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Review: 'LANEGAN, MARK'
'Glasgow, The Garage, 26th November 2004.'   


-  Genre: 'Rock'

Our Rating:
Tonight, Mark Lanegan is chatty. Almost. He even goes so far as to ask how we are doing before launching into “Sideways In Reverse”. If you close your eyes, you might even imagine some Jagger-esque stage antics to accompany the raunchy riffage & ‘Going down going down people give me your love” refrain. But no, keep them open & Lanegan’s monolithic presence remains reassuringly static (apart from the odd nod of the head which may count as a dance move), resolutely avoiding any stray beams of light that make a futile attempt to illuminate his features.

Sound problems (an initially muddy band sound smothering Lanegan’s vocal) & the absence of Shelly Brien (who has been singing the PJ Harvey parts on this tour) dull the impact of current single “Hit The City”, but thankfully the vocals start to penetrate the fuzz during a sublime “Wedding Dress”.

Versions of “Field Songs” classics “One Way Street”, “No Easy Action” & “Miracle” follow. I was lucky enough to catch the “Field Songs” tour line up at Cork’s Half Moon Theatre a few years back, and I have to say that the current Mark Lanegan Band line-up (on this night at least), doesn't quite match up, in terms of sheer power, as far as these songs are concerned.

However it may also be a case of warming up to the challenge, as a suitably urgent, Gun Club inflected "Little Willie John" leads into a blistering, yearning take on "Resurrection Song", where Lanegan's impassioned "day end of day" vocal periodically makes way for prolonged ear shredding bursts of psychedelic noise from Brett Nettson's guitar. A definite set highlight.

I should say again that the mix was never quite right. Any backing vocals, such as the muezzin like wail on "No Easy Action", valiantly attempted to by Rhettson, were usually lost in the haze. Likewise, Lanegan's unique part croon, part growl vocal was up against it for most of the night.

All of which makes his performance of "I'll Take Care Of You" even more astonishing in context. Tonight's smouldering rendition of is enough to place him directly in the tradition of the great soul/blues ballad singers, both Otis Redding & Bobby "Blue" Bland springing to mind.

As if to purposefully undermine any such attempts at pigeon-holing, the main set closes with the industrial crunch of "Methamphetamine Blues". Weariness & defiance bleed through the closing, a capella, "rolling just to keep on rolling" refrain.

The band arrive back onstage without the great man to meander through "Blues For D", before Mark rejoins them to plunder his Screaming Trees back catalogue & just plain rock out on "Ivy", from 1988's "Invisible Lantern". Biggest audience reaction of the night is reserved for "Auto Pilot", from Queens of the Stone Age's "Rated R" album. Nick Olivieri steps up to take backing vocals, having spent the rest of the gig loitering at the back of the stage bashing out rhythm guitar.

However, almost inevitably, king of the encores is doubtless a super charged & (here I go once again) psychedelic "Gospel Plow". On this occasion the band's performance makes you wish they would keep on playing for another 70 minutes, admittedly in part because at times it felt like they had taken that long to warm up.

Nevertheless, Mr. Lanegan's talents & unique brand of "charisma" shone through on the evening, & before taking his leave, while the band jam an extended coda, he even tells us he appreciates our coming out to see him. What a nice man.
  author: Michael John McCarthy

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