Then the Trees entered the stage, backed up by the guitar player from Kyuss which really added a lot to their live sound. The band really rocked, played tight and were seemingly happy to play. Then there is Mark Lenegan..... His voice beautiful as ever, but his stage presence scared the hell out of me. I really feared for his life.... He stood motionless while singing, eyes closed all the time and his face had the color as if he had already died. The show was beautiful though. A lot of songs from Dust were played, also a few old ones. The crowd was very enthusiastic. Unfortunately that didn't affect Mark and after 45 minutes he left the stage. The band looked a bit confused and finished the show without him. I must say I had been living up to the moment of seeing Screaming Trees live. Then Mark Lenegan of all people spoiled that moment a bit for me. Luckily the band was really good and the show was quite good.
Later that evening I saw the TV broadcast of a show they did in Germany the day before and that was even worse. I don't think Mark Lenegan is the touring kind of singer. He is better off just making records and that's it. I also saw a TV broadcast of a studio session they did in Hilversum and there, sitting on a stool, Mark looked much more comfortable. He still didn't look very healthy but hey, he looked better than on that stage at the Paradiso.
The Trees achieved a lot of media attention here in Holland. Their show was scheduled to be broadcast on the radio, but due to Mark's behaviour they only broadcast 5 songs. Also a radio session was broadcast on radio AND tv and the newspapers all had reviews of the show. I was lucky enough to take a few good pictures and together with the five songs from the radio, this show will be remembered forever.
this review can also be found here: http://www.proaxis.com/~elcurte/oblivion/reviews.htm