Twilight Singers Re-Cap

Made it out to Sokol Underground last night for The Twilight Singers show. I had a pretty good time at the gig, even though I wasn't as impressed with the band as I thought I would be. Band leader Greg Dulli did a great job and the set focused primarily on the band's older album, Blackberry Belle. I was really anticipating seeing the band's newest member, Mark Lanegan (Screaming Trees, Queens of the Stone Age), but he was barely part of the show.

I wasn't sure exactly what Lanegan's role in the band was supposed to be. I mean, The Twilight Singers is Dulli's band, and he is the main creative force behind the group. In fact, Lanegan only appeared for three songs during the set, and then he re-emerged for a couple of songs during the encore. He was great and all, but I was expecting more from him. I would have liked a little mini-set in the middle of the show of Lanegan's solo material. Or maybe they could have figured a way to have him and Dulli trade off verses in some older songs. Something.

Still, it was great seeing two of my favorite artists of the 90s on stage again. I think the 200+ folks at the gig enjoyed it as well. It was clearly an older crowd. I don't know how many people under the age of 30 remember The Afghan Wigs or Screaming Trees. It's too band because that stuff seems timeless to me.

I wasn't there last time the Singers played in Omaha, but I had heard about Dulli's wild behavior. He was apparently asking for cocaine from the stage, and was quite intoxicated from the bottle of Maker's Mark he was carrying around. Nowadays, Dulli is off of drugs (he has gained a little weight due to that), and told a story about the last time he was here. He mentioned the girl's name he ended up getting the coke from, and then said that she was "no longer with us." He then told the crowd to "stay away from that shit." I am uncertain if Dulli is 100% sober, because he made a reference to heading to Council Bluffs after the show. (For those not from Omaha, CB is right across the Nebraska/Iowa border and bar time is one hour later in Iowa) He looked like he was headed for a fun, late night because he bolted immediately after the show with a girl on his arm toward the Iowa border.

Tag: Twilight Singers