Mark Lanegan + Joe Echo @ Slade Rooms, Wolverhampton, 2nd May 2010

The support act for tonight’s show is Joe Echo, otherwise known as Ciaran Gribbin, part of Irish band Leya who achieved minor success at the beginning of the decade. He takes to the stage with nothing but a guitar and a loop pedal to try and impress on a Sunday evening.

Within two songs, I am afraid I began to lose interest; it was nothing I hadn’t heard a number of times before. He is obviously a competent musician and songwriter; however, it was too bland for my liking and maybe more suited to a commercial audience. Saying that though, a number of the crowd showed their appreciation and I did want to like him, if not just for being involved in a film called Killing Bono, but each song seemed to blend into the next leaving me unimpressed.

Shortly before 9, Mark Lanegan enters the stage, in his usual understated fashion, to the cheers of a capacity crowd. With minimal fuss launches into When Your Number Isn’t Up, instantly the audience are silent, mesmerised by one of the most soulful, blues vocalists of recent times.

Despite being only supported by a solo acoustic guitar, Lanegan manages to create a truly large and rich sound that sends a tingling sensation down my spine. Early on in the set, he beautifully segues from the driving force of No Easy Action into the delicateness of Miracle with ease and grace setting the benchmark for the evening’s events. Lanegan approaches each song with such sensitivity, instinctively using dynamics to create true beauty, with tracks spanning his career including an old Screaming Trees’ track, Where the Twain Shall Meet and the Soulsavers’ song, Can’t Catch the Train. Throughout the gig, the crowd are silent and self-policing, and if anyone dares to speak, while the master is at work, they’re quickly hushed.

Lanegan can turn his dark, gravelly vocal style to any track, whether it be the slow, relaxed nature of One Hundred Days to the more upbeat pace of Don’t Forget Me, and tonight’s set shows his vocal capabilities. He claims Pink Floyd’s Julia Dream for his own; a perfect cover to compliment his own work. Mark Lanegan uses few words to talk to the audience, yet his music communicates enough and this adds further to the focussed atmosphere which he has created. After just over an hour, Lanegan leaves the stage to rapturous applause, to return for a brief, but worthy, encore finishing the proceedings with a passionate rendition of Hangin’ Tree.

Mark Lanegan is fantastic on record, whether it is his solo work or as part of his various collaborations, yet his live performance takes this to another level. There is no question that he is one of the greatest vocalists and lyricists on the live circuit at present. Furthermore, selfishly, it is even better that his talent has, so far, failed to register on the mainstream’s radar which allows him to play small, intimate venues and, in turn, allows me to relish musical beauty in its natural environment.

Review – Toni Woodward
Photos – John Bentley

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