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2 December, 2001, Astoria, London, UK review by Nila I do the early arrival-long wait thing again. Got there
at 4.45, doors weren't opening til 7 (with luck), to find that we supposed
to get Anyone 7.40 to 8.15, Masters of Reality 8.35-9.35 and Mark 10-11.
It's not too bad for the first hour, but the weather gets steadily colder and wetter and I begin to freeze. The soundchecks go by, which is a nice distraction and then, finally, we're all in. I was at the front of the queue and I just headed straight for the bar. The strange thing being that, cold as I was, the first thing I bought is an ice-cold beer. Go figure! Anyone got on stage until 7.40 and at roughly 7.43 I wanted them to leave. Sorry if this offends, but they were absolute crap. The music was awful and the singer/guitarist seemed to think he was the ultimate rock-god - guitar over the head, agonised facial expressions - you name is, he cliched it. And he's wearing a green satin shirt and Gap khakis hanging halfway off his arse. In the UK, it's called 'builder's bum' and it's not big, and it's not clever. And dear lord, is that ... yes it is ..... glitter eyeshadow. Fuck. 3 songs in and the singer seems to think we're confused, aren't 'getting' them. It wasn't us mate. One quiet comment from someone behind me - 'oh fuck off'. And at 8.15 they did - and that got the biggest round of applause yet. 20 minutes later four tall, lanky gents wander on stage -Nick, Chris, Josh and (I'm assuming) John (he's way in the back at the drums and I can't see too well) to cheers and much applause. And launch straight in to what has to be one of the best sets I have ever heard in my life. I can't usually remember who plays what, but a couple of comments did stick: Chris (having introduced Nick), turns to Josh, mutters something about 'trying to find A minor' (or a minor - god knows which), grins at Josh and says 'no pun intended'. The crowd crack up laughing, so does Josh and so does Nick. It's while Nick's laughing that I am finally convinced that every story I've ever read or heard about him is absolutely true - all of them! Chris follows that comment with one which ends 'four words
- my dick, your mouth'. CNN and 'all the bloodletters of the world' get a song dedicated to them too. Mark strides out, the band blast straight into another song and everything just gets better and better. Mark leaves the stage and as he goes, gives and receives a huge hug from Chris. Both of them were smiling like it was the best time on earth. Watching the guys, it occurs to me that this must be the tallest tour going. Mark, Josh, Mike, Nick, Chris - not exactly short are they? MOR sounded great and there was a real sense of everyone having a great time playing. I would love to know what private joke was going back and forth between Josh & Nick though. They kept shooting comments back and forth across the stage at each other, but I don't lip-read so I've no idea what was said. Whatever it was, it certainly had them laughing! MOR eventually troop off but I wish they had stayed a little longer. They played such a great show - everything went like a dream. I'm hoping they'll tour again soon - that would be the best start to 2002 going (no pressure or anything guys!) There's another bit of a wait and then the lights go waaaaay down and on troop Mark and co. It's really difficult to see anything - the lights are dark cobalt blue, a sort of turquoise and pale sea-green but dim beyond belief. Half the time, the only way I know Mark is still on stage is because he has a white long-sleeved sweatshirt under his black t-shirt, and his arms and pale face sort of show up in the gloom! It was good to see Mike again too. He looked his usual self, and his hair is back to being brown and short again, instead of blond and tufty. From what I remember we got (this is not the right order) Winding Sheet, No Easy Action, One Way Street, Don't Forget Me, Because of This, Hotel, I'll Take Care of You, On Jesus Program, (I think) Mockingbirds and that's where my memory fails me.I don't know about anyone else who was there, but I thought the band this time just didn't gel right - nobody talked to each other at all, except maybe Mark & Mike - but in '98 eveyrone seemed to be having a really good time. Having said that, Mark was in very very good voice - Because of This particularly was spectacular. When I'd been waiting outside the Astoria a guy in a baseball cap next to me had said to his friend that he'd be happy if Mark only played One Way Street. Got your wish mate! The sound was a bit muddy on a few of the tracks - something just wasn't quite right. But, you know, it's not often Mark tours his solo stuff, so I'm just glad that he made it over, played the show, and I got to hear No Easy Action live. It was much quicker than on record, but it's one of my favourite songs and it was great to hear it. And we got a very deep and almost inaudible 'thank you' after each song. God, where does that voice come from? It's so far deep down that i'm surprised he can find it! The only real problem was this stupid photographer who was standing pretty much under Mark's feet. Lady, can you not take a subtle hint? If a man shields his eyes everytime you take a photo and a fucking great flash goes off, surely you should stop? It was irritating hell out of me, and I wasn't near it! It was obviously irritating Mark too - he was damn near hiding his face in his arms everytime she came anywhere near him and turning away from her. The first bit of the show kind of ended really abruptly - it was like, 'ok that's it, we're gone' Yeah, right, Mark. So, we yelled, clapped, stamped feet, screamed, yelled and stamped some more and FINALLY (it was quite a wait) everyone trooped back out to play Gospel Plow. Good choice, beautiful song. And off they go again. And this time it's for good. Mark just kind of went 'thank you all, good evening' and damn near ran off the stage, quickly followed by everyone else. This happened in 1998 and after a bit out he came and played some more but not this time. It finally sank in that it really was over with when the equipment started to get taken down, the lights came up (ouch!) and a security guy with a megaphone came out and told us all to get lost. But that was that. And off I went home, happy and a bit deaf, as usual. Bye Mark, see you next time. review by George I went to the Astoria last night to see Mark Lanegan after three years and two weeks since he last headlined a gig in London (which incidentally happened to be the Astoria again). To take it from there the Astoria is a very unfortunate choice of venue as it is manely for heavy metal gigs (and gay events), and the quality of sound is atrocious. Also I got the feeling (from age, t-shirts and hairdos) that the majority of the people were there to see a heavy metal gig by Masters of Reality and they had only heard of Mark Lanegan through his associations with Josh Homme and Nick Oliveri of QOTSA...And to my despair a heavy metal gig is what they saw. The fact that ML went onstage to sing one song w/ MoR improved things marginally but didn't change them. So anyway after a lot of earrache and much ado, ML and the boys took the stage. The unexpedly energetic set began with pendulum and to the best of my recollection went on as follows pendulum borracho one way st. i'll take care of you no easy action mockingbirds don't forget me medley(3): /(one that i can't recall) /because of this /the winding sheet on jesus program encore: gospel plow Mark Lanegan is blessed with a voice deep as the ocean, but last night it was hard to hear him, on top of all the noise. It was still amazing (all the 40 minutes of it), even if we had to wait for three years and two weeks. But i'd really like to see him go on the road with just Mike Johnson and an acoustic guitar and play venues like the Borderline or Dingwalls. What wouldn't i give to see that. Then again that's just what I think. Anyway take it easy George review by Daz I know I'm setting myself up for a fall here,
but I was really disappointed with Mark at the London show last night.
There were a few things that spring to mind. Firstly, it was just too
loud, certainly louder than the last time he played the Astoria. I think
this really made a difference - the subtley of several songs was just
completely lost. Mike's guitar sounded rather muddy though admittedly
Mark was in fine voice. The set was very uninspired, exactly the same
as the previous few shows and the Winding Sheet medley was flabby around
the edges to say the least. Also, they were in almost total darkness -
have moody lighting, sure, but you could honestly barely see them. The
oddest thing was the encore (Gospel Plow). They seemed rather hurried
and after leaving the house lights didn't come back on, suggesting a further
song. I was behind mixing desk and the guys there were just shrugging
their shoulders trying to find out what had happened to them. Five minutes
later, the lights came on and we were asked to leave. They can't have
played much more than fifty minutes and the boo's from the crowd seemed
quite heart felt. On the plus side, MOR were unbelievable. The boy Homme
sure done good, and Chris Goss was the business. We were also treated
to a rendition of 'High Noon Amsterdam' where upon Mr L came on to sing
vocals. It, and they, were storming. I aren't playing Devil's Advocate
here, I love Mark to death, but, like I say, he just didn't cut it last
night. |