Mark Lanegan is an artist that I admire quite a lot. His music contribution is really huge. He stood on the start of the whole grunge scene in Seattle in early 1990s whit his band Screaming Trees that released seven studio albums.
After the band broke up in 2000, he joined legendary Josh Homme's band The Queens of The Stone Age and recorded three albums with them (2000's Rated R, 2002's Songs for the Deaf and 2005's Lullabies to Paralyze). He also toured with them and therefore we can say he was regular member of the band.
During his career, he also collaborated with names such as Kurt Cobain, Belle and Sebastian, Isobel Campbell or Melissa Out of her Mind. The album made in collaboration with Isobel Campbell entitled Ballad of the Broken Seas was even nominated for Mercury Prize.
Despite all of his collaborations with different kind of artists, his solo career is the main reason why he is so respected. Since 1990, he has released seven solo studio LPs. The last one called Blues Funeral came out this year in February.
The album received positive reception throughout the music world. Of course, the most important element of his music is his powerful voice, which is by many compared to Tom Waits. When we add brilliant music to his incredible vocals, nothing bad can come out.
He is currently on tour in support of his latest effort. As part of this tour, he also stopped by in Slovakia for the first time ever. Concert took place at small venue in our Capital this past week (Tuesday, September 20).First band of the evening called Tornado Lue started right on time according to schedule - at 7 pm. This young slovak indie band showed their uniqueness during their short set. Although, not many people were there yet during their performance, they showed why a lot of people like them.
Second artist that performed slightly before 8 pm was british guitarist and songwritter Duke Garwood. During his set, most of the people were really surprised by his incredible guitar skills. He didn't play for a long time either, but his gig was great. Although, vocals could be set up little higher.
Third and last support band of the evening was band called Creature with the Atom Brain from Belgium. They put fans on the right wave with musically perfect grunge music. Interesting thing about this band was the fact that three of four members were actually roadies of Mark Lanegan band. One of them was even keyboards and guitar player in Lanegan's band. However, during their set the vocals were really low as well, but it didn't matter so much since their gig was more about music than vocals.
The fans reacted the most during the encore when Mark played two extra tracks. First one was Queens Of The Stone Age's "Hangin' Tree" during which people went crazy. He finished the set with slow "Methamphetamine Blues", which gave the concert a beautiful finish.
To conclude, Mark Lanegan played a dark emotional concert, which was definitely one of the highlights of 2012 concert season in Slovakia. The only thing that could be better is sound because during some tracks Mark's vocals were disappearing.
Setlist:
"The Gravedigger's Song
"Sleep With Me
"Hit the City
"Wedding Dress
"One Way Street
"Resurrection Song
"Gray Goes Black
"Devil in my Mind (Smoke Fairies cover)
"Harborview Hospital
"Quiver Syndrome
"One Hundred Days
"Creeping Coastline of Lights (Leaving Trains cover)
"Black Rose Way (Screaming Trees song)
"Riot in My House
"Ode to Sad Disco
"St. Louis Elegy
"Tiny Grain of Truth
Encore:
"Hangin' Tree" (Queens of the Stone Age song)
"Methamphetamine Blues"
"Hangin' Tree" (Queens of the Stone Age song)
"Methamphetamine Blues"
