Dulli and Lanegan at the Royal Festival Hall
An Evening With Greg Dulli & Mark Lanegan
Jimmy Gnecco
Duke Garwood
Royal Festival Hall, 19 July 2009
"I've been found out," quips a particularly well-fed-looking Greg Dulli when amid the screams for Lanegan as they walk on stage, comes a lone "Duuuuuuulllliiiiii". Appropriate really given that this show, more than any others recently, saw The Twilight Singers frontman take back the spotlight from the domineering presence of Mark Lanegan, unafraid to overshadow his deep-voiced best pal.
Like their last London show at Union Chapel, the guys (including rhythm guitarist Dave Rosser) began the show with Gutter Twins track The Body, looking almost lost on the huge Royal Festival Hall stage, but this acoustic evening saw them delve even further into their back catalogue digging out a few Afghan Whigs and Screaming Trees classics much to my delight. And for Dulli lovers the show was a real treat. "Greg, I love you," a guy shouted after a surprisingly groovy Twilite Kid. "Goddamn, I love you too", said a grinning Dulli, "and I love it that I'm here with my friends Dave Rosser and Mark Lanegan and that I get to sing on my favourite ever Mark Lanegan song!" (Which, in case you were wondering, is the beautifullly chilling Sunrise). The dashing Dulli was clearly in a great mood and loving every second. Lanegan on the other hand, after his shock-worthy talkativeness at the Union Chapel show, remained his big, old silent self for pretty much the whole show (apart from mishearing a song request as "Four Minutes To Midnight", "Isn't that a Maiden song?" joked Greg in reply) letting Dulli's larger than life persona shine instead.
The highlight for me was a sublime If I Were Going, the opening track to one of my favour
ite ever albums, The Afghan Whigs' Gentlemen, still sounding eerie yet full of passion and venom, Lanegan's voice perfectly blending with Dulli's on the chorus. What a treat. The Screaming Trees' track Sworn And Broken was also a delight but crushingly, one of my favourite ever Trees' songs, Dollar Bill, was on the setlist but not played. I had actually heard they were performing it on this tour and was crossing my fingers it would make an appearance, but it wasn't to be. The Whigs track What Jail Is Like was also on the setlist and missed out, probably due to time constraints (the Hall is known for starting and ending on time). It's a huge shame really, because the addition of those songs would have made the show perfect.
Still we got a spirited Down The Line, the always amazing Candy Cane Crawl (is this the best song Dulli has ever written? Sometimes I think it is) and truly heavenly harmonies (some of the best I've ever heard from the trio) on show closer, Three Hours, which wasn't even ruined by some of the worst harmonica playing by Greg this side of Alanis Morissette's assassination of the instrument on her 90s hit One Hand In My Pocket.
Like their last London show at Union Chapel, the guys (including rhythm guitarist Dave Rosser) began the show with Gutter Twins track The Body, looking almost lost on the huge Royal Festival Hall stage, but this acoustic evening saw them delve even further into their back catalogue digging out a few Afghan Whigs and Screaming Trees classics much to my delight. And for Dulli lovers the show was a real treat. "Greg, I love you," a guy shouted after a surprisingly groovy Twilite Kid. "Goddamn, I love you too", said a grinning Dulli, "and I love it that I'm here with my friends Dave Rosser and Mark Lanegan and that I get to sing on my favourite ever Mark Lanegan song!" (Which, in case you were wondering, is the beautifullly chilling Sunrise). The dashing Dulli was clearly in a great mood and loving every second. Lanegan on the other hand, after his shock-worthy talkativeness at the Union Chapel show, remained his big, old silent self for pretty much the whole show (apart from mishearing a song request as "Four Minutes To Midnight", "Isn't that a Maiden song?" joked Greg in reply) letting Dulli's larger than life persona shine instead.
The highlight for me was a sublime If I Were Going, the opening track to one of my favour
ite ever albums, The Afghan Whigs' Gentlemen, still sounding eerie yet full of passion and venom, Lanegan's voice perfectly blending with Dulli's on the chorus. What a treat. The Screaming Trees' track Sworn And Broken was also a delight but crushingly, one of my favourite ever Trees' songs, Dollar Bill, was on the setlist but not played. I had actually heard they were performing it on this tour and was crossing my fingers it would make an appearance, but it wasn't to be. The Whigs track What Jail Is Like was also on the setlist and missed out, probably due to time constraints (the Hall is known for starting and ending on time). It's a huge shame really, because the addition of those songs would have made the show perfect.Still we got a spirited Down The Line, the always amazing Candy Cane Crawl (is this the best song Dulli has ever written? Sometimes I think it is) and truly heavenly harmonies (some of the best I've ever heard from the trio) on show closer, Three Hours, which wasn't even ruined by some of the worst harmonica playing by Greg this side of Alanis Morissette's assassination of the instrument on her 90s hit One Hand In My Pocket.
Dodgy harmonica-playing aside, it was still a fantastic night, but next time gentlemen, please give us Dollar Bill and What Jail Is Like, with them this show would probably have been my favourite this year. But even without them, it was still pretty damn fine.
Support-wise, Lanegan's friend Duke Garwood, a London artist who has obviously been listening to a lot of old time blues and Lift To Experience records, once again opened and was an entertaining mixture of bluesy vocals and feedback drenched guitar-picking, only this time supported by a drummer who helped drive along and give the songs direction they were lacking during the Union Chapel support slot. Also on the bill was a singer-songwriter called Jimmy Gnecco, the lead singer of band Ours, who, as he explained to us, hadn't had their records released on this side of the Atlantic yet, despite the efforts of the band. The guy had an amazing voice and was clearly hugely influenced by Jeff Buckley (in guitar-style too) and later dedicated a song to Buckley, who apparently was a friend and mentor to him (he also, almost as an afterthought, tacked on Michael Jackson to his dedication to the departed, which amused us greatly). None were the match of Mr Lanegan or Mr Dulli, but then, who is?
Support-wise, Lanegan's friend Duke Garwood, a London artist who has obviously been listening to a lot of old time blues and Lift To Experience records, once again opened and was an entertaining mixture of bluesy vocals and feedback drenched guitar-picking, only this time supported by a drummer who helped drive along and give the songs direction they were lacking during the Union Chapel support slot. Also on the bill was a singer-songwriter called Jimmy Gnecco, the lead singer of band Ours, who, as he explained to us, hadn't had their records released on this side of the Atlantic yet, despite the efforts of the band. The guy had an amazing voice and was clearly hugely influenced by Jeff Buckley (in guitar-style too) and later dedicated a song to Buckley, who apparently was a friend and mentor to him (he also, almost as an afterthought, tacked on Michael Jackson to his dedication to the departed, which amused us greatly). None were the match of Mr Lanegan or Mr Dulli, but then, who is?
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