Like a lot of people, I was really sad when Mercury announced it was closing. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, it was saved from the brink and is now back up and running. I’ve been slack in checking the revamped venue out but finally did so for a really fun gig – Rocking the Road to Zombie Fest featuring Verona Walls, Black Moscow, Dukes of Note and Room of Phonics.

I’ll be honest, Mercury‘s pretty much the same, which is good but also a little weird…there are some noticeable changes, positive ones include a fantastic new lighting rig, the removal of that weird stage-side curtain and general maintenance and repainting. Less convincing changes include the addition of pleather cushions on the bricked stage-side seating (comfy but a little odd…) and the plastic picnicky chairs and tables near the bar area…

The one that made me sad though was the repainting in the backstage area: all the iconic band signatures are gone…I mean, I get the whole clean slate thing, fair enough, but because it still feels like mostly the same venue it’s pretty upsetting not having that graffiti’d wall around anymore…it’ll be okay though, as long as bands start signing on it again…

Anyway, the gig was fun, though the vibe was a little unusual –  because it was essentially a battle of the bands competition the crowd was a little different from the norm and featured a lot of friends and family members there to support and fewer punters just there to party.

First up were Room of Phonics who were pretty chilled, in spite of this however the band’s  guitarist somehow managed to lose half a tooth after the set, definitely one of the more bizarre twists to the evening…

Up next were Verona Walls, who I confess were the main reason I’d gone to the gig. They didn’t disappoint – like the last time I saw them (way back in 2012) they were super energetic and really entertaining. The standout moment for me was when frontman Marco De Sousa  killed time during a lengthy instrumental section by jumping into the crowd and posing for a few tourist-style shots with random crowd members before returning to the stage.

Black Moscow are another band I hadn’t seen in ages, and in that time they’d made a few line-up changes – most notably the addition of new frontman Clem van der Merwe, who brings a manic energy to them that definitely makes them more engaging.

‘Carnival rockers’ Dukes of Note closed things off and were the overall winners of the night who’ll be playing at the Zombie Fest at the end of October.

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Shot for Texx and the city – see the Facebook album over here

Verona Walls  |  Black Moscow  |  Dukes of Note  |  Room of Phonics
Mercury  |  Zombie Walk