When we walked to the stage I was looking forward to see Mark Lanegan again after his short visit to Europe last fall, although I was a little bit disappointed that Mondo Generator cancelled their Highfield gig. They should play before the Mark Lanegan Band and I had hoped that MG would perform `Four Corners` with Nick and Mark together on vocals (but Oliveri that crazy dude could not keep cool and got in trouble with the rest of his band).

The MLB hit the stage at 2 o'clock in the afternoon, not the best time for an artist like Mark, who performs best in a (small) club with low light (my opinion).
There were not a lot of people in front of the stage and it seemed to me, that my friends and I are the only ones who really wanted to see Mark and his band. In comparison to the QOTSA tour he looks a lot of healthier and he even smokes much less cigarettes. The band played very well, especially their new guitar player is excellent. Marks voice was awesome like every time, even though it looked like the wind was carrying the sound away, maybe this was the reason that the gentle voice of Shelly Brown (a cute, all over tattooed girl) was not easily to hear. Mark was standing in his typical position at the microphone and said nearly nothing (what a surprise :-)) except `Thanks` after the songs and `Goodbye` at the end. The set list was very short; I think they played nine songs in 30 minutes. There were 10 minutes of official playtime left, but the band walked off the stage and did not come back for an encore. But I think it was a festival gig and not a solo show, so normally there are no encores. The band played only songs from the last two albums, except `Death Don't Have No Mercy` from the `Stay`-Single, which I enjoyed most. Unfortunately they did not play `Fix` at the end. The set was played much faster and with more in a rock manner than in fall 2003.

All in all I loved this short gig and it makes me hungry for the upcoming shows in Cologne and Hamburg.