3rd Lanegan show in 18 months.
Fandom is nothing without loyalty. Within the space of 2 weeks I was rocked to see Jack White and Mark Lanegan. Two artists who trade heavy in the loyalty market. While one is a well known star. Well known. Rich. The other is a cult figure. The proverbial “big in Europe”. I’m just talking shit. Let’s distill this back down to where it belongs. Why isn’t Mark Lanegan bigger?
Sunday night. Holiday weekend. 20 buck tickets. Place is frigging dead. Mezz is closed. Floor maybe 1/3 full. Damn it people.
Opening act. I am so sorry I missed your name.
God help me, I liked you alot.
Let’s do the easy part first. Dark long sleeved shirt. Hair growing out. Right hand high on the mic. Left hand on the stand level with just about the waist. Pretty much done. But wait. This is the first time I have personally seen Lanegan on stage with so many musicians. And, yes! Some mild rocking out was noted.
On around 10:20. Lead off with “Ghosts Of You And Me”. Everything you would want from a live version of this song. Loud. Vocals out front. Guitar prominent. In a word. Banging. If, by chance, you haven’t heard the Soulsavers release : It’s Not How Far You Fall, It’s The Way You Land, you could do far worse with your dollar and/or downloading bandwidth.
If you decide to chase the dragon with this years album Broken, you may be lead to believe the night was downtempo. Anything but. So nice. Guitars layered, making almost every song rocking. More than you would expect.
Paper Money.
This song slays me. This is where the (sometimes) under appreciated comparison to Johnny Cash comes in for Lanegan. The gravelly voiced , straightforward delivery of a modern day storyteller. Nothing complicated. Real life. Lanegan doesn’t rip the ceiling apart with the chorus. But everything is there. The groove. The heaviness you want. And…when you hear him sing it. Not growl. Not whatever. Sing. You believe. Right, or wrong, that the song wasn’t necessary fictional for him at one point.
“Kingdoms of Rain”, and “Jesus of Nothing” brought it. More lead to heavy night. But is it really wrong to be totally ecstatic when the Lanegan solo song “Hit The City” was played? Good. Cause if fucking rocked. And made me laugh. Some poor sap was screaming for this song months ago at the Doug Fir during the Dulli + Lanegan show. He never got to hear it. Wonder if he was there. Cheers, my man.
Sometimes everything comes together. Great show. Great night.
