Mercury

It was the closing night of The Pit Tour on November 8th in New York City, and Arcy Drive’s opener, Mercury, was a beautiful start to the final sold out show of a two-month-long run for Arcy Drive. Mercury closed out the last three weeks of the tour with a special set of stripped-down songs from their discography, including unreleased music coming soon!

The Nashville band consisted of Maddie Kerr (lead singer & guitar), Justin Blanner (guitar & backing vocals), and Chris Peranich (guitar & backing vocals). They walked out on stage, with acoustic guitars in hand, and from the moment the first chords were struck and Kerr sang the first note, the crowd was entranced in a melodic mirage.

They opened with “Faster,” a song that felt entirely different without drums or electric guitar; yet, this absence allowed fans to hone in on the music’s lyricism and the talent of vocalist Kerr, revealing a whole new layer of the song. Fans could fully immerse themselves in the feelings the song provokes and connect to Mercury personally.

Mercury played “Trying” third in the set. It was only their second time playing this song live on this tour, and fans were happy they did. “Trying” is a heavy song dealing with emotional themes of depression, and as Kerr sang, fans looked up at her with deep admiration shining in their eyes. The raw, exposed song created a closeness within Webster Hall, the perfect atmosphere for Mercury’s essence.

Not only did Mercury treat the crowd to a song they don’t usually play, but they also performed the unreleased song, “Heaven,” which comes out on November 12th. Hearing unreleased music always feels special, but this was especially intriguing because fans got to experience the stripped-down version first before hearing the whole musical arrangement on Wednesday. 

Even though Mercury was only up on stage with their guitars, their band chemistry still shined through. During their closing song, “I Don’t Know You Like I Used To,” Kerr, Blanner, and Peranich jammed out on stage with their guitars, playing together as one. Kerr expressed beforehand that this was their favorite song to play live, and it definitely showed. The song brought a lighter energy to the crowd after the heaviness of the lyrics in previous songs, and had fans wanting more.

As this was the last show for Mercury on this run with Arcy Drive, it’s also the last time they will be playing their songs in this intimate way for a long time. Fans new and old who got to see Mercury during this run are fortunate to witness the band’s creativity and talent in such a raw form. Mercury radiates kindness, and it is evident they love their fans. They ran the merch table after the show and made time to interact with each fan personally. This is only the beginning for Mercury, with their recent collaboration with Flipturn on their cover of “Right?” and their upcoming Spring tour with Colony House, Mercury is taking off into new heights. Mercury’s closing show at Webster Hall was truly the start of something extraordinary.