Reviews for An Evening with Greg Dulli and Mark Lanegan

ZME Music
http://www.zmemusic.com/rock/the-gutter-twins-live-the-dublin-academy-160109/
1/21/09

The Gutter Twins Live @ The Dublin Academy
By Lisa Hughes
The Academy, Dublin, Friday 16/1/09
For the uninitiated, The Gutter Twins are none other than Mr Mark Lanegan (former Screaming Trees frontman and mainstay of Queens of the Stone Age) and Greg Dulli, from the slightly lesser known but equally brilliant 1990s outfit The Afghan Whigs. Under the guise of the Gutter Twins, Lanegan and Dulli have collaborated to produce a sound unlike their previous bodies of work, respectively. Last year’s amazing debut Saturnalia saw the duo plunge the depths and re-emerge to tell the tale. The download-only 8 Track EP Adorata followed, continuing where its predecessor left off. Currently on the European leg of their tour, the Twins first treated Irish audiences to a taste of their distinctive blend of rock last April, in a phenomenal performance in Dublin’s Ambassador. This time around, in a sold out intimate slot in The Academy, the pair reached the highs of their Irish debut last year and much more beyond.
Kicking off in style with a trio of Saturnalia’s best tracks - firstly “The Body”, followed by a lively rendition of “All God’s Children” and “The Stations”, the tone was suitably set for an evening of raw acoustic rock. Backed solely by Dave Rosser on acoustic guitar, Lanegan and Dulli’s harmonies easily infiltrated the hushed silence of this personal setting. Tonight’s show comprised of a look back on the Sub Pop careers of both performers, and included a surprise version of the haunting “Sunrise” from Lanegan’s sophomore release Whiskey for the Holy Ghost. Another Lanegan solo effort “Kimiko’s Dream House” was performed to perfection, sounding even more heartfelt in this kind of setting. Another high point was the beautiful “Creeping Coast Line of Lights” which showcased Lanegan’s vocals as one of the best voices of modern music. The influences of blues, country and gospel on both musicians came through, particularly in the raw version of “Resurrection Song” and the cover of Bukka White’s “I Am in a Heavenly Way”. Onstage banter was kept to a minimum, as is usually the case with Lanegan gigs and on this occasion, both performers appeared quite stand offish. In fact, bar the brief moment when Dulli joked about kissing his vocal partner, it could be said that both clearly wanted to get the show over with.
Aesthetically, Dulli and Lanegan may not resemble the poster boys of rock - both are middle aged and reflect the toll of a rock n roll lifestyle of addiction. In a climate where our rockstars are airbrushed within an inch of their lives, the sheer talent of this pairing, combined with their rough around the edges allure, The Gutter Twins are a welcome breath of fresh air as the focus is entirely on the music (as it should be!).
Tonight’s Evening with The Gutter Twins was wrapped up with a breathtaking “One Hundred Days” and finished off with an unlikely take on the Everly Brothers classic, “All I Have to Do Is Dream” with both vocal styles overlapping and blending together effortlessly. Unfortunately the show finished much too early, after around 80 minutes and just after things had really started to take off. Yet despite the lights going up far too soon and the notable presence of just one Afghan Whigs cover, tonight’s performance solidified the reputation of Lanegan and Dulli as exceptional musicians in their own right and as much more than survivors of grunge.

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The Irish Times
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/features/2009/0120/1232059660727.html
1/20/09

The Gutter Twins at The Academy
by Davin O'Dwyer
A few years ago, Greg Dulli came to town with his band The Twilight Singers, and loudly trumpeted the fact that Mark Lanegan would be appearing with them. For a certain generation of music fan, Dulli and Lanegan were heroes – they had achieved critical acclaim in the 1990s with their respective bands, The Afghan Whigs and Screaming Trees, delivering some of the most searing, perfectly realised albums of the decade. But that Twilight Singers show in the Village was excruciatingly bad – Dulli appeared uninterested, and Lanegan barely appeared at all, shuffling on stage to do backing vocals on just a few songs. After the creative highs of their original acts, this was a serious disappointment.
This show saw them return in the guise of their collaborative act, The Gutter Twins, part of a series of seated, acoustic performances with guitarist Dave Rosser dubbed the Stripped Down in the Gutter tour.
This time, at least, Lanegan was on stage for most of the show, but despite sitting centre stage, he managed to appear so detached he gave the impression of being elsewhere.
Dulli, on the other hand, looks more and more like one of the Blues Brothers with every passing year.
For a spell, it was a promising evening. The mellow delivery quickly found a reflective rhythm; the eloquent, focused rage of the Whigs and the Trees was gone, as if rueful melancholy has filled the void left by youthful anger. But the momentum dissipated, and at one point, as eager audience members began to call out beloved song names, Lanegan growled to Dulli: “Let’s get this done.” It was a revealing moment, perfectly displaying his seemingly dismissive approach to the show, as if performing for paying fans was an onerous task. While Lanegan’s voice is a fine, gravelly instrument, it’s wasted on such a deliberately anti-charismatic performer.
Later, Dulli berated audience members for talking between songs and taking a photograph. Such an adversarial approach to your audience might work during a full-throttle rock gig, but during a sedate acoustic concert, it just seems cranky, and summed up what turned out to be a charmless and half-hearted performance.

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Independent.ie
http://www.independent.ie/entertainment/music/diva-antics-sour-breathtaking-show-1606182.html
1/19/09

Diva antics sour breathtaking show
By Eamon Sweeney

The Gutter Twins
The Academy, Dublin
They may be a relatively new band, but these guys are old hands at this game.
Greg Dulli and Mark Lanegan are both highly accomplished rock singers.
As frontmen of nineties acts Afghan Whigs and the Screaming Trees, they've been responsible for some sublime alt-rock moments.
Performing acoustically as the Gutter Twins, the duo ditch the Marshall stacks and home in on the raw bones of their tunes, dipping into their respective back catalogues and throwing in quirky covers of Led Zeppelin and the Everly Brothers for good measure.
So far, so good, but the mood sours a little when Dulli acts the total diva and lambasts members of the audience for talking and taking photographs.
Setting a few ground rules is perfectly acceptable, but arrogantly insulting the punters paying your appearance fee is not.
Allegedly, such behaviour was also evident in Glasgow the previous evening.
Joy
Thankfully, there isn't too much of a bitter aftertaste and Lanegan's singing voice is a joy to behold.
Once memorably described as boasting a fine set of pipes that sound like Lee Hazelwood after sniffing glue, the guy could be up there singing nursery rhymes and it would still sound great.
His rendition of 'Resurrection Song' is a stunning stand-out.
They throw a curveball into the mix with a delightful version of 'All I Have to Do is Dream' by the Everly Brothers.
It's easy to forget just how tender and beautiful this song is.
Despite Dulli's almighty strop, the Gutter Twins deliver a breathtaking evening of skewered folk.
Just make sure you leave the camera at home.

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SF Weekly
http://blogs.sfweekly.com/shookdown/2009/02/last_night_the_gutter_twins_at.php
2/12/09

Last Night: The Gutter Twins at the Independent
By Vicky Walker
The Gutter Twins (Greg Dulli and Mark Lanegan)
February 11, 2009
The Independent
Better Than: Joaquin Phoenix' new rap career
The audience: Reg'lar folks, mostly dressed in shades of the bruise palette. Two parkas, one with a fur-lined hood. Three trilbies. Smatterings of plaid. One army coat tricked out like Coldplay's Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Wankers Club Band uniforms.
The show: I bought earplugs from the coat check girl just as a skinny guy in a knit cap walked onstage and began playing acoustic guitar. Wimp, her eye-roll said. Then he began beatboxing and making weird didgeridoo-like noises at top volume. Harold "Happy" Chichester played keyboards and provided impeccable falsetto for the Afghan Whigs and Twilight Singers. He's an all-round nice guy from Columbus, Ohio, and won over the crowd with "I Live in a Glamorous Town," which dealt with women dressed as hookers, "if hookers were pirates."
As the Gutter Twins loped onstage and took their seats, I noticed that there were actually three of them. (The extra Twin is guitarist Dave Rosser.) I was also slightly alarmed at the acoustic song-circle theme the evening was taking. Can Greg Dulli and Mark Lanegan's songs of lust and menace survive such a tranquil setting?

I'm still convinced that Lanegan is another of Will Ferrell's side projects. They've never been seen together in the same room, and they share a comic-stern expression. Meanwhile, Dulli wasn't smoking onstage, which was surprising, given that he's been quite happy to break city laws at past shows in S.F.

They started with "God's Children" from Saturnalia, Dulli playing the riff for "All Along the Watchtower," which the song freely borrows from. He and Lanegan traded verses, Dulli straining for the higher notes while Lanegan did his doomy croon. It was all very sedate and melodic. "If I Were Going" from the Afghan Whigs' Gentlemen and "Summer's Kiss" from Black Love got big cheers.
Things lightened up after a short break (probably exactly enough time for Dulli to smoke four or five cigarettes). Dulli, singing at the piano, looked over at Lanegan and cracked up completely. He wouldn't say what the reason was, but he stopped the song and wished Lanegan good luck with the next one. They started playing, but then Lanegan cracked up and all three of them were doubled over laughing. "We could play an Alice Cooper song, but we only know the first verse," Dulli wisecracked. Instead, they played "Tennessee Waltz," Rosser taking the vocals while the other Twins smirked and giggled. One three-way version of Cole Porter's "I Get a Kick Out of You" after that, and they were gone.
Critic's Notebook
Personal Bias: I've been stalking Greg Dulli for 17 years. One day he will be mine.
Random Detail: The interval music featured "Love Grows," "Go All the Way," and "Little Willy." What are the Twins trying to tell us?
By the way: Rent Beautiful Girls again -- not just to see a glowing Natalie Portman, but also to see the Afghan Whigs as the bar band, covering Barry White's "Can't Get Enough of Your Love Babe." Dulli is teh sexy.

(link to photo: http://blogs.sfweekly.com/shookdown/gutterspace.jpg )

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They may be a relatively new band, but these guys are old hands at this game.