29 January, 2003 - Melbourne, Australia - Cherry Bar

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review by Matt

Last night's show was awesome.
I rocked up to the Cherry Bar (the first time I'd ever been to this venue) at 9:30pm, after being told Mark would be on at 10pm, 10:15 at the latest. He didn't come on until nearly 11pm. It was so hot in this venue ... no air-conditioning or anything. The room was very, very packed, mainly with mid to late 20 year olds (old-school grunge fans, I suppose). Was great to see such a warm reception.

Before the show started, I spotted Nick Oliveri at the side of the stage ... I didn't know he was playing with Mark tonight! I knew Troy Van Leeuwen was, but not Nick! Nick headed my way, so I quickly got out the QOTSA front covers I had bought for Mark to sign and asked Nick to sign em. He said he really had to go to the toilet, so I let him go, but got him on the way back.

Anyways, Mark, Nick & Troy came onstage and kicked right into it. They started off with River Rise, which was cool. Other songs I can remember are Borracho, Carnival, On Jesus' Program, Pendulum, Mockingbirds, and the almighty QOTSA track In The Fade, which was the definite highlight. Mark had a cigarette in his mouth nearly all the time (spose he's gotta keep his voice husky somehow!). Not many words were spoken, besides thanks between songs. The set was short, about an hour including the 2-song encore. After the show, there was no backstage or anything, just a side street for the guys to step out onto. Everyone followed them. I got Mark to sign a heap of stuff. He was a bit worn out, I imagine, so he wasn't overly receptive, but it was good of him to sign so much stuff.

Was a great show ... I had seen Mark the previous two nights with QOTSA and it was good to see him do his own stuff, what he enjoys doing the most.

review by Peter

After catching Mark make an appearance onstage with Queens of the Stone Age (QOTSA) the night before, it was time to finally catch Mark in his element performing his own show. After his Australian tour in 2000 was cancelled I was dying for a chance to catch Mark perform his plethora of songs and finally the moment had arrived. After experiencing a hot and humid day, night fell and patrons began filling the Cherry Bar which is located in a dingy side alley in Melbourne's Central Business District. After waiting for almost an eternity, Nick and Troy from QOTSA burrowed through the crowd and took the stage each armed with an acoustic guitar. All of a sudden Mark slipped in a side door and was on stage. The crowd listened intently for the entire show and showed their appreciation for the performance they were witnessing. Mark said very little during the performance with the exception of a "Thanks" after each song. Mark also chain smoked his way through the entire performance. Besides Mark commenting on the extreme heat and having to wipe his face with a towel after most songs, the only other comment was a quick witted reply to an eager fan who requested that they play "Black Bell Ocean" (properly known as Bell black Ocean). Mark retorted by clearly stating "That's not what it is called".

The performance seemed to go with the trend of the last show reviewed for this website. Mark played for a little over an hour and left the crowd hungry for more, unfortunately it wasn't to be as Mark exited after one encore and sat out in the alley amongst his fans wanting some fresh air and a cool breeze as respite from the sweltering conditions.

The set list is below. I'm fairly sure there was one or two other songs performed but I cant think what they were off the top of my head (I think maybe NO EASY ACTION was played), nothing from Scraps at Midnight, I would have loved to here "Last one in the world" oh well. The songs were not necessarily in this order, but close enough.

SHE DONE TOO MUCH
RIVER RISE
CREEPING COASTLINE OF LIGHTS
New song (UNCOVERED BLACK?)
BORRACHO
IN THE FADE (QOTSA song)
CARNIVAL
New song?
KIMIKO'S DREAM HOUSE
ONE WAY STREET
New song?
FIX

encore
ON JESUS' PROGRAM (singing only, no guitar)
PENDULUM

Assuming they were originals and not covers the new songs sounded excellent of course. I meant to ask Mark when the new album was due out but it slipped my mind as I exited.

Great performance. Mark's voice was perfect and full of soul.
If anyone can add to this setlist or tidy up the order then be my guest.

The only downside was the group of 6 or so ignorant people who were talking rubbish throughout the whole show and took no interest in the performance. They did their best to ruin my night and everyone else's, Why bother turning up to the show if you are going to talk rubbish at high volumes all night about 5 metres from the stage. Who wants to hear about your new bread making machine while Mark is giving his all to a sea of dedicated fans....next time please stay home.

until next time.

review by Andy

This was a one-off show Mark did while on tour with the Queens of the Stone Age. He was accompanied by two guitarists, one being Nick, the bass player from Queens of the Stone Age. The show was announced less than a week before the gig so it was a bit of a mad scramble to get tickets as where he was playing only holds about 250 people. Mark was supposed to do a national tour a few years back but it was cancelled due to visa problems, so I felt pretty lucky to be seeing the only show he's ever done in Australia. The night he played was absolutely sweltering and the venue had a capacity crowd so I can imagine how hot the band was on stage under the lights, the band and Mark spent the entire gig seated so it was a fairly low energy show. I got the feeling that the band hadn't practiced much for the gig, what with it being announced on such short notice. It took the guys quite a few songs to loosen up and the playing for the most part of the show was pretty basic, nothing too adventurous. He hardly spoke at all between songs and chain-smoked throughout the entire gig. Marks voice was spot-on for the entire show and was pretty much note-perfect compared to his albums. He did a fairly broad range of songs from most of his catalogue and even did a Queens of the Stone Age song he sang the vocals on. It was a short set that lasted for a hour and he came back out for an encore that included an acapella version of On Jesus' Program. I was disappointed that I didn't get to see him perform with a full band (that had rehearsed) but at the same time grateful to have the chance to see him in such an intimate environment. I got to speak to him briefly out the front of the venue after the show but he seemed pretty tired and irritable from the heat and too damn stoned to hold a conversation so I kept it short.