It is being reported that the Guilty Pleasures folks have challenged all 3 other bands playing tonight to a battle royal of covers.

After rebuffing a peace offering from the Long Players, members of GP reportedly claimed that they “were going to bring it tonight” and claim a title that “is rightfully theirs.”
After this, the guys behind the Long Players vowed to fight back with a ferocity “unlike anything this city has ever seen. And to win over not only all the Guilty Pleasures fans but also all those 90’s-loving hipsters that will be there to see My So-Called Band.”
Upon hearing this, Dave Paulson - the always-pugnacious and perennially prone to violence leader of My So-Called Band - was quoted as saying “The more they come, the harder they fall. And we’re ready to annihilate any that come.”
The ever-mysterious Weekend Jimmy could not be reached for comment. However, Easy Party member, Chark Kinsolving was overheard saying that he was ready to “Get buck and get crunk” and that he was ready to “Get mine and whoop that trick!”

Be here tonight. It’s free. There’s gonna be some cheap Fat Tire. It’s gonna kickoff around 9:30. I’ll see you there.

Here at the Mercy Lounge, we make it a point to never pass up an opportunity to celebrate ourselves. We love to party, and partying never feels quite as nice as when you are your own guest of honor. With that in mind, we are excited to announce the lineup for our Anniversary Week celebration. To commemorate seven years of rock and roll excellence, we are hosting seven free shows with the most excellent rock and roll groups in town. It’s no stretch of the imagination to say that whatever your personal taste in amplified sound might be, we’ve got you covered…and you won’t even have to break open your wallet to get in the door! Just bring your ID and your boozin’ money, and we’ll have the party ready and waiting for you.

Full lineup below (UPDATED 1/15):

Saturday 1/16

Guilty Pleasures

The Long Players

My So Called Band

Weekend Jimmy and the Easy Party

Monday 1/18

Special Anniversary Week 8 Off 8th: Fleetwood Mac Night

brought to you by the fine folks at Dean Shortland

The Bridges

Pico vs. Island Trees

Caitlin Rose & Jordan Caress

Tyler James & Kate York

Keegan Dewitt

Judd & Maggie

Weekend Jimmy & The Easy Party

Tuesday 1/19

Happy Salmon presents

The Hollywood 10

Mike Younger

Majestico

Gabrham Vitek

Rayland Baxter

Fly Golden Eagle

Wednesday 1/20

Naked Without Us presents

BRENN

The Wailin’ Canes

Modoc

Cassino

The Effects

The Jane Shermans

Thursday 1/21

Autovaughn

Protomen

Kyle Andrews

the debut of The Dozen Dimes

Pico vs. Island Trees

Jeremy Lister

Friday 1/22

The Non-Commissioned Officers

De Novo Dahl

The Ettes

Apollo Up

TWO VERY SPECIAL GUEST ARTISTS

& more!

and downstairs in the Cannery:

The biggest Happy Valley event to date. Only $5 to see Cannery transformed into a world like you’ve never seen before.

Mindub

Coach

Jensen Sportag DJ set

Saturday 1/23

Space Capone

The Protomen

Heypenny

How I Became the Bomb

Madi Diaz

Tallest Trees

Armed Forces

So rest up this week, kiddos. Starting Saturday, it’s on like never before. For a place with such a track record of indisputable awesomeness, we’re not entirely convinced that we can one-up ourselves this time…but by god, we’re gonna try.

See you this weekend, Nashville!

This summer was a relatively mild one by typical Southern standards, but we had the heat turned up full blast down here on Cannery Row. From Rock and Roll Hall of Fame legends to underground hipster buzz bands, Mercy Lounge and Cannery Ballroom were the place to be once the sun went down in Nashville. Behold:

LONG PLAYERS: BORN TO RUN

The Long Players are a nationally recognized Nashville institution that we here at Mercy Lounge take great pride in, and we would be remiss if we failed to mention them here. While we had hoped to find some video from their performance of “Purple Rain”, we’ll just have to settle for a spot-on video clip from their performance of “Born To Run”.

JOHN FOGERTY:

It’s impossible to keep a secret in this town, but John Fogerty’s surprise appearance at the Mercy Lounge during the Americana Music festival was nonetheless astonishing. While word got around town early that he’d be gracing our humble stage, the general consensus was that he’d just be stopping in to sing a couple acoustic songs before sneaking out the back door. Instead, the man brought a full band, his own PA, and a two hour marathon set of CCR classics and solo hits that rocked the entire house. Less than 24 hours after receiving the Americana Lifetime Achievement Award For Songwriting, he and his band delivered with an energy and a fierceness that most modern bands can’t fathom, much less emulate. There’s truly no proper way to describe the thrill of watching a true rock and roll legend- the kind of performer who sells out arenas and has more chart topping hits than the average age of the Jonas Brothers- strut his stuff in front of such an intimate crowd.

Our friend Steve Cross has a great slideshow of pictures right here.

DAUGHTRY

There are no words to describle the incredible rock power that is Daughtry. Instead, let’s let the fans tell you about the band’s “badass” performance at Cannery Ballroom.

WHITE RABBITS

White Rabbits, one of the latest buzz bands to emerge from Williamsburg and take the blogosphere by storm, brought their percussive brand of indie-rock to town in mid-September to the delight of many a PBR-pounding Pitchfork readers. Their set was a detached batch of cool, mid-tempo tunes, pushed along by a duo of drummers, that lived up to every bit of hype we’d heard: it was a tight, energetic performance of Spoon-influenced jams that got the eager crowd bouncing. Fiery Furnaces also turned in a very stellar set. We give ‘em a couple thumbs up, for sure.

VIDEO:

LORD T & ELOISE/AL KAPONE/SKINNY PIMP

If you’re one of those people that like to party, and we bet you are, then you’re surely no stranger to Memphis superstars Lord T & Eloise. But according to our resident party animal/leisure-expert, Chark Kinsolving, it was not the so-called “kings of aristocrunk” that brought the best and most party to the Mercy Lounge in September, but Al Kapone. Pictured below is Al Kapone’s setlist, proudly hung above Chark’s desk:

More than just a setlist, this incredible piece of paper also doubles as a sort of magic 8-ball for most day to day questions and/or activities in the life of Mr. Kinsolving. Ask Chark what he’s going to be doing later and he’ll probably respond with “Gettin’ Mine” or “Gettin’ Crunk, Gettin’ Buck”. Ask him for advice: “Don’t Worry Bout Me”. The purpose of life on Earth? He’ll probably shrug and tell you “The Music”. Just don’t make him get to that last one…it’s not a pretty sight.

Unfortunately, Memphis gangster-rapper Skinny Pimp couldn’t make it up to Music City in time for the show (he had to “give a friend a ride to work”?), but Mr. Kapone and Lord T & Eloise more than made up for his absence with a rowdy, raucous, and ridiculous set. As a final parting gift, Lord T and Eloise generously left a pair of their dirty whitey-tighties in Todd’s office. An unconfirmed rumor has it that Todd keeps them in his desk drawer as a souvenir.

THE PROTOMEN

We’ve seen some dedicated fans before, but these kids blew us away. Seriously, a 20 hour drive from Colorado to camp out on our front steps all day before the show? Wow. They set the tone for a great evening filled with hordes of The Protomen’s insansely devoted fans, all of whom were visibly hyped. The unveiling of Act 2 of the Mega Man-themed band’s musical voyage was eagerly awaited by these faithful minions, and the minions showed it by dressing up, making signs, and singing along to every single song. It was a refreshing night of bright-eyed, unjaded fun, to say the least. Drew gives these guys credit as the band that ruled Nashville in 2009 in next week’s Rock and Roll Poll for the Nashville Scene. Check it when it comes out.

VIDEO:

SUNN O)))

Rightfully earning a reputation for being one of the loudest bands of all time, Sunn O))) filled our stage to capacity with possibly the largest wall of amps we’ve ever seen and enough smoke machines to ensure that we couldn’t see said wall of amps, the exits, or the rest of the crowd. They proceeded to summon the very demons of hell with an occult-themed, volume fest that had our ears ringing for days. We had to bring in sound reinforcement in the form of the entire arsenal of Cannery Ballroom subwoofers just to power their gigantic wall of ambient, power-drone, doom-metal sound out of Mercy Lounge, onto 8th Avenue, to infinity and beyond. Intense, to say the least:

Don’t forget, we’re giving away tickets to our insane New Years Eve party on Twitter…follow us! www.twitter.com/09happyending

Greetings once again from One Cannery Row!

Before we once again stroll down memory lane for a recount of some of our favorite shows from late spring/early summer, let’s fast forward a bit. New Years Eve is coming up, and we know you’re already starting to worry your pretty little head about just what you’re gonna do with yourself on this all-important evening. Lucky for you, your friends at Mercy Lounge are gonna make it real easy for you…HAPPY ENDINGS 09. To keep abreast of the latest announcements, ticket giveaways, and assorted other top secret info, follow us on Twitter (@09happyending) to be the first to get the dirt.

Anyhow, on with the hit parade:

Jason Isbell

It’s no secret that we’re all huge fans of the Drive By Truckers around here. As Todd will tell you point blank: “They are, hands down, our favorite band.” And while the Truckers did make their way to Cannery Ballroom in September for a very memorable set, it was the performance by former guitarist and songwriter Jason Isbell upstairs that impressed us the most. Leading his new group, The 400 Unit, through a turbulent array of DBT fan-favorites, Isbell originals, and a couple of classic covers (“Psychokiller”, anyone?), the man cleared any and all misgivings from the minds of those who would doubt his power, prowess, and ability to rock a crowd. See it for yourself:

Black Lips/Those Darlins

Atlanta-based troublemakers, 60’s psych-rock revivalists, and blog-sensations THE BLACK LIPS have earned themselves quite a reputation. Be it barfights or bodily fluids, they made their name early in their career on the aftermath of their furious, frenetic, and unsanitary live shows. These days, it’s a different story altogether. While their performances still carry the drunken swagger of a delinquent youth out past curfew, the newer songs they’ve put out for Vice Records have matured nicely into a agreeable batch of tunes, and their concerts now have the ability to hold shortened attention-spans with good old fashioned rock and roll bravado. Their performance at Those Darlins’ album release show was no exception: a rather fine mix of punk, rock & roll, blues, and even a little country thrown in. Those Darlins delivered on their trademark cute-but-rowdy southern charm, and pulled out the stops with pinatas, boot stomps, and raucous crowd singalongs. And yes, the rumors are true…29.5 cases of PBR in one night. Do the math…over 700 cans of the Red White and Blue. Whew!

ELO

Guaranteed formula for a highly anticipated, sublimely powerful, and hugely successful local show, in our humble opinion: take two popular local bands with a hard-on for Jeff Lynne. Put them together and let them nerd out on some 70’s symphonic rock. Add an eight piece string section to the mix. Dress the whole bunch up in some nice vintage attire and throw ‘em up on the stage. Wait. Watch. Listen.

The Result? How I Bombed The Kindercastle Out Of The Blue, the collaborative performance of ELO’s 1977 masterpiece “Out Of The Blue” by local synth-pop superstars How I Became The Bomb and orchestral indie-poppers Kindercastle. The place was packed to the walls with a crowd that ranged from 18 year old ELO-virgins to 70 year old die-hards who remember the days before Lynne was named the fourth best music producer in history [Washington Times]. It was definitely Drew’s favorite show ever in Mercy Lounge; and while it’s impossible to say for certain, we are in unanimous agreement that Mr. Lynne would have been proud that night as well.

Dierks Bentley

Lucky for us, Mr. Chark Kinsolving pulled some strings as vice-president of the Dierks Bently fan club and landed the Cannery Ballroom as host to the fourth annual Last Call Ball, official party for the DB Congress fan-club. In addition to treating his die-hard fans to food and drinks, he gave them an intimate acoustic performance in which he joked, laughed, and debuted new songs for his rapt audience. Afterwards, he spent no less than 3 and a half hours signing autographs and chit-chatting with his most dedicated fans. Dierks Bentley, we applaud you and your dedication to your followers. We’re actually starting to feel proud of our hometown country music stars again.

Camera Obscura

If you like indie-pop of the more bittersweet variety, then we’re hoping you didn’t miss out on Scotland’s Camera Obscura. After years of hoping they would make a stop through Nashville, we were so excited that when they decided to grace our fine city, they did so at the Mercy. They played a gorgeous set heavy on tunes from their latest effort, My Maudlin Career, and opted for more of a serenely beautiful kind of awe-inspiring performance. While it might seem counterpoint to find yourself excited about a group that has spent years honing it’s melancholic approach, that was precisely how we felt after the show.

Video:

Fresh from the food-fest known as Thanksgiving, we return with the second installment of our victory lap of a blog. A few of our favorites from Spring 2009:

GHOSTLAND OBSERVATORY

Spring came quite graciously to the Cannery Row, blessing us with golden showers of sunshine and smiles. But even the sun istelf couldn’t hold a candle to the light show that Ghostland Observatory brought with them to the Ballroom on March 27. For their second sold out performance in less than six months, the duo absolutely wowed attendees with a jaw-droppingly awesome (literally, the we were in awe kind of awesome) display of lasers, smoke, and glowing shit. Coupled with their trademark brand of full-volume “electro-dance soul rock”, it’s safe to say that there wasn’t a person in the building passing on the opportunity to party their face off. Our friend Janet Timmons at Out The Other has some interesting musings (and photos and her own account of the show) over on her blog. You can check it out here.

And don’t forget! They will be once again gracing our stage at the Cannery Ballroom on December 10. Get your tickets here ASAP because they will, repeat, WILL SELL OUT.

TIN PAN SOUTH/HANSON

From March 31 through April 4, we were honored to be one of the host venues for the nation’s largest festival of songwriters, Tin Pan South. In addition to many incredible, intimate performances, were graced with a performance from everyone’s favorite band of teenybopper brothers, Hanson. As part of their set we had the distinct honor and privilege of finally getting the inside scoop on “MmmBop”, as well as finally getting to meet the long rumored fourth and fifth Hanson brothers (around the 2:24 mark in this video). [not factually accurate] Drew’s favorite moment of Tin Pan South, however, was not the Hanson brothers’ performance but rather that of his favorite singer of all time: Mr. Michael McDonald!

KATY PERRY

Katy Perry, known in her former Music City-based gospel career as Katy Hudson, delivered on big expectations of an over the top homecoming display when she sold out the Ballroom on April 14. Although these days she sings chart-toppings hits about the sexual orientation of ex-lovers (“Ur So Gay”) and the virtues of kissing members of the same sex (“I Kissed A Girl”), she still knows how to put on one of a hell a show. Queen covers, charming onstage antics, and a giant red-eyed cat backdrop all translated into one of the more entertaining shows we’ve seen this year. She strutted her stuff for around an hour and wowed her flock of followers the whole way through.

Metromix has a nice collection of photos you can view here.

ROAD TO BONNAROO

We all know that blogging is serious business (yes, that’s a nod to Justin Kase), so why not let a seasoned pro tell you about the glory that was The Road To Bonnaroo series? Here’s what our friend Adam Gold had to say in his write-up of “The Best Local Rock Contest” in the Nashville Scene’s Best of 2009 feature:

“With so many local artists dead set on success, Nashville is a competitive town. At no other event was the tension in the air more palpable than at 2009’s inaugural installment of the Mercy Lounge and BMI’s “Road to Bonnaroo” 8 off 8th series: a three-round battle that sent three local bands to play the largest music event in the country. Everyone expected Middle Tennessee’s favorite band of the millennium, The Features, to win round one—but when they did so by only a single vote, it suddenly felt like anyone’s game. By round three, bands were pulling out every stop they could conjure—crowd-parting entrances, bikini-clad dancers—to secure victory in a knock-down-drag-out scrum for glory. Eventually The Protomen and Heypenny joined The Features in gracing a Bonnaroo stage.” [credit to Nashville Scene]

We would just like to add that the band that was one vote shy of stealing the Features’ thunder was the now-defunct Kindercastle, a band we all love(d). Rumors abound that their tragic loss led to the band’s demise.

Plans for a bigger and better version of this concert series are already in the works for 2010.

ADELE

When we ran into her earlier in the day at local coffeehouse Fido, Adele graciously spoke of how excited she was to be in Nashville. If her performance later that night was any indication of her true feelings about our humble city, then she definitely has a sincere appreciation of and respect for our hometown. I mean, the 21-year old English native brought it like it was a homecoming show. The Grammy-winning singer’s set was all soul and smiles; her onstage banter was charming and humble, and her performance was one of seeming gratitude. She mixed in a few covers in her set of mostly originals and kept the crowd enthralled with the power of her pipes. It’s rare that we’re especially impressed, but Adele definitely stunned.

Check it out:

Sure, we’ve got a couple months to go ‘til the year’s proper end. And yes, it’s probably a bit narcissistic to devote an entire blog to celebrating your own successes, victories, and downright magical moments. But since we’re already gearing up for our mind-blowing New Year’s Eve bashes here at Mercy and Cannery, we think that now is a perfect time to step back and reflect on the another wonderful year down on Cannery Row. And it is OUR blog, so we can pat ourselves on the back all we want. I mean, isn’t that the Nashville way?

Over the next six weeks, we will be putting together a collection of video clips, eye-witness accounts, aggrandizing recollections, and self-congratulatory high-fiving in honor of one of “Nashville’s Best Place(s) to See Live Music”. There will be epic battles, tales of rock gods, and downright lies about our sordid collective past. Have video from your favorite show you want to share? Cell-phone pics you’d like to see posted up? Missed connections you’re desperate for a chance to seal the deal with? Hit us with your best shot at blog@mercylounge.com.

OF MONTREAL

2009 started off with a bang as we welcomed Athens, Georgia’s indie-pop sensations Of Montreal to the Cannery ballroom stage. Over the course of their sold out performance, the band delivered just what fans have come to expect: an androgynous, sexed-up set full of quirky pop and playful electro-fuzz. They closed the night out with a raucous rendition of “Smells Like Teen Spirit” that had the audience gleefully obeying the teleprompter’s simple directive: “SCREAM”. Drew insists that watching a sold-out sea of people all pogo-dancing right along with the band was one of the show highlights of the year. Check it out for yourself:

LUCERO

Just a few weeks later, we had the honor of hosting a two-night stand from Memphis’ whiskey-fueled alt-country heroes Lucero, this time upstairs at the Mercy Lounge. Many of you die-hard fans came, drank, and stumbled outta here on Friday night, only to return equally enthusiastic on Saturday night. The band matched the crowd’s energy with a lengthy but lively set of fan favorites and cuts from all five of their studio albums. By the end of the weekend, we had no doubts as to Lucero’s claim to being one of the best and hardest-touring bands in the country.

6-YEAR ANNIVERSARY PARTY: 6 BANDS, 6 NIGHTS, 6 YEARS!

As we sit around the office, chatting about our overly ambitious plans for this year’s 7^th Anniversary party, it’s nice to reminisce about last year’s festivities. We took great pride in being able to celebrate our own awesome-ness by putting the best and brightest of the local rock scene up on our esteemed stage for a series of free shows. If we tried to list all the incredible performances from that week, this blog would start to look more like a lengthy database of Nashville rock-cool. You can check out the full line-up here if you’re in the mood to kick yourself for missing out on the best Nashville-centric mini-festival the city had to offer in ’09. Our vote for highlight moment definitely goes to Gumby onstage performing “Danger Zone” along with Mega Man’s favorite purveyors of rock-opera style epic awesome-ness, The Protomen. Clip below:

DR. DOG

Despite high attendance (sold out, in fact…) that was potentially fueled by pre-show internet rumors of an appearance by ex tour-mates The Black Keys, Dr. Dog delivered a Valentine’s Day set that rocked and rolled entirely on it’s own merits. The Mercy Lounge was packed to capacity with rock-romancers and jilted lovers who soaked in the band’s brand of 60’s style psychedelic rock.

And to cap off the Hallmark holiday, over 4 dozen lucky, lonely people received roses from the Mercy Lounge’s own private Casanova, Gumby himself. We have so far been unable to find photographic documentation of this, so if you managed to snap a shot…send it our way: blog@mercylounge.com.

…Aaaaaand, that’s about it for this week. We’ll be back next Wednesday with another installment of highlights and fond memories from our sixth wonderful year in your humble service, Nashville.

Also, be on the lookout for our new “Shit Chark Says” feature, Coming Soon!