His voice is as weathered as a haggard cliff face. A gift from god which he executes with such grace.
His words are a succinct and personal blend of poetry that, when typed, are not comparable to anything else that the internet has the ability to chuck up. And if songs can ever truly be life changing – then imaginably they’d be those under the influence of Mark Lanegan.
Under red incandescent sun, the Band took to the stage, illuminated like sermonic counterparts. Sunken features turned to black and the darker shades of suit jackets and shirts reached across into the shadows. A sonic ritual was underway.
Not a word of introduction and the Mark Lanegan Band quickly gunned in, triggering the stirring of an under two hour brain storm with ‘Can’t Come Down‘ from debut album ‘Bubblegum‘ (2004). The Band, now a collection of Belgian support act Creature With The Atom Brain and slick guitarist Steven Janssens of The Whodads (and others), were just as compelling as Lanegan himself.
Janssens does particularly well to judder in the background with striking guitar sequences before taking the bull by the horns, steering the song into overdrive using every muscle in his body. He seems to be an essential asset to Lanegan’s stage tour.
The Creatures defiantly and uncompromisingly proved to be an appropriate choice for the opening act. Older members of the audience were eating apples before the Belgian’s flared up with thumping baselines and grungy riffs. Half of them reappeared later to recreate Lanegan’s repertoire – songs originally offered hands by collaborators including Josh Homme and Alain Johannes.
The show was mainly divided between excerpts from ‘Bubblegum’ as well as the latest release (giving cause for this tour) ‘Blues Funeral‘. ‘Hit The City‘, ‘Wedding Dress‘, and ‘One Hundred Days‘ were particularly well received from the former; and ‘Gray Goes Black‘, ‘Quiver Syndrome‘, ‘Riot In My House‘ and ‘Harbour View Hospital‘ rode out gallantly from the latter.
Surprising embellishments were supplied by Lanegan’s fifth solo album ‘Field Songs‘ with ‘Resurrection Song‘, and ‘Whiskey For The Holy Ghost‘ track ‘Pendulum‘. Only words of thanks and a quick introduction to each band member were to be spoken into the mic throughout.
Having spread his golden touch over Screaming Trees, Soulsavers, Queens of The Stone Age and numerous other collaborations; it’s nothing short of a divine juncture to be standing before the man himself in a sea of little bald men and new age punks – all as equally prepared to be distilled as each other. The years of bearing a splintered cross for heroin have been left somewhere in the dark rooms of the past, though they resonate still in scar and song.
It can be a little cliché to wrap up a performance and then come back perhaps not even two minutes later and resume position; but with the Mark Lanegan Band it feels as though there’s less presumption that the audience will want a continuation, and more appreciation for an encore if it’s required…especially when there’s still ‘Methamphetamine Blues‘ left to play.
