11 October, 2004- El Rey, Los Angeles, CA

review by Scott

I have been a fan of Mark's since the early Screeming Tree days. However, I was blown away in '89 by "The Winding Sheet." Since then I have made a point to purchace every CD and see every show possible. The latter hasn't been easy. I have only seen him live (as a solo artist) twice before last night. The first time was at the Troubadour and the second was at The Knitting Factory. Both shows were incredible and the sound was fantastic. Although Mark and his band seemed to be in great form last night, it was difficult to tell because of the subpar sound mix. The "House" mixer (I am assuming it couldn't be Mark's mixer) was mixing for the back of the room. When I say "back of the room" I mean the back lobby. That is where the sound was best. I could hear his vocals better in the bathroom then I could on the floor. The over all sound was muddy and the vocals were buried. It was heartening to see a larger crowd finally turning out to see Mark perform. It is just a shame that a great show was compromised by a poor sound mixer. Whoever that guy was- he should not be allowed to touch knobs again.