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3 November, 2004- Batschkapp, Frankfurt, Germany review by JulieP Not my first time this year to see the Mark Lanegan Band but this was most definitely the best show they did - maybe even the best show I saw in my lifetime and I saw a few... ! So I thought I have to share this with you... They started almost in time and kicked off with Sideways in Reverse. Accidentally there had been a bit of light on the stage for that first song, but Mark went back to his stage manager and next thing that happened was they turned the lights down...Then over to a different, darker mood with Number Isn't Up and then Hit the City... Compared to the August shows they had changed the set slightly and came up with a few real surprises (for people like me who haven't read this review section for about a week): Screaming Trees' Gospel Plow was very good and went down so well (from all the ST songs I can think about this was the most unexpected for me personally but when thinking about it, maybe the most obvious?) and Shelley doing Strange Religion on her own was simply cute (Mark watching her from the side of the stage having another cigarette). There was talk bout the band being really upset about the elections in the US. I guess their frustration about 4 more Bush years turned them into real maniacs when goin going on stage and made them really rock the house, guitar solos were coming through the mix like knifes, beats were pushing each and every song forward, they were awesome and tight. Mark must have given himself an extra treat somehow as his voice never sounded better. I just hoped that someone recorded that gig whilst I had tears in my eyes for Resurrection Song and shivers down my spine when I'll Take Care of You came up. Of course there was no "entertainment" and there was no speech, but who expects that here? I find it hard to describe as even my mother language does not have many words to say "mindblowing"...but for those of you who have ears to hear, you'll find out yourself. review by Dag We were at the venue a bit early and sitting outside waiting for the doors to open, which are right next to the backstage door, and we saw Brett Netson emerge with some food he took with him into the bus. We also saw Michael Barragan, who seemed to materialise out of some dark bushes next to the traintracks across the yard and slouched backstage, that was weird. The venue was probably not completely sold out, but it was full. The show started about 40 minutes late with a rocking "Sideways in Reverse". The stage was at that point brightly lit, one could actually see Mark's face. :-) But right after the song Mark went over to a roadie and sure enough the light was dimmed to almost total darkness. Two songs later Mark again went to the back, on the way pushing Shelley sort of rudely out of his way, and talked to the roadie again, and the lights came up a bit again (and they became brighter during the show). The first songs were played with a lot enthusiasm, almost too fast I found, but the band settled in then and the show was brilliant. I liked their live version of "Resurrection Song" a lot, it was very groovy. Compared to their Köln show in August I found the band members played much better together, it seems like they have grown together musically now, and I enjoyed myself a lot. Mark wasn't too chatty, he didn't even introduce the band, just a couple of thank yous, and at the end he said something like "Good night, thanks for coming" and it sounded like "God bless you" but I'm not sure about that. He only smoked two cigs, and he had a new trick (at least I haven't seen that one before), he drops the cigarette to the floor at the beginning of the song, and then at the end he picks it up again and finishes it. The encore started with the instrumental "Blues for D", followed by "Strange Religion" sung by Shelley all alone. When it was clear Mark wasn't going to join her that caused some unrest. I know some people think the world of her singing, but I listened closely because I don't want to do her an injustice, and I stand by my opinion. She's not a very good singer, which you don't notice a lot when she sings background vocals, but when she sings lead it shows, and the audience noticed as well. (I'm not saying that out of spite, she may be a lovely person for all I know and pretty, but I'm sorry ...) Well, I'm polite, so I just waited, but I must say the audience didn't take it well. They snickered and I heard some rude remarks, apart from fans yelling for Mark to come back, which he eventually did for a great rendition of "Gospel Plow" and "Fix". Here's the setlist as far as I can remember: Sideways in Reverse |