The Mercury Riots, Heartbreak Remedy - Bannermans Edinburgh 24 August 2021

The Bee Gees and Al Green have both asked in song ‘How Can You Mend a Broken Heart’? It’s simple jive talkers and Reverend Al, you just need Heartbreak Remedy! They really looked the part for their support slot with Matty Penn and Luke Blair upfront both sporting great hair and trousers and they back it up with some quality tunes to match. They mix up the set with songs from their aptly-titled debut album ‘Midnight Groove’ plus a suitably good-time rock n roll selection from their latest EP, ‘Memento Mori’ which I bought, partly because it’s cover features the finest arse I’ve seen on a record sleeve since ‘Lovehunter’, and also for belting tunes like “Tequila Butterfly” and “Octane”.

They also previewed some great new material, including one called “Rock Me” and another that they had played for the first time at the soundcheck called “Playing with Fire”. They cocked up the 1234 intro on that the first time (it’s been a while for all of us) but it is a very fine song. They slowed it down for some crowd singing on “Life” and, as good Cumbrian lads, they even dedicated a song to the A66, which of course is just one additional 6 away from being the Highway to Hell. They really put on a great show and warmed the crowd up very nicely indeed.

If you didn’t know The Mercury Riots were from California, you would soon be able to guess. They’re effortlessly cool and make playing top quality music look very easy. They’re over here to play HRH Sleaze and they will love them there with their swagger, grooves and showmanship. Drummer, Jonny Udell had only touched down about two hours before the show but you couldn’t tell as he gave it his all on the kit and backing vocals. Zach Kibbee is the ring-master and he handles the lead vocals and bass perfectly, leaving Felipe Rodrigo to throw some shapes and peel off some outstanding guitar licks, often off the stage and in the crowd, at that. They’re very professional. All three guys have most recently been in Bullets & Octane but they’ve also got a collective pedigree in bands like Warner Drive and The Brave Ones and it shows.

So far, they’ve only got a 5-song EP out but they had no problem constructing a killer set. Standouts from the EP include “Save Me a Drink” and Light it Up” but they had plenty outstanding new songs and also one allegedly about ‘getting f*cked up and having sex in a lake’. That must definitely be a Californian thing as you wouldn’t want to try that in our scrotum-shrivellingly cold Scottish lochs, would you? You can pick out occasional hints of Led Zep and AC/DC within their swaggeringly good set and there were two covers; “I Saw Her Standing There” and ZZ Top’s “La Grange” which was dedicated to Dusty Hill, but of course, they also had to add a mention for Charlie Watts who had passed earlier in the day.

A big thanks to The Riots for having the balls and determination to get over here and entertain us so well and it was so very good indeed to be back at Bannermans. Hell yeah.