Thirsty Merc, Lola @ The Gov, Adelaide 8/9/2022
It might of been a wet and miserable Thursday night but that did not stop a near full house gathering at The Gov to see Thirsty Merc on their Celebration Tour. This was a massive tour for the ‘Merc with Adelaide being one of the last stops before the end of the tour. They were super tight, sounded great, looked great and brought a whole of energy and good times to The Gov.
It was definitely the perfect tonic leading in to the weekend. Adelaide band Lola definitely got my attention. There is definitely some awesome talent gigging around town and these guys are fucking great. With a new album Don’t Tell Mum and a fresh new single Producers Bar I think plenty more people will be paying them a lot more attention over the summer. My thoughts initially was a touch of The Living End and a bit of Frenzal Rhomb. Nevertheless, a great sound and a ripping opening set.
The energy in The Gov could only be described as excitable and there was a rousing reception as Thirsty Merc took the stage having not played here for a while. Armed with a swag of great single their musicianship is next level opening with My Completeness followed by The Good Life. Front man Rai Thistlethwayte said “you guys are fucking awesome”. The band were definitely feeding off the energy of the crowd as they went back in time with a bit of soul, rock and pop tune The Hard Way.
Bass player Phil Stack spoke about when they played the next song back in 2004 at this very venue which the crowd went nuts for and also was their big break through hit. This time round they played a different version of Someday Someday. Mousetrap Heart, Tommy and Krista and I Wish Somebody Would Build a Bridge (So I Can Get Over Myself) were great moments in their set. Thistlethwayte was full of smiles the whole show commenting that it was a nice feeling to be back doing gigs. After Wasting Time, which was fantastic, Thistlethwayte even asked the question “where do we go after that one?”
Big hits 20 Good Reasons and In The Summertime finished the main set with the crowd making plenty of noise for more. Returning for an encore it was a bit of a surprise to hear the John Williamson cover Rip Rip Woodchip. Probably not the song I would have chosen but the crowd sung it with much gusto. Finishing on the disco infused DNA it topped off what was a great night out at The Gov.
Live Review By Rob Lyon