25 November, 2001, Whelans, Dublin, Ireland
(scroll down for all the reviews)

review and ticket scan by Dave

Went along to the show with three friends, all of whom made the trip from Galway (west coast of Ireland, 120 miles from Dublin). We arrived a bit late, and Brett Netson was already into his set. He had his guitar cranked up and he knocked licks and notes out of it with an effect that was powerful and mournful. Not a bad voice either. Netson asked if anybody had any jokes, some guy standing behind me came up with one about a baby and a liquidiser which I'm not going to repeat here in case I get fucking arrested or something. I gulped out of a pint of porter (i.e. Guinness): dark, heavy liquid somehow appropriate for the night. A sullen sodium glare lit the crowded venue, cigarette smoke hung in acrid clouds. It was going to be a long night for booze. That black viscid crap (i.e. Guinness again) will kill us all yet.

After Netson's set finished there was a short wait. Mike Johnson, Dave Catching, Netson and Gene Trautmann came out and set their stuff up. Mark Lanegan strolled onto the stage. If it's possible to slouch while you walk, that's what he was doing. No words. Just straight into 'Pendulum', which I think is one of the most powerful songs on Whiskey for the Holy Ghost. You know that repeating guitar bit. My friend Joe is 30 years old, married with two kids, he is a recent convert to Lanegan's stuff and he is also not what you would call the sentimental type and neither am I. That song nearly had him in tears. That was followed up with Borracho, which always does it for me, and then Lanegan said, 'Thanks, goodnight' and made as if to go off the stage. That got a few laughs, which was probably no mean feat cause I think it was a pretty downbeat, morose crowd.

'Hey Mark,' shouted some fool in the crowd. 'Happy birthday.' Lanegan stood at the mic. He looked stunned. 'Oh yeah. I forgot about that.' he said. 'I've reached the spry old age of one hundred and fifty. So I can wear my old man's clothes now.' I think, though, he was actually pleased to hear it, cause he loosened up a bit. Things had ground to a standstill on the stage. Something had gone wrong with one of the amps, I think. 'Holy technical fuck-up,' Lanegan said. 'Those were two great songs though'. This raised an appreciative applause from the crowd. The problem got sorted, and here I get hazy on the details of the setlist. Not the songs, just the order of the songs up to the encores. That fool in the crowd was me. Debbi told me to say it.

pendulum/ borracho/ no easy action/ miracle/ one way street/ river rise/ bell black ocean/ because of this/ mockingbirds/ the winding sheet/ i'll take care of you/ on jesus' program/ hotel/ she done too much/ fix ENCORE 1: don't forget me/ creeping coastline of lights/ gospel plow ENCORE 2: field song/ pill hill serenade

'One Way Street' was fucking amazing. Before 'She Done Too Much' he even said, 'This is a very sad song.' He's right. Two of the best songs, 'Coastline' and 'Pill Hill', were both saved for encores. They didn't intend to do a second encore at all but were more or less forced into it by the crowd, who just screamed 'more' continually until they gave in. Maybe they were afraid there'd be a riot or something.

Afterwards, we went into the bar end of Whelan's. Dave Catching came out and I chatted to him for a little while. He said they're going to meet up with Masters of Reality in England (you knew that) but I got the impression that Nick and Josh from QOTSA will be around as well, which is good news for anybody going to the England gigs. We talked a little bit about Kyuss. He seemed like a nice guy. Mark Lanegan walked past but I left him alone. I got the impression he didn't want to be hassled.

After that we got obliterated, drunk.

And we eventually got home.

review by Killian

Saw Mark last night in Whelan's in Dublin. The place was very full. I brought a friend who isn't familiar with Mark's music. The band came on with 'Pendulum' and then ripped into 'Borracho', really intense. However after these 2 songs there was a long gap due to what Mark called a 'technological fuck-up. You're looking at it !' Somebody shouted 'Hey Mark, happy birthday' and he answered, 'Don't remind me, 150 years young. I look like my father, dress like him - but with only half his energy.' Bit of a wit was Mark. He seemed in really good form as the band played songs from all the albums, here's what I remember (8 pints of Guinness did make me a bit hazy):

She Done Too Much/River Rise, One Way Street, I'll Take Care of You, Mockingbird, No Easy Action/Miracle, On Jesus' Program, Winding Sheet/Because of This/Hotel, Bell Black Ocean , Creeping Coastline of Lights, Fix, Don't Forget Me, Gospel Plow (which really rocked)

After a long pause when the crowd were screaming for more, they came out and did 'Field Song' and 'Pill Hil Serenade'. It was superb, better than I had hoped (and I hoped for a lot). My friend had been unconvinced initially, thinking that this was a cross between Tom Waits and Pearl Jam, but after a while he got really into it - converted !