Marianne Faithfull The Sage Gateshead May 23 2011
Who is the real Marianne? The innocent young convent-school girl, led astray by Jagger, The Stones and swinging London in the 60s; the broken, junky girl cast aside and living on the Soho streets of the 70s; the reborn punkier reinterpreter of songs of the 80s and 90s, or the respected elder stateswoman survivor who stood on the stage of The Sage this week? Sadly the Sage was pretty empty but those of us who were there witnessed a riveting performance by a lady who has lived a live like few others. She wears her 60 something years with elegance and grace and talked to us, in the way that only Marianne can, as if we are all her friends.
The set was a mix of songs from her new album and old favourites. Great to see Wayne Kramer (MC5) who played some stunning guitar work. Marianne’s voice is deep and rough, but she sings the songs in the way that only she can. Favourites for me were As Tears Go By (still moving), Sister Morphine (dark and chilling) and Ballad of Lucy Jordan. Marianne also (as she does) name-dropped throughout the show, telling us how Keef and Gram Parsons taught her Merle Haggard’s Sing Me Back Home, how she stole Incarceration of a Flower Child from Roger Waters and how she wrote The Crane Wife with Nick Cave. She also (always the rebel) smoked a few ciggies on stage and mocked some guys in the audience who had to go outside to smoke. A great evening, spent with a true legend.
Setlist (something like): Horses and High Heels; Why Did We Have to Part; The Stations; There Is a Ghost; The Crane Wife; Like Being Born; Prussian Blue; Back in Baby’s Arms; Goin’ Back; That’s How Every Empire Falls; Sing Me Back Home; Sister Morphine; Broken English; As Tears Go By; Incarceration of a Flower Child; Working Class Hero
Encore: The Ballad of Lucy Jordan; Strange Weather
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