March 2008

The Archives

• 03.09.08
  THE THIRTYING: week five   thethirtying (5)

  So, the top of the post says “week five.” But, to those who have been following the escapade that is The Thirtying, you’ll know this is isn’t true. Life caught up with me and made me into a bad editor. The site’s been silent and I’ve had this column in my inbox for longer than I’d like to admit. Well, this week we find Dan at a Gutter Twins show…
  

  They didn’t play “Dollar Bill”. There was no reason to expect that they would, I guess, but I secretly hoped. This is the danger of going to see rock shows by people with a CV that dates back several bands and side-projects and solo albums. You want them to play something that they’re bored with, maybe have already forgotten about.

  Last week I dragged my wife, because I am Old and have a wife, to the second live show in the short career of the Gutter Twins, a 90’s rock supergroup of sorts, featuring Greg Dulli from the Afghan Whigs and the Twilight Singers alongside Mark Lanegan from the Screaming Trees and occasionally Queens of the Stone Age, as well as a handful of solo records. They both sing lead vocals on almost every song, and all of the material in the main set was brand new, save a couple of covers. No material from either’s earlier bands until the encore.

  Both Lanegan and Dulli have impressive post-90’s careers, of course, but it was interesting to notice that when people were calling out for songs, they weren’t asking for “Papillion” or “Strange Religion”; they wanted Whigs and Trees stuff.

  Well, of course they did- it was a crowd of old people, y’all. I’m twenty-seven and I felt like I was in high school. There were occasionally people our own age where we were- right up at the front, thanks, still rock ‘n roll animals here- and there had to be a couple of people younger than us somewhere, but most of the crowd were in their thirties or older, the same age as the dudes onstage singing.

  The band sounded great. The songs are all spooky and haunting, which are elements that have defined both Dulli and Lanegan’s post-90’s work, to varying degrees (Dulli is spookier, Lanegan is haunting-er), and they seamlessly blend both their styles, which is no mean feat given how disparate they are from one another, especially vocally. Lanegan has a dry baritone growl and Dulli sings kinda like an off-key drunk selling his songs through sheer conviction.

  I say all this, mind you, under the full disclosure that the Afghan Whigs are pretty much my favorite band ever, and the first time I saw the Twilight Singers remains one of the coolest experiences of my life. So if you’re a fan of Dulli’s and you’re pissed that I’m calling him an off-key drunk, dude- that’s the point.

  Anyway.

  This column is supposed to have a point, but tonight I just want to think about the show, and rock music.

  Click to read the end the remainder of this week’s Thirtying…