Boston and Mercury (Concert Season Review 2012 Edition Part 2)

I didn’t end up getting to the Rockstar Mayhem Festival earlier this month.  I did, however, end up going to see Boston and Mercury while visiting family out of town.  There was another blog-worthy event that weekend, as the GOP now has their vice presidential nominee in Paul Ryan.  Come on, you didn’t really think I was going to write about that before doing a concert review, did you? :-p

Mercury opened the show.  They’re a local band in the Pittsburgh area.  As I’ve said before, unknown opening bands are very hit or miss and the opener’s job is to get the crowd going for the headliner(s) while making a name for themselves.  Mercury was a hit and did the job quite well.  They were really good live, so we picked up their CDs after the show (hard to resist at $5 each).  I hadn’t listened to any of their music before the show, so I was able to listen to the CDs and recognize some of the songs they played live like The Undertow, River, and Automatic Savior.  Mercury did a great job getting the crowd ready for Boston, too.  It was good and authentic crowd banter with the local crowd, too.  My nephew caught a drumstick and the band was nice enough to sign it, so that was cool, too.  If you’re in the Pittsburgh area, I highly recommend checking them out.  Their music had the feeling of spanning a couple decades based on the live performance, which was also interesting. 

Then, there was Boston.  This wasn’t my first time seeing Boston, as I’d seen them once before (I think this was my brother’s 10^th time seeing them, and that is no exaggeration; he saw them three times in one year).  They put on an excellent show.  I liked the set list.  They played a roughly equal amount from their first four albums, including 6/8 tracks off their classic first album (leaving off Hitching a Ride and Let Me Take You Home Tonight).  Used to Bad News from their second album was a pleasant surprise to me.  Interestingly enough, they didn’t play anything from Corporate America, their fifth and final album.  On the whole, I was pleased with the set list. 

One of the coolest things about the Boston performance was the giant gong they had behind the drummer.  It wasn’t just a prop, as it was used in a couple songs.  This was a nice touch.  Add in all the lights and you have a pretty cool stage.

Here’s the bottom line.  If you’re a fan of classic rock, Boston’s still got it and Mercury put on a great show, too.