Two days after the release of Mark Lanegan's brutal and exquisite "Here Comes That Weird Chill" EP expectation is high tonight. That said, the eclectic crowd haven't paid through the nose for their programmes or a pricey seat amongst thousands. We don't have to have a good time or else bemoan the loss of a weeks wages. It's a cheap grotty venue, dark and small for the big names playing tonight. But the sound is good. And we're crowded in real close.
Opening act and sometime Lanegan Band members ENEMY open with a frankly cracking set. High on Foos-esque hooks and atmospheric noise. Front Man, Troy Van Leeuwen stepping out from his day job on guitars for A Perfect Circle (and sometime Queens Of The Stone Age fret wandering) leads a trio with an excellent
NY Hardcore pedigree in some tight slabs of alt-rock. They will be huge just as soon as Kerrang! picks them up. They deserve to be.
Troy and bassist Eddi Nappi return for the second act along with the rest of MARK LANEGAN's Band. And the man himself. Without an instrument to hide behind or an on-stage persona it takes guts to front a band and to sing honestly. Very few people do it. Mark Lanegan is one of them.
Lanegan is tall, lean, serious and looks like he's been through several circles of hell. He grips the microphone with one hand and the mic stand at hip height with the other. His star spangled knuckles clench a cigarette at times and other tattoos show under the cuff of his denim shirt. He retains this stance for most of the night, barely opening his eyes. He is not cool or nonchalant. His delivery is raw, passionate and gripping, low, rough, sweet. All those things. And the music matches the remit.
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Doses of Appalachian blues, American folk and the harder rock you might expect from a Seattle resident most famous now for his outings with Queens of The Stone Age, Lanegan's solo material offers up rich pickings for tonight's set list. A luscious rendition of 60's classic 'I'll take Care of You' standing back to back with the industrial newby 'Methamphetamine Blues'. 'Skeletal' slams next to the waltzing hillbilly 'Jesus
Program'. Only one reference is made to Lanegan's Screaming Trees heritage when the crowd prove themselves to be not only appreciative but self policing - one request for a Tree's number receives a sharp expletive put down before the band can draw breath.
The real treat however, comes at the start of the first encore. Van Leeuwen and Lanegan play 'Mockingbirds' acoustically before being re-joined by the full band. Stripped down his voice really hits home. Sex, death, love, loss, it's all there in the absolute fucking genius of this man and his songs. It
brings tears to the eyes.
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