The singer, who died in February 2022, was celebrated by the likes of Josh Homme, Dave Gahan, and Chrissie Hynde in honour of what would have been his 60th birthday ten days prior. More than just a grunge icon, he was a chronicler of life’s shadowy corners, his music a repository of regret, resilience, and an aching beauty that few could replicate.

Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age, who introduced the evening, set the tone with a wry observation: “Mark would have pretended to hate this, but he would have loved to see you all here tonight.” It was both a statement of Lanegan’s reluctant relationship with fame and an acknowledgment of the deep connections he forged through his art​. It was a communion of friends, collaborators, and admirers.

The evening’s performances were both celebratory and reverent. Dave Gahan of Depeche Mode opened the night with stirring renditions of Lanegan’s ‘Sideways in Reverse’ and ‘Strange Religion,’ his baritone echoing Lanegan’s haunted timbre.

Bobby Gillespie of Primal Scream took the audience on a journey through the bluesy depths of ‘Driving Death Valley Blues’ and ‘Pendulum,’ while Alison Mosshart of The Kills brought fiery energy to tracks like ‘Wedding Dress.’ 

The house band, led by Soulsavers, created a sonic backdrop steeped in the gospel-inflected rock that often underscored Lanegan’s work. 

Greg Dulli, a longtime collaborator, serenaded the crowd with a passionate renditions of ‘Change Has Come’ and ‘Methamphetamine Blues’ a dedication to a friend who wrote “badass” music.

Perhaps the most poignant moment came when Chrissie Hynde, joined by Lanegan’s widow, Shelley Brien, performed ‘Revelator,’ bowing to her and noting that the evening was “a sad night for Shelly Lanegan, but thank you for being here.” 

Homme, who returned to the stage for the second half, delivered ‘Come to Me’ in collaboration with Mosshart, his performance imbued with both humour and sincerity. The night closed with a full ensemble bow, after a moving video montage of Lanegan’s life and career, underscoring the profound impact he had on the musicians around him. 

For the final song of the night Gahan, Homme, and Brien performed Lanegan’s ‘Hit the City’, a triumphant heavy rock song he co-wrote with PJ Harvey. It was a fitting end to a concert that had served not merely as a tribute but also a testament to Lanegan’s singular artistry. His music was never easy, never meant to comfort; it was raw and redemptive, a reflection of a man who wrestled with his demons. As Greg Dulli, remarked in the evening’s final moments, “If you knew him, you loved him. And if you only knew his music, that was enough.”

The Set List – all tracks by Mark Lanegan – for the night: 

Tape: 

12 Gates To The City – ÜLM3N 

Dave Gahan: 

Sideways in Reverse

Low 

Kingdoms of Rain 

Strange Religion 

Bobby Gillespie: 

Driving Death Valley Blues 

Pendulum 

Sworn and Broken 

Alison Mosshart: 

Mockingbirds 

Mud Pink Skag 

When Your Number Isn’t Up 

Wedding Dress

Wendi Rose, T Jae Cole, Janet Ramus

Judgement Time 

Duke Garwood

High Life 

I Am the Wolf 

Tess Parks

Resurrection Song 

Greg Dulli

Methamphetamine Blues 

Change Has Come 

Ed Harcourt

The Stations 

The River Rise 

One Way Street 

Chrissie Hynde

Kimiko’s Dream House 

Halcyon Daze 

Revelator 

Josh Homme

Carnival 

El Sol 

Come to Me (ft. Alison Mosshart)

One Hundred Days 

Encore 1:

Presence of God – Soulsavers (Dave Gahan & video tribute)

Encore 2:

Dollar Bill – Greg Dulli

Revival – Soulsavers (with Dave Gahan)

Hit the City – Dave Gahan (with Shelley Brien & Josh Homme)

Whilst writing his memoir entitled ‘Treatment Kid’ Gillespie has disclosed that he has reconnected with Primal Scream’s debut album, the singer revealed that there are certain aspects of the release in which he would want to change. He also confirmed that the band have had discussions relating to the possible reissue of the original album.

Gillespie has spoken with Uncut magazine concerning this notion, within the interview he was asked if his opinion about the album has been altered due to his recent work on his upcoming biography, to which he answered, “Yes, definitely, definitely. I wrote a lot about that record and the experience of recording it – we recorded it twice – and our inexperience. I re-listened to the record a lot and had a new respect for it. We’re maybe going to reissue it. We’ll add two songs – there’s ‘Black Star Carnival’, which was a B-side, and also this unreleased track called ‘Tomorrow Ends Today’. It sounds like it could have been on the first Stone Roses record. I’m going to re-sequence the album and do a new record sleeve.”

Gillespie continues to discuss the musicality of the album and the effect in which the era had on music. “At that point, everyone had the ‘80s drum sound – the Bunnymen, The Smiths, everybody. So, it would be good if we take the 80s drum sound off it and maybe we could add some harmonies, because when I listen to it now, I think, ‘Why didn’t we do harmonies there?’ So we might tinker with it, maybe we won’t. But ‘Tomorrow Ends Today’ sounds like a single. Why did we leave it off the album? It’s so good! The first side just runs like a dream – bang, bang, bang, bang. For some reason, we f***** it up.”

When asked what he believed fans would expect from a Primal Scream release he stated, “I actually don’t know any more… We’ve made 11 studio albums but I think we’re known for the 90s stuff, from ‘Screamadelica’ to ‘Vanishing Point’ and ‘XTRMNTR’. It’s hard because we’ve been going for so long. Maybe we’re overfamiliar?”

As state prior, ‘Sonic Flower Groove’ was the band’s debut album and was released on 5th October 1987 and peaked at number 62 within the UK Albums charts with the album’ first single ‘Gentle Tuesday‘ released in the same year. the single was also the top of the release’s tracklist. The album was released during a time when the radio was dominated by the trademark 80’s synth sound. During its original release, the album was received with a mixed critical reception and the album’s content was seemingly deemed difficult to classify by critics but in these modern times, the record is considered to be one of the greats and remains a favourite for many music fans.

In other news, Gillespie has collaborated with Jehnny Beth, front singer of English band Savages. The duo’s new album entitled ‘Utopian Ashes’ will be available from 2nd July 2021 through Jack White’s label Third Man. The release will tell the story of a dysfunctional marriage through a concept album, the album features a band made up of Primal Scream members Andrew Innes on guitar, Martin Duffy on piano, Darrin Mooney on drums and Beth’s partner Johnny Hostile playing bass.

Click here to pre-order ‘Utopian Ashes‘.

Gillespie’s memoir will be released to purchase from 28th October 2021 and will be available in two special collector’s editions.

Click here to pre-order the book.

Primal Scream UK Tour dates

18/06-20/06 2021 – Bigfoot Festival 2021 – Alcester
22/07 – 25/07 – Standon Calling 2021 – Standon
06/08 – 08/08 – Bingley Weekender 2021 – Bingley
10/09 – 12/09 – TRNSMT Festival 2021 – Glasgow
16/09 – 19/09 – Isle Of Wright Festival 2021 – Newport (Isle Of Wright)
09/08 – Kelvingrove Bandstand And Amphitheatre – Glasgow
10/08 – Kelvingrove Bandstand And Amphitheatre – Glasgow

#TenementKid: the memoir from Bobby Gillespie, coming October 2021. His story, in his own words, up to the recording and release of Screamadelica.

Pre-orders – including signed special editions – from https://t.co/u2r8kWgAzO pic.twitter.com/jJUw6qSMeT

— Primal Scream (@ScreamOfficial) March 10, 2021

In a press release on the White Rabbit Books website, Gillespie said of the memoir,which shares its title with a track from Primal Scream’s 2013 studio album More Light: “The publisher (at White Rabbit) Lee Brackstone has been hassling me for years to write a book. I always rebuffed him with some excuse or the other. At the beginning of 2020 I wanted to challenge myself creatively and do something I had never done before. I didn’t want to write another rock record, I’d done plenty of those, so, I decided to write a memoir of my early life and worked on it all through the summer, Autumn and Winter of 2020 and here it is. It is titled ‘Tenement Kid’ as I spent the first ten years of my life living in one. I am very proud of it. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it.”

Publisher Lee Brackstone said “‘I have been trying to persuade Bobby to write a book for a decade because I knew he would write something that is so much more than your usual rockstar memoir. ‘Tenement Kid’ is many things: the story of Primal Scream and the early years of Jesus and Mary Chain, a paean to Glasgow in the ‘60s and ‘70s, long since disappeared, a work of social history and memoir that burns with political fervour and driven intensity. It is also of course a compelling account of punk, the acid house years and the Second Summer of Love. After the year we have all experienced it is the tonic we all need: a joyful, celebratory and beautifully written book which will remind us of better times, just – as we hope – those better times might be returning.”

Gillespie co-founded Primal Scream with Jim Beattie in 1982 and has led the band ever since. In addition to recording eleven studio albums with Primal Scream as a vocalist, the Scot has enjoyed stints as a bassist with fellow Glaswegian outfit The Wake and drummed for East Kilbride noise pop pioneers The Jesus And Mary Chain from 1984 to 1986, performing on their acclaimed debut album Pyschocandy.

Screamadelica – which marks the cut-off point for Tenement Kid – saw Primal Scream move from the post-punk indie sound they had honed in the 1980s towards a dance-rock style influenced by the burgeoning acid house scene. The album, produced by the late Andy Weatherall, would go on to win the inaugural Mercury Prize, and became a milestone LP for the Creation Records label founded by Gillespie’s long-time friend Alan McGee.

McGee and Gillespie’s early years in Glasgow will also be chronicled in new biopic Creation Stories, which is scheduled for release on March 20th. The film, which has been co-written by Trainspotting author Irvine Welsh, has been described by The Times as “an authentic capturing of a chaotic world.”

The band announced last year that they would be taking a break to pursue new ventures, and Jehnny Beth offered a tease about today’s announcement following the wrapping of their Tour to support their acclaimed sophomore album, ‘Adore Life.’ Beth revealed at the time, ‘I have collaboration I have lined up, really cool stuff, which I can’t talk about now but some are going to be revealed in January,” she said. “So I think it’s going to be for me, collaborating with new people. I’ve kept writing a lot so I’ve got a lot of songs right now that I don’t know what I’m going to do with yet. They’re for something else, not Savages. Pursuing the collaborations where people have reached out and want to work with me, that’s what’s going to happen. I’m very excited.’

Well, now photos posted on the Instagram accounts of Beth, and Johnny Hostile, her partner and other half of duo lo-fi indie rockers, ‘John and Jehn’, confirm that the collaboration will be with Bobby Gillespie of Primal Scream. The photos include the Jehn and Bobby together, with the caption, ‘2 singers hard at work in the studio’, as well as a photo of a reclining Beth, along with a tribute to ‘The lady who never stops writing. Inspirational woman. Lucky me #jehnnybeth.’

Beth took to Instagram to announce she will be performing a one night solo piano show, writing, ‘Dear people of the Netherlands, I am playing the GRAUZONE festival in the city of the North Sea coast of the western Netherlands, The Hague – the 11th Feb 2017. Grab your tickets to see an intimate piano solo performance of exclusively new songs.’

However, Beth isn’t the only one exploring pastures new, with Savages bassist Ayse Hassan’s new side project KiteBase releasing their new album, ‘Latent Whispers’, today. The band will soon be packing their bags to head out on a European Tour, including one show at London’s Kamio; the full schedule is shown below:

15/2 – Festival Hors Pistes @ Le Brise Glace – Annecy
16/2 – Art Gallery Perrin (Generiq Festival) – Montbeliard
17/2 – Consortium (Generiq Festival) – Dijon
18/2 – La Rodia Club (Generiq Festival) – Besancon
19/2 – Le Sechoir Art Gallery – Mulhouse
21/2 – Supersonic – Paris
22/2 – AB Club – Brussels
23/2 – Prinzenbar – Hamburg
24/2 – Music & Frieden (Blue Room) – Germany
25/2 – Ideal Bar – Copenhagen
27/2 – Eldorado – Zurich
28/2 – Freakout – Bologna
1/3 – Magnolia – Milan (Segrate)
3/3 – Sidecar – Barcelona
4/3 – 17 Fest @ Las Armas – Zaragoza
5/3 – Siroco – Madrid
7/3 – Kamio – London