Fever Daydream at the Mercury, Part 2

Jun 6 2026

Fever Daydream at the Mercury, Part 2

Category: music

Once the doors opened to the actual stage area, Henry went straight to the merch table and I grabbed a spot at the barricade AS PREVIOUSLY MENTIONED if you even read this slop. (And not even AI slop, just regular old lazy human slop.) Above, please observe a photo of us after he rejoined me.

Because the Mercury is so chill, Henry was able to take my merch out to the car so that he wouldn’t be bogged down by it all night. He managed to get me a shirt AND THE TOUR POSTER!!! But said that the vinyl was sold out — even the one that has 1000 pressings. I was bummed but happy that I at least got the poster which was SUPER IMPORTANT to me.

The ladies who were behind us in line ended up standing to the left of me. One of them had gone to the merch table around the same time Henry did and she also sadly reported that the albums were sold out. I figured with the super limited quantities, they were probably only bringing out so many to each show.

OK I’ll try to keep this snappy because who cares about Erin’s concert recaps, but sheesh, this was one was SO GOOD. Here’s a video of the openers:

I am very sad to say that I cannot remember the DJ’s name but he was SO GOOD, the music fit the vibe and he played the Sneaker Pimps which I have not heard out in the wild in one seriously long ass time.
Next was Trace Amount who actually blew my face off when his set started because I wasn’t paying attention and thought he was a crew member setting up for the next band, but then he picked up the mic, did a few “CHECK CHECK”s and then LAUNCHED into a high-decibel aural assault that legit snapped my head back. He was just one guy, a drum machine, synth, and one “with his full chest” screaming ability.
CLUBDRUGS!!! I fucking adored them. This was 100% my style and the fact that they were playing CLUB KIDS AND MICHAEL ALIG FOOTAGE during the first song really gave their music a sinister bent. I would totally go see these two again.

Henry was popping back and forth, going to the bar for another Athletic, going to the bathroom, just your basic dad-at-a-concert meandering. But at one point when he rejoined, he casually mentioned that Danny Lohner was standing next to him during one of the opening bands. Ugh, I hate him.

Eventually, it was time! Danny Lohner, Chris Pennie (we were so blessed to be one of the shows that happened after he came on as the touring drummer!!!), and Steven Alexander came out, followed by Greg Puciato. You guys, I had gradually been moved down to the right father and farther as the night went on, putting me RIGHT SMACK IN FRONT OF GREG DURING THEIR SET. I am very much a “stand close to the stage but off to the side” kind of concert goer so I was SHOOK. Part of me felt trapped, part of me felt absolutely stunned to be so close to him, and the rest of me was just like FUCK YEAH LET’S GOOOOOO BOYYYYYY.

Fucking incredible show, incredible musicians, incredible performance, everything was incredible. I was in AWE and felt like I must have looked like a fish with a gaping maw all night, I couldn’t help it.

10 years = 100% worth the wait. This band has soundtracked years of drives to haunted houses, my go-to music to listen to while I’m working every fall, and single-handedly keeps that dark wave side of me alive.

The best part is that there was a family with two young young kids standing behind me for the entire set which kept all the bro-dudes from rushing the stage. This was actually a double-edged sword though because Henry was standing behind me and over a little so that the kids were the ones that were standing directly behind me and the youngest of the two was right next to Henry. He said she kept stepping on him the whole time, wasn’t paying attention to the show, and kept swishing her hair around and hitting him with it. Why is this so fucking funny to me?!

After the show (Fever Daydream in its entirety so no need for set list!), Steven started handing out his guitar picks, but only to the people over to the right side of the barricade. My friends to the left and I hung around in hopes that he would make his way over to us because he kept going back for more picks. This was the ONLY lowlight of the night for me, when a bro-dude (one of the ones who had arrived shortly after us and was slamming back Miller Lites with his other bro-dudes and one bro-broad so I know this guy had to have been blitzed) came out of nowhere and shoved himself in between me and the guy to my right, totally burying me with his gigantic bare ape arm. FUCKING MEN.

EVERY FUCKING TIME.

I hate them so much. People wonder why I like Kpop so much and a huge reason BECAUSE WE DON’T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT MOTHERFUCKING BRO DUDES AT THE CONCERTS!!!

Anyway, Steven did eventually give me and my lady friends each a pick and we were so stoked!

Oh, I was on cloud nine, you guys. Absolutely so in love with that whole day. Cleveland. The Mercury. The Black Queen. I guess even Henry, ugh. Yes, the drive home was rough (also, I had a very weird “FROM” moment when we stopped at one of the rest areas when I heard someone whistle and I looked over and it was the smiling man walking toward me and I was convinced he was one of the things from FROM and then I went into the rest room and panicked when I shut myself in a stall, thinking for sure he was following me and it was like 1AM and now I was going to fucking get ripped apart by some monster. But then I saw him in 7-Eleven after I peed and he was just a truck driver, talking on his bluetooth in not-English while getting coffee, and seeming to be in a happy mood so I felt dumb) but wow, this was worth it. Every part of the day was worth it.