The Gutter Twins "Circle the Fringes" (26.5 MB) from Saturnalia High Noon Saloon Madison, WI March 9, 2008

I've heard Mark Lanegan described as a recluse, but I didn't realize just how true that was until this show -- I don't think he said a single word between songs and left the stage noticeably before the rest of the band. The intensity that he brought to the performance just made his presence darker. It was the same incredible effect that he had when I saw him a few years ago with Queens of the Stone Age; he came out mid-set, sang a few songs, and left after burning the stage down.

By contrast, Greg Dulli totally ran the show on stage, talking a bit between songs and occasionally throwing in a solid rock-out maneuver. It's a striking difference from their album, which sounds dominated by Lanegan to me. I guess it's like the difference between watching or listening to the Kennedy/Nixon debate -- if all you can do is hear, Lanegan's voice destroys your mind, but if you can see, Dulli will pull you back from the brink while Lanegan hangs back in the shadows. This song is a great example of it. On the album, it follows the mostly-Lanegan barnburner "Idle Hands" (an early front-runner for my favorite song of the year) and sounds like a wind down while Lanegan refills his reservoir of horror. Live, Dulli makes a lot more of it and directs the energy of the show his way. I haven't seen that kind of record/live shift in quite a while, especially one that didn't involve some major instrumentation or personnel change.