Mark Kozelek @ Santiago Alquimista, Lisboa
2007/10/27

The night was magical, to say the least. It was my first time at this venue and the place is magnificent, nothing could prepare me for such a zen space.
For this night, cowboy boots would be the ideal shoe-wear, but with my sneakers I was able to grasp the essentials ;)

The opening band, Sean Riley & The Slow Riders, played consistent, mostly melodic songs in a neo-country kind of way. If it wasn't for the "Boa noite" and the many "Obrigado a todos", I would think they came with Mark...

Then, after the stage was almost completely cleared, came Mark. It quickly became clear he's one of those persons who needs to have things under control, a perfectionist. After long tuning sessions each music would start, sometimes to stop after a short while. This only added up to the extremely intimist set.
Mark's voice was a surprise. It was way clearer live than on tape... I don't even want to try to explain why or how.



Mark had the company of a second guitar for most of his show. The were no introductions but the dialog between the two guitars sounded nice, though much different from the ones in Red House Painters albums like "Songs for a Blue Guitar".
Mark's remarks were short but curious, he seems to care about what people think about him but also seems to feel like an outsider. I bet he is convinced he is boring us out while playing, obviously that must partly go way during the claps.
Strangely the audience didn't react as much as I expected and only sang along to "Bad Boy Boogie". Personally I only knew the lyrics to 5 or 6 songs and some sounded strange in this slower format.



His comeback to the stage was short but worth it with the best songs of the night. Songs from his own solo work ("Bad Boy Boogie") and from Red House Painters ("San Geronimo"), in more melodic and sharper versions, when compared to the rest of the concert.

Overall, it was a unique concert, in a format I had never seen before, and left me eager to listen to Mark with his band and songs with more varied melodies. It was an honor to be able to finally meet Mark Kozelek, the poet.



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