The Mark Lanegan Band- October, 2000

by Debbi Sullivan


The shows: Friday, October 13th, at Sky Church in the Experience Music Project, Seattle, WA.
Saturday, October 14th, The Baltic Room, Seattle, WA - secret show, billed as 'The Jelly Doughnuts'
Sunday, October 15th, Lola's Room, Portland, OR
Tuesday, October 17th, The Cellar at Johnny Foley's, San Francisco, CA (I wasn't there, so there's nothing about that one in here!)

On Friday (Oct. 13) I was walking towards the EMP with Neil and Lynn for the first show, and we saw Mark outside the side door, smoking a cigarette. We decided it was safe to assume he was going to do the shows! We went past, as he seemed to be engrossed in his smoke.

We wandered EMP very briefly, and couldn't seem to find any two people in the place who had the same story on how and when we'd be allowed in to the show area. They had a barrier up at the back of Sky Church, so the restrooms were on 'our' side and the stage area on the other. You could see over it, but you weren't allowed in yet. We stood near that barrier then, just watching, and the guys came out for soundcheck. They did Taste Of Honey, which was funny because before they started Mark and someone else were yelling "tasting" instead of 'testing' for the mic check! They also did a cover we didn't know, which turned out to be Blues Run the Game. Then they all disappeared, so we wandered upstairs and just sat on benches and hung out.

The Gentlemen opened the show, Duff McKagan from Guns and Roses and Dave Dederer from Presidents of the USA. They sat down and played acoustic songs, which seemed very nice but we were still in the back at that point, catching up with friends Christopher and Doug. When it was time for Mike Johnson we moved to the front, right against the stage. Mike was great, it was good to hear him again, and he did a bunch of the old favorites from the last tour. We were looking for Angela, as she was driving up from OR and was going to meet us there, but she didn't show by the time Mike's set finished.

Then Mark came on, with Mike, Ben Shepherd, and Duff on various guitars and bass - Duff even did some backing vocals for one song. They sounded great despite saying they hadn't had much time to learn the songs, and I was really struck with how relaxed Mark seemed. At one point Mike started to play something, and Mark looked surprised and said, "not that one!" And there was a time when an audience member yelled out something about how not smoking had to be killing Mark (no smoking in EMP, even for him!), and Ben looked up at that person and smiled, and gave a big 'yes' nod. Ben also yelled to someone in a Yankees cap, and gave him a disapproving glare. (Yankees-Mariners game had just ended, I believe, and the Mariners had lost that one). I won't go into exact set lists (mostly because I never remember them!)

When the encore came it was just Mark and Mike, something a lot of people have always wondered why they didn't do more often! And they were great. Angela showed up after the show - there'd been a traffic accident on her way up, and she got rerouted in a way that she didn't know, and as a result it took her an extra 2 hours and she missed the entire show!

When we got outside we had the opportunity to speak with Mark a bit, and he said that he'd forgotten to mention it on stage, but they were playing at the Baltic Room the next night. We left with assurances we'd be there, even though no one knew what time the show was, only that they were being called, "the Jelly Doughnuts" (and no - we got no explanation of that name!). At least Angela would get to see this show - as we were leaving Mark asked us to be careful not to get in any accidents. After we explained we were walking from there, he warned us not to get hit by any buses instead!

The next day (Sat, Oct. 14), Angela and Neil and I decided to catch an afternoon movie. We had lunch first and walked around the shopping center, making fun of shoes and clothes they had for sale (some really bizarre stuff under the guise of normal fashion). I just don't understand women's shoes, I truly don't. What's wrong with people, wearing things like that? When we got back to the hotel, we decided to call the Baltic and find out what time the show was - but instead we found a message from Ellen. She hadn't been able to get to EMP, but was going to the Baltic, and she'd found that it was supposed to start at 7! This was about 6 or so that we heard this. So we panicked, 'freshened up', collected Lynn, and we went.

The Baltic was less than packed, and nothing seemed to be going on, so we just got seats along the wall and waited. Ellen made it, it was great to see her again. A guy came up to talk to Lynn, and apparently he asked her how she heard about the show, so she told him Mark told us. When he wandered off we asked her how he knew, but she said she hadn't thought to ask - being told by Mark seemed like the best way to find out, how would he have topped that one? As it turned out he could - he came back, so she asked, and he told her he'd gone into a laundromat that afternoon and Mark and Mike were doing their laundry, so he asked when they were playing and they told him. So many musicians seem to have the same set of stage clothes night after night - it's good to hear tales of laundry being done.

By the time Mike opened that show, the place had filled in considerably. He was great again, even throwing in a Bee Gees cover tune (Run To Me). Then it was just him, Mark, and Ben. Ben was playing guitar, but sometime near the beginning Mark asked him to switch to bass. He looked sort of glum (Ben did), we couldn't really tell what happened. Anyhow, Mark said, "Ben's fingers are cold." Ben said nothing, so Mark said, "Laugh it off, ya little sissy." It was really funny - but Ben did not laugh, or even smile! After the song Mark leaned toward him and said something I didn't catch, but Angela said he said, "you know I'm just fucking with ya, right?" Ben seemed a little more relaxed after that, though, and that show went well, but there wasn't as much 'funning' as there had been at EMP. Mark sang with his eyes closed and didn't look at the audience, which, of course, is normal, but he had done those things the night before.

When it was over, we headed off to the Crocodile Cafe to catch The New Strychnines (now being called The New Original Sonic Sound?)and The Young Fresh Fellows. The New Strychnines are very fun, and we saw a couple folks there who had been at the Mark show, too. Young Fresh Fellows were really good but by then I was tired and went and sat down at the tables during their encore. (C'mon, I flew in the day before and had been up for over 24 hours, give me a break. I'm not a whimp. really)

On to Portland. We got to Angela's house a couple hours before we needed to leave, so we chose to rest a while! At the appropriate time we went to Johnny Ringo's, the pub on the side of the Crystal Ballroom, and met with Kurt and Karen and their 3 friends, and Neil, and Christopher and Doug (who hadn't been at Baltic cuz they disappeared after the EMP show and we never got to tell them about it! We did try). Angela's friend Gail also met us, and we hung in the bar there for a while. We also met Jared, who came in from San Francisco, and he joined us (sorry Jared - he's a nice guy, and my nervousness was making him nervous).

That club was small, and had a nice hardwood floor. There were tables around the side of the stage, which were filled when we got in, so we walked right up to the stage and sat on the floor in front. Apparently that was a good idea, because a bunch of people sat down with us then. I forgot to mention before, but the guys sat down for all the shows, Mike and Ben on chairs, Mark on a taller stool. It made for a perfect venue to sit on the floor during the show, because if we'd have stood, folks in back couldn't see them sitting.

That was the absolute funniest show - find a copy of the boot, it's amazing. Mark was interacting with the audience all night, talking to us and responding to what people yelled up. They played the set, then Mark and Mike came back for the encore, just like at EMP. When they left, everyone yelled and pounded the floor, which was a dance floor so it was bouncing up and down! They came back, all three of them, seemingly surprised. Mark said he'd thought we'd all just go home and quietly weep. After Because of This, Ben started leaning over (he was closest to the way to get off the stage), and moving his foot over little by little like he was going to make a break for it. Apparently he didn't feel he knew any more of the songs well enough, but Mark said, "you're not going anywhere", so he stayed.

They did Taste of Honey, Ben on the guitar, and Mark coached him through how to play it at first. During the song he used hand signals to let Ben know when a change was coming up - it was really neat to watch, and I give Ben credit because after the first little bit, you wouldn't have known he didn't know the song on guitar!

They all did a great job. Even though Mike's amp did some odd things during Blues Run the Game. Even though Mark completely forgot where he was in the middle of Creeping Coastline of Light, finally just saying "thank you" instead of finishing the song. Mike and Ben got to laugh at him on that one.

I did ask after that show when the new album would be out, but Mark declined to commit for fear of "fucking it up," I believe the phrasing was. Hope for early 2001, as SubPop has said.

All in all, another very cool weekend. My favorite music, my favorite people to hang out with (despite missing a few who I wish could have been there but couldn't), my favorite city. I only wish I could have gone to San Francisco too...but it's not good to be so greedy, is it? Thank you to my friends, and to Mark, Mike, and Ben. Let's all do this again real soon, ok?


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