28 August, 2004- Reading Festival, UK

review by Justin

After lasting a day in the mud that was Saturday at Reading I was looking forward to seeing Mark in the confines of the Carling tent which provided a much more intimate setting than either of the other stages. However, why Mark was on the stage usually reserved for new bands is anyone's guess. Plenty of people arrived early to catch Mondo Generator beforehand, hoping, as I was for some sort of collaboration and they didn't disappoint. Half way through their set an extra mic was added to the stage and on strode Mark launching straight into Four Corners from Mondo's second album. After the song Mark wasn't going anywhere and a completely unexpected acoustic version of QOTSA's Autopilot got the whole crowd singing along. This was to be our lot for now as Mark disappeared backstage and Mondo finished their set.

After what seemed an age of waiting Mark reappeared with his band and started with a fantastic version of Hit the City, the addition of Shelly Brown (I hope this is her name, picked up from other reviews) added a great dimension to all the songs she sang on especially No Easy Action replacing the strings on the original to great effect. The band rattled through a ten song set drawn mostly from Bubblegum with the exception of No Easy Action, Skeletal History and I'll Take Care of You. It culminated with Nick Oliveri returning the earlier favour and taking backing vocal duties on Methamphetamine Blues although two thirds of the way through the lights came up and the band were pretty much forced off stage. I assume this was because they were running fifteen minutes over the curfew due to late running of earlier bands, Brett Nettson didn't take this very well kicking over amps and mic stands on his way off. The crowd were screaming for more which gradually turned to booing as it became clear they were not going to be allowed back on.

I managed to get a set list which had two songs blacked out, When Your Number Isn't Up and Resurrection Song plus an encore of three more songs they clearly didn't get to play. I would have left slightly disappointed but such a great set, really good sound played with so much passion meant they really made the most of the forty or so minutes they had on stage and have made it one of the finest performances I've seen.