every one on that list, and threw in a cover of Leonard Cohen for good measure.

Oh Mercy kept all the fans (admittedly, mostly girls) happy, both new and old. They played the most popular tracks from their album including 'Stay, Please, Stay', 'Let Me Go', 'Keith Street' and 'Blue Lagoon'. From the reaction of the crowd (singing along, swaying left to right, delicately swooning) it was clear they knew their stuff. When the band debut a bunch of new tracks (including one that Alex dubbed either a gay man's anthem, or written by him in a female's body), the crowd patiently listened, catching on quickly to the groovy choruses. The new songs were well put together, and tended to take on a more indie rock vibe; with some great guitar solos showing off their talent.

A meandering seemingly improvised intro slowly led into one of the old crowd's fave songs, 'Lay Everything On Me', and it got the whole audience bumping and bopping along. When the band left Alex to play his Leonard Cohen cover, unfortunately the change in pace seemed to distract the audience from the pure beauty of his take on 'The Future'. He didn't allow this to detract from the performance, and still managed to perfectly perform even the softest sounding sections.

As well as being the last show of the year for Oh Mercy, they took the opportunity to introduce the newest member of the band. Annabelle took on the keys for majority of the tracks, which seemed to fill out the sound a lot more effectively.

In all, it was a success of a night, and it's clear to see how far they've come in the years since I first saw them perform.