Quirky NY Chick: Photo Review: Red Wanting Blue At Mercury Lounge

Saturday, July 10, 2010

Photo Review: Red Wanting Blue At Mercury Lounge

8:27 AM | Posted by Quirky NY Chick

Red Wanting Blue: July 8 @ Mercury Lounge, New York, NY

Last week, I swung by Mercury Lounge to see a band I dig. At some point during the evening, while standing in front of a list of upcoming shows, I had this titillating (paraphrased) conversation with my favorite drummer ...

Favorite Drummer (FD): See that band there (pointing to the upcoming show list), Red Wanting Blue? You should check them out.

Me: Yeah?

FD: Yeah.

Me: Are they good?

FD: Yeah, they're good. They've got a good drummer. I taught him drum stuff.

Me: Really? As good as you?

FD: Oh yeah, he's real good. You should check them out.

Me: Maybe I will.

I filed that conversation in the back of my head. Nearly a week later, I'm sitti

ng at my desk thinking to myself, what was that band I should check out? Wasn't it this week they're playing?

Come Thursday night, I went around to Mercury Lounge to check out Red Wanting Blue. Because I'm basically lazy, I mean busy with work and stuff, I didn't check their music out prior to going to the show. I just went in blind. So, I wasn't really sure what to expect.

The band, Scott Terry (vocals/guitar), Eric Hall (guitar/lap steel/vocals), Mark McCullough (bass/chapman stick/vocals), Dean Anshutz (drums/percussion/washboard) and Greg Rahm (guitar/keyboard/vocals) began setting up after Honor By August, who played before them, cleared off. They unpacked suitcases and plastic storage bins. They set up lamps and hung up a giant flag and lighted owls. A soap box was put into place. I love a good soap box. None of this gave me a clue to how they would sound but it was all fascinating to watch. I looked around and noticed that it had gotten pretty crowded in the room.

While I was watching them set up, I thought to myself that I was probably going to get a good show. My suspicions were right. Red Wanting Blue began to play. Good gosh, were they on point. We're talking some seriously high caliber musicians folks. One song in and I was hooked. They proceeded to blow me away song by s

ong. Are these guys wildly massive yet? They should be if they aren't. The band owned the stage and the audience, who were loud and enthusiastic. I think I might have even squealed a little when they broke out the washboard center stage. When's the last time you had a washboard all up in your face people?! Sorry, stuff like that gets me excited. They're a tremendously fun band to watch perform. I'm not sure how to describe their sound ... rock, alt-country ... how about we tag it just plain good.

Red Wanting Blue makes my list of bands you should see live. The gentlemen from Ohio rocked NYC and we thank you. I'm glad I took that drummers advice and checked them out!

More photos on the QNYC Flickr page, HERE.