Mark Lanegan, October 4 at the Troubadour

I wasn't planning to go to the Mark Lanegan show but Cidney bailed so Carla so had the extra ticket and I took it up. I have no problem seeing Mark Lanegan, whether solo or with his band or with another group or when he shows up to a Greg Dulli show because he was hanging around anyway. Lanegan's voice might do something to the nether regions of ladies but I can only wish to appreciate it in the same way, so for me, a male rock n' roll fan, it goes through my ears, not my panties. This night it was just Lanegan and an electric guitarist and that was it and that was enough. It was putting the voice right front and center. Lanegan might not like being in the spotlight but maybe he doesn't have a problem putting his voice out there. Maybe this was a show as a supplement to a full tour and he was just staying out on the road, which is what he does anyway. It's a shame Lanegan can't make enough of a living to not have to be such a road dog but maybe for this show he at least didn't have to divide up the revenue with a band or big road crew and could just ride along and do a minimal show. And it still worked, but that isn't hard when his voice is the star of the show. Of course the place was packed and hot and sweaty but on a Friday night so that was fine. He was touring for a covers album, Imitations, which blended in so well that it was hard to tell that he had a chunk of songs that weren't his own in there. But he's got a quite a catalog of material from dark places to pull from so we can go both metaphorically and figuratively. I wasn't familiar with everything but hearing that voice growling whatever he too or came up with was fine enough for any performance. 


Mark Lanegan's set-list:
"When Your Number Isn't Up"
"The Cherry Tree Carol" (traditional)
"One Way Street"
"Don't Forget Me"
"Where the Twain Shall Meet" (Screaming Trees)
"The Gravedigger's Song"
"Phantasmagoria Blues"
"Can't Catch the Train" (Soulsavers)
"Mack the Knife" (Kurt Weill cover) (first performance ever)
"You Only Live Twice" (Nancy Sinatra cover) (first performance ever)
"Autumn Leaves" (Yves Montand cover) (first performance ever)
"Resurrection Song"
"One Hundred Days"
"Mirrored"
"On Jesus' Program" (O.V. Wright cover)

"Bombed"
"Wild Flowers"
"Halo of Ashes" (Screaming Trees)

Stars, September 19 at the El Rey

I've followed Stars since the beginning but I've missed some shows of theirs in town.  Carla & I had talked about seeing them the last time they were in town, at the Wiltern, but ended up not going (as we had a special night at my place, of all nights, but it was worth it).  We tried to make up for it by seeing them on this tour, for the North album (and got tickets on Stubhub for $39 each, nearly a steal). There was some dancier material but it still had their brand of melancholy and just enough playfulness to get through, just like any other day in real life. I can connect to that.  It's always great that they can feature such a survey of all their material, and the stuff from their worthy most-recent album, but by this time they have enough stuff behind them that they don't have to bother with their oldest stuff, that they might be sick of after all these years, though I still miss not hearing anything from Nightsongs (which would have fit at the El Rey).  I can't fault them for going by their whims, especially when it still makes for an enjoyable show.  It was another pleasant night out for us, dining before the show at the suitable Tex-Mex place across the street, then home afterward. Trails and Ways opened the show but we missed them.  The El Rey sometimes seems lonely, offering some of the only neon on Wilshire at night, but they know how to put on a good show, also much like Stars.

Stars' set-list:
"The Night Starts Here"
"Backlines"
"A Song Is a Weapon"
"We Don't Want Your Body"
"Wishful"
"The North"
"Tru"
"Window Bird"
"Your Ex-Lover Is Dead"
"Fixed"
"Do You Want to Die Together?"
"Set Yourself on Fire"
"Krush"
"The Loose Ends Will Make Knots"
"The Light"
"Bitches in Tokyo"
"Take Me to the Riot"
"Hold On When You Get Love and Let Go When You Give It"
"Walls"

"My Favourite Book"
"The Theory of Relativity"
"Elevator Love Letter"
"Tonight"

Local Natives, September 13 at the Greek

Almost by force of will, Carla got me into Local Natives. They couldn't mean as much to me as they did to her but I certainly had no problem with them.  We missed them at their other festival slots, even though they seemed to have been on the road for years, the length of our relationship, up to that point.  They played the Greek as their very last date on their very long tour, a home-town show almost to thank L.A. and the rest of the world for being so kind to them.  They did well, and there's a feeling of pride for seeing one of our own favorite and local bands do so well (even if I didn't know them when they were playing clubs around town).  We decided to be a part of that celebration, though it was the day of, so we went right to SeatGeek to look up tickets.  We got a deal for $99.50 on decent seats and away we went.  Wild Nothing opened the show, an energetic, fun group that were probably like the local 'Natives themselves when they started out. They didn't seem to come up in the same amount of time so they might just wash away with other opening bands but they gave it a shot.  The Local Natives put on a good show that night, something gracious and thankful, showing their gratitude to a crowd that supported them, probably a lot from the very beginning, and they made sure to get it all out and not leave anything on the road.  Hopefully they got time off after that, after spending so long trying to make the popular music thing work and for what they put out to stick.  I don't remember a lot of it since I wasn't quite as familiar with them and they didn't do much more to win me over any more than I had been.  But Carla had a good time, and connected back to that time when their music has meant so much to her.  And you can't beat a show at the Greek on a pleasant autumn night.  Also, a helpful, easy thing to get tickets, especially at a good price, when we decide at almost literally the last minute to make it to a show.

Local Natives' set-list:
"Breakers"
"World News"
"Wide Eyes"
"Warning Sign" (Talking Heads cover)
"Ceilings"
"You & I"
"Black Spot"
"Shape Shifter"
"Camera Talk"
"Airplanes"
"Mt. Washington"
"Wooly Mammoth"
"Black Balloons"
"Bowery"
"Who Knows, Who Cares" (acoustic, different version)

"Colombia"
"Heavy Feet"
"Sun Hands"