mark lanegan and greg dulli

i haven't written anything lately, because i haven't really had anything to write about.. my life pretty much consists of work, coming home and having dinner and falling asleep on the couch. but last night, i went to see mark lanegan and greg dulli at the showbox and, pardon the cliche, but i was absolutely floored. it was billed as the "stripped down in the gutter tour" and it definately was - it was mark and greg, plus another guitarist and a cellist. greg alternated between the acoustic guitar and keyboards. and mark didn't alternate between anything - his gorgeous voice was the only instrument he needed.

i go to a fair amount of concerts and i really like most of them, but every once in a while you see a group that makes you remember what you love about music. seeing mark and greg - the stripped-down gutter twins, or whatever you want to call them - was a show that will stand out in my memory for a long time. it's one where you wake up the next morning and are genuinely sad that it is over. there's a lot to be said for feeling like you are in the presence of talented, seasoned, heartfelt musicians who are taking you along with them for the ride.

one of the highlights for me (there were a lot.. they played from 10:45 to about 12:30) was sworn and broken, a screaming trees song that i used to spend hours listening to over and over again. another one was during the encore when they played all i have to do is dream by the everly brothers. THAT got a lot of smiles from the stage, and i don't think there are many things better than seeing mark lanegan and greg dulli smile.. seriously, it lights up the entire place.

at one point, greg said that this was the 106th time they have been on stage together (which got a big smile from both he and mark) and the last time they would play together for a while (which earned a collective groan from the audience). but that's okay, because they have opened a wealth of music to me that will take quite a while to digest. i have an overwhelming urge to go to easy street records and dive into the afghan whigs and the lanegan solo albums that i don't have.

the stations


all misery/flowers


shawn smith opened the show, and he has an incredible voice in his own right. he played a couple of brad songs, including buttercup - which made my heart do flip flops. what a beautiful song:

my weekend

i went to see goodness at the showbox last night. goodness is a band from the mid-late 90s who i found through carrie akre, who i'm sure i have posted about here before. she is an AMAZING (and that is an understatement after what i witnessed last night) singer who i first heard in 2000 when the rockfords, a band that included mike mccready from pearl jam as well as chris and danny from goodness, released their album (if you go to the link, do yourself a favor and listen to distress. wow). i LOVED that record, and started listening to carrie's solo albums because her voice impressed me so much (there are 3: home, invitation and her newest, last the evening). since moving to washington, i've seen carrie live 4 or 5 times and the rockfords twice.

despite not knowing all of the songs goodness played, they were wonderful. i can't remember the last time i saw a show at the showbox full of such energy from both the band and the audience. every time i've seen carrie live, she does this weird, charming kind of robotic dancing and jumping around the stage. during superwise, the last song of their main set, she told the audience to jump up and down, and by golly, i think that everyone did. the entire band was amazing.. i especially loved watching garth reeves, the guitarist, and fiia mccann, the bassist.

i was right; goodness will be playing at the mural ampitheatre on the 23rd (and it's free!) and then they're going to do another show nov. 22 at the tractor tavern.

there were two opening acts - the first one kind of cracked me up because his name was "buddy." nothing else, just "buddy." despite having my hands on the stage for most of his set, i could hardly hear him through all the chattering in the bar.

the second band definately did not have that problem. their name was, i think i have this right, "my life in black and white." they obviously had a big following (i think they're from portland). i liked them okay, but i kind of hate them for one of their lyrics that is stuck in my head: goodbye, farewell, i'll see you in hell. i don't remember the rest of the song, just those lyrics.

i slept in today until 9:30 (which is really late for me, even on a sunday), had breakfast, read the paper, and decided to go downtown. since they close the streets in pike place market to cars on sundays (as far as i'm concerned, they should do that every day of the week), i ate lunch at a little cafe there and listened to a man outside who was playing bob marley songs. afterwards, i went to a coffee shop and read some more of i capture the castle , a surprisingly good book that is the first novel for our book club at work. a lovely way to end a weekend that has, surprisingly, felt more like fall than summer.

at the moment, i am listening to the free cd subpop gave away at their festival a few weeks ago. it has a bunch of songs from albums that were released this year on it. have i mentioned that i am in love with blitzen trapper? they'll be at bumbershoot september 1. my favorite song on the cd, though, is by the gutter twins, who i sadly (and, again, speaking to my musical ignorance) did not pay much attention to until now. it's made up of greg dulli (afghan whigs) and mark lanegan (screaming trees), the latter of which has got to have one of the most interesting voices in rock music.