The two bands Mark Lanegan dreamed of sharing a stage with
We all know that the best part of the season of festivals is when bands bring out surprise guests for a live collaboration that is likely to later be discussed between stages and over campfires like a lauded myth.
Some of my favourite collaborations have seen bands from the same scene collide and put on a furious display of lightly competitive chaos, such as during Reading Festival in 2010, Paramore vocalist Hayley Williams joined You Me At Six on stage for a cataclysmic rendition of their painful, gritty ballad, ‘Stay With Me’.
To convince you further, setting aside my emo phase for a second, a great example from last year was when Olivia Rodrigo brought out The Cure’s Robert Smith at Glastonbury for a rendition of ‘Just Like Heaven’.
Bands coming together in service of their fans is such a special moment, both for the audience and for those who can tick off a niggly bullet on their bucket list, but don’t just take my word for it. The late Mark Lanegan felt the same, where in his case, he had his eyes on not one, but two bands he’d absolutely love to share the stage with, and whittling a list down to just two is no small feat.
The first was The Damned, and Lanegan was sure to specify the time period, too: circa 1977. He explained why to Fred Perry, noting, “Their debut album was one of the first punk records I heard, and it blew my mind. And Brian James is one of the raddest guys I ever met, and I was too young to catch The Damned when he was in the band.”
As much as it is about the music, it, of course, is about the personalities onstage; while Brian James was known for a dynamic, electric stage presence, especially in his later blues and rock projects, Lanegan was known for a brooding, enigmatic command of the stage, so the way they would’ve interacted would’ve been fascinating to watch.
His second choice honed in on this, too, exemplifying great taste, which led him to pick The 13th Floor, again specifying the time period he’d love to return to for the chance of a cheeky, spontaneous collaboration, adding, “Circa 1967 because Roky Erickson is my favourite singer, ever, and I’d have given anything to hear him sing ‘Slip Inside This House’ with the Elevators”.
In the same interview, the Los Angeles native was asked about the best gig he’d ever been to, a question which displaced him from the stage to the floor, and was met with as quick an answer as any: “Judas Priest. Seattle, November 1982. Why? Are you kidding? C’mon, man!”
Tragically, Lanegan passed away in 2022, at the age of 57, so it’s not unrealistic to suggest that plenty of modern bands might conjure his name if asked the very same question, and while the gruff, delicious rasp in his voice was identifiable from miles away, and his musicianship second to none, but one wonders, would they pick Screaming Trees or Queens of the Stone Age for the honour of best gig?
