An evening with Lanegan and Campbell

Greetings Balustrade fans. It must be quite a monumentous week this week to warrant 2 blog posting from us, however I just thought I would post a few thoughts having got back from a very peculair evening's gig-going.

I went and saw Isobel Campbell (of Belle and Sebastian fame) and Mark Lanegan (of Screaming Tress fame) play some songs from their fantastic album Ballad of Broekn Seas. Now as you'll all know having read my albums of the year post, I was rather fond this particular record and so was looking forward to seeing the two of them perform it live very much. Alas, I was flying solo as Cart's could not get a Visa cleared for him to leave Bath and quite what he would have made of the evening I do now know.

It all started off harmlessly enough with the support band, r rather support singer who went by the name of William Something or other. A combination of Tom Waits and Sufjan Stevens he sang some rather fantastic redncekc songs about moonshine and marrying your sister and as a reward for being quite so good I bought some badges and CD from him.

Alas, the featured act of the evening was not to be quite so rewarding an experience (for fan or badn!). Now, delicate flower Isobel Campbell has something of a reputation for being 'a bit precious' at the best of times. But on this evening's perforamce it is hard to imagine why she bothered going on stage at all. Whether she was singing out of tune, giggling at the rest of her band because she forgot the words or generally magaing to shake a shaker in time to a song this was a long way from being a polished performance from the wee lass. Perhas she had had too much whiskey celebrating Burns night or seomthing?! Thanks goodness then for the treacle voiced Mark Lanegan who sounded like he had been gargling creosote (credit to Neil for that remakr!). When he was onstage everything seemd OK, but when he skulked off things seemed to go to pot - however not even his prescence could prevent a very ill-advised stylophone solo that sounded like something from a vintage Black Sabbath show.

In the end though, the disappeared with as much gusto as they arrived (in other words, none at all) and left us feeling a sense of bewildered confusion and slight annoyance at having paid for the priviledge of watching this spectacle. All of a sudden a Balustrdae gig doesn't looks so bad when compared with these so called 'professional' musicians!