The Kills‘ Alison Mosshart has reflected on the star-studded Mark Lanegan tribute show that took place last week.
Mosshart along with the likes of Queens Of The Stone Age‘s Josh Homme, Depeche Mode‘s Dave Gahan, Primal Scream‘s Bobby Gillespie, Chrissie Hynde and many more all took part in a tribute show in honour and celebration of the late former Screaming Trees frontman, QOTSA collaborator, grunge icon and solo pioneer’s 60th birthday at London’s Roundhouse back on December 5.
The ‘Future Starts Slow’ singer took to her official Instagram account and shared an image carousel featuring photos of the night. Reflecting on the show a week later (last night, December 5), Mosshart wrote: “It’s taken me a week a digest this gig and I still feel dizzy. It was such a lightening bolt evening of love and adoration for Mark, for Marks music, for the magical realm of music itself. I can’t remember a time ever being so nervous to perform. 6 pages of lyrics whirling in my head, rehearsals, pacing, singing days on end, my attempt to fully fall deep into the lyrics, marks mind, to sing them without thinking, to let them fly unencumbered through me, without falling down.”
She revealed that she stood at the side of the stage and watched Bobbie Gillespie “rip into Marks songs without any hesitation, as I ripped into my drink, trembling”, before going up to perform alongside guitarists James Walbourne and Troy Van Leeuwen, adding that she doesn’t remember anything else.
“The 4 songs I sang just happened… just as I prayed… without thinking, just boom out of the canon. Then I landed, back on the side, watching the rest of the show, everyone one by one adding to the gale force winds at The Roundhouse, their voices, their dance, the crowd so beautiful, glowing all the way up to the rafters,” she wrote.
Mosshart also shared that singing ‘Come To Me’ with Josh Homme was a highlight for her, saying that the song is “like floating on your back in the ocean and looking up at the stars” and adding that during that part of the show felt like “some holy communion”.
She continued: “For days after and in my sleep Mark’s songs kept playing in my head, rotating poetry, those enchanting melodies. I can’t thank Rich Machin enough for reaching out and asking me into the fold. It was a great honour to be there and an evening I will never ever forget. Just as Mark will never be forgotten. He left us with such a vast library of incredible music. Not a second wasted on earth. What a beautiful night.”
During the show, Homme took a moment to share: “As someone who got the pleasure of spending way too much time with Mark Lanegan, let me tell you he would have pretended to hate this,” Homme told the crowd, “but he would have loved to see you all here tonight,” before his duet with Mosshart.
After he and Mosshart embraced, Homme said: “This next song, when I’m gone, at my funeral which you’re all invited to (it’s next Thursday) I want this song played.” He then invited his hero Gahan back for an almighty ‘One Hundred Days’ closing the first set.
Speaking about the impact of the loss of Lanegan, Gahan recently told NME: “It’s time; you start thinking about time. I knew that Mark was struggling with his health and was trying to take care of that in various ways. I think everything just caught up with him. You get to a certain age where you find yourself asking, ‘Why does this hurt? Why can’t I do that?’ You don’t feel older in my mind, but you feel it.
“To me, losing Mark was the same as when Bowie went. You know: tick-tock, we’re not invincible, we’re not here forever, you’ve just got to enjoy the time you have. Give a little more time to your family and friends and be grateful for what you have. Mark struggled for years with his demons – as we all do, some of us more than others – but his songwriting and in particular his voice have been my companion for years.”
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