Mark Lanegan 60 A Celebration at the Roundhouse

Roundhouse, 5 December 2024 

As soon as this tribute concert celebrating what would have been Mark Lanegan's 60th birthday was announced, I knew I had to go. I would never see Lanegan live again, but at the very least I could see some of his friends and peers sing some of his songs and say goodbye to one of my favourite ever artists that way. Fortunately for me I was lucky enough to grab a ticket, as it sold out right away.

Of course part of it was definitely down to the star-studded line-up announced to celebrate him (the crazy amount of Dave Gahan fans around me made me realise just how big Depeche Mode are, something I had no clue about before) but the experience for me was all about Lanegan and his music.

Because the show had sold out so quickly and there was such a buzz around it, I turned up almost two hours early, in the cold and rain, to try and secure a good spot but there was already a huge queue. Despite that I didn't get the greatest place at the front (as evidenced by my not so great photos this time) but at least I was at the front. 

Suddenly, the lights dimmed and Lanegan's deep growl burst out of the speakers, singing the old blues song 12 Gates To The City, a song he collaborated on with ÜLM3N. The gospel feel to the track made it feel like we were attending the church of Lanegan and it felt good they were starting the show with his unmistakable voice.

Then the house band for the night, the Soulsavers, who of course made a couple of records with Lanegan, and Queens Of The Stone Age guitarist Troy Van Leeuwen took their places on the stage and the aforementioned Dave Gahan, in a suit and sunglasses, swaggered into sight grinning. There were two Scandinavian girls behind me who seemed to be there just for him because they went crazy at the sight of his diminutive figure. 

With just a "hello" for an introduction, they launched into the driving riff of Sideways In Reverse, with Gahan dancing around the stage, striking rock star poses and holding his microphone aloft, in contrast to Lanegan's still, yet powerful and menacing, performances but vocally trying his best to channel the dark, deep energy of Mark Lanegan (although for me he didn't quite capture it but then who could really?). 

It was beautiful to hear the more gentle but equally powerful Low, from one of my favourite Lanegan records, Field Songs, given a more heavy feel. Kingdoms Of Rain was equally moving, especially with soulful backing vocals of singers Wendi Rose, T Jae Cole and Janet Ramus, with the lyrics "because I loved you so much" particularly packing a punch. At the end Gahan commented "what a good song." Too true. 

Before launching into a crooning version of Strange Religion, he looked up at the band and said to them "this is harder than I thought." I have no clue if Gahan was close to Lanegan but that certainly gave me a little chill. I'm not a huge fan of Gahan's voice but I definitely felt the love for him when he sang.

At this point I did wonder if it was just going to be Gahan all night (he has recorded albums himself with Soulsavers afterall) but fortunately he picked up his lyric sheets and introduced Bobbie Gillespie, the Primal Scream frontman, who also emerged wearing a dark suit.

He announced this was his favourite Lanegan song as the band began the grungy Bubblegum track, Driving Death Valley Blues, which sounded great. We also got a bluesy Pendulum from him and, more exciting for me, the soaring Screaming Trees song Sworn And Broken, which had such a lovely warm glow, and even had the crowd clapping along with Gillespie at the end. I don't think Gahan or Gillespie have the singing chops of Lanegan but I was impressed with their song choices and the feeling they imbued in them and it felt so nice to hear these songs live again, even though I deeply missed Mark singing them.

Alison Mosshart was next with a fine head of blonde hair and keeping with the all-black, in a satin shirt and skinny jeans: there's no doubt she looked super cool and it was great to have some female energy finally. I really enjoyed hearing her punky takes on Mockingbirds and Mud Pink Skag. 

Hearing her sing "Did you call for the night porter" from When Your Number Isn't Up though  really sent chills and Mosshart seemed to relish singing it. She ended her segment with Wedding Dress  (Bubblegum was a big form of inspiration tonight) with its little snatch of Johnny Cash's Jackson nicely kept in tact. It was interesting and fun to hear a woman hear these songs and I think Mosshart was really thrilled to be taking part tonight as she was often at the side of the stage clearly digging things and even running out front to take photos of most of the acts, which endeared me to her no end.

Then the aforementioned backing singers Rose, Cole and Ramus (who sing with Soulsavers and have just come off tour with Nick Cave), came out front and dedicated a song "to our friend Mark" and sang a glorious, soulful and soaring version of Judgement Time, which had the audience clapping along and seemed to reach the rafters of the Roundhouse: no mean feat. They definitely did their friend proud and it was one of the highlights of the night.

This was followed by another of Lanegan's friends, Duke Garwood, who of course made two albums with him. I've seen Garwood play many, many times simply because he was pretty much always on the bill when Lanegan played London over the past 15 years and I always enjoyed his sets. 

He was super low-key tonight, walking on stage with two guitars like an old bluesman and playing a shimmering but gentle version of the lesser known song High Life. When he started the bluesy and hypnotic I Am The Wolf, with his gruff, deep voice, it was the closest I felt to actually seeing Lanegan again. In the past Garwood has always seemed to divide opinions but tonight, the audience is silent as he plays and roars approval at the end. It was great to see.

I had never heard of Tess Parks, but she came on with just an acoustic guitarist, and sang a raspy version of Resurrection Song, giving slight Mazzy Star vibes.

These two acts were almost like the calm before the storm that came next and also what gave me the biggest thrill. Without doubt, another of my great musical loves, Greg Dulli, the frontman of The Afghan Whigs, The Twilight Singers, and of course, The Gutter Twins with Lanegan. 

He swaggered on stage and told us "let's kick it up a notch" and truly delivering on that promise, with a dirty, driving and damn cool version of Methamphetamine Blues. Dulli kind of looks like Paul Hollywood now but he's still cool as fuck, and the way he spat out the lyrics and gave so much attitude, again made me feel closer to the Lanegan than all the acts, bar Garwood, combined, maybe because he was best friends with Lanegan, singing his songs tonight was all the more meaningful. That's how it felt anyway.

He even pulled out a rare Screaming Trees track, telling us that right before the Trees signed to Epic they put out a single on Sub Pop "and when I heard that song, I said that is a bad ass fucking song and I hope you agree with me," and he went on to give us a truly storming version of Change Has Come that definitely had us all agreeing with him.

I felt really emotional though when Ed Harcourt joined Dulli to sing the Gutter Twins' track The Stations. Dulli has performed this song without Lanegan in the past but my memory is of seeing the pair of them together, bringing the song to new heights live on stage together. It was an absolute thrill to hear it again and their friend Harcourt taking over Lanegan's parts felt nice, but it did bring a lump to my throat too.

After introducing the band to us, finally Dulli sang a spirited and soaring The River Rise but I must say Dulli was on fire tonight, it was an absolute joy to see him, you could tell tonight was very meaningful for him and it made it all the more powerful.

Ed Harcourt stayed on stage and gave us a solo version of One Way Street and again, there felt like there was more depth to this performance, as Harcourt too was close friends with Lanegan. He seemed to be a last minute edition to the bill as he was only announced the day before but it felt right he was there and certainly made up for the fact that Alain Johannes (who worked with and produced Lanegan many times) was too ill to attend and the only member of the Screaming Trees, Barrett Martin, had to pull out to due to other commitments.

Seeing Chrissie Hynde, The Pretenders' legendary frontwoman, on the bill was definitely a surprise as I had no clue there was any connection between them but it turns out Hynde had been collaborating with Lanegan not long before he died. She also surprised me when the first song she sang was the beautiful, Kimiko's Dream House and did an incredible job, that literally had me saying out loud "wow!" It was such a lovely moment and one of the highlights for sure.

Her other choices were equally interesting: Halcyon Daze from the Has God Seen My Shadow? compilation and the Screaming Trees track Revelator from their posthumous release Last Words. The latter in particular sounded great and I must admit she definitely seems to have been a true admirer of Lanegan given these deep cuts and I have to admire her for that. Shelley Brien Lanegan, Mark's widow, was singing back-up vocals on Revelator and at the end, I thought it was really nice that Hynde  walked over to her and told us "this is a sad night for Shelley Lanegan, thank you for being here" and the pair walked off stage together holding hands.

The final guest star for the night came when the towering Josh Homme walked on stage. Homme looked great (again, a bit of a Paul Hollywood vibe with his white hair and beard), particularly as Queens Of The Stone Age had to cancel a bunch of shows this year due to health reasons. He certainly looks better now and seemed in a good spirits, and along with Dulli, was one of the most entertaining performers tonight, cracking jokes and telling stories about Lanegan.

He seemed in a laid back, good mood and quipped "As someone who got the pleasure of spending too much time with Mark Lanegan, let me tell you he would have pretended to hate this but he would have loved to see you all here tonight." 

It was incredibly moving to hear him sing Carnival, his deep voice reminding me so much of Lanegan's and sounding so close to the real thing, it again brought a lump to my throat. After this, in a sweet move he took some fan art of Lanegan from the audience and placed it in front of the drumkit.

He told us that the next song was from Whiskey For The Holy Ghost, "it's such a good record" and when someone shouted at this, he quipped, "It's the best one? Well you're gonna love this... you motherfucker, but I love this too" before launching into another song from it, El Sol.

For the next couple of songs Homme brought two of the previous guests on to sing a duo of Bubblegum tracks, with Alison Mosshart singing the PJ Harvey part on Come To Me and Dave Gahan joining him on One Hundred Days. There was a really good feeling for these collaborations and for a sec I did wonder if everyone would come on at the end and sing Nearly Lost You or something but thankfully I'm glad to say nothing so cheesy happened! 

The band briefly left the stage, I don't think it was so much for an encore, but it gave the opportunity to play a photo montage of pictures of Lanegan from the Screaming Trees days and through the years. Played over the top was a Soulsavers song Presence Of God that I hadn't heard before. It gave me a chill to hear his voice again and it was such a beautiful moment to see his face and remember the man who inspired this all.

Next came one of favourite moments of the night, when Greg Dulli returned with the band and sang the Screaming Trees' favourite Dollar Bill. I heard Dulli perform this with Lanegan at the Royal Festival Hall about ten years ago, I can only imagine the emotions Dulli was going through singing it without his best friend now, but he certainly did him proud. 

Before he sang he got us all to give a round of applause to Lanegan and he told us "we all loved him in our own ways, if you knew him you loved him, in ways that you could never understand, but if you just loved his music, that was plenty." Amen.

Dave Gahan returned for the final two songs of the night, giving us his version of the Soulsavers' song Revival (man I missed Lanegan's voice on this one) and then sang with Shelley Lanegan on backing vocals again (and Homme on bass guitar) on the Bubblegum track Hit The City. I loved seeing Shelley in all her black goth glory and hearing her voice again, as she was a big part of Lanegan's solo shows and it definitely brought us closer to him. 

At the end, everyone came on stage and gave a bow (a laughing Dulli offered Homme a big glass of wine before hugging him, which amused me). You could tell it was an emotional and cathartic night for them all and it was an incredible thing to witness.

One thing did disappoint me though and that was the absence of Isobel Campbell. I don't know if she wasn't asked or declined to take part but it felt wrong and sad that the woman who made three albums with Lanegan and was a big part of his story was omitted where others who had less to do with him were there. I know Campbell and Lanegan fell out for a number of years but apparently they had reconciled before he died. It could be there is still some bad blood there between her and Shelley or maybe Campbell just isn't performing live these days (I did notice that she didn't tour her new album). I hope it's the latter, but I would have loved to hear her sing and pay tribute to Lanegan tonight.

That said, it was still a wonderful night and I felt really lucky to be have been there. Lanegan has been one of the biggest musical loves of my life, and I've actually seen him live more than any other artist. I feel grateful I was able to say goodbye to him by celebrating him this way tonight. Goodbye Old Scratch, you are still very much loved, by friends and fans alike, and very much missed too.