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Rating: London, Wednesday, July 25, 2007. I exit the subway at Embankment, poke my nose above ground and notice it has started raining again. In front of me, the Thames flows; above, gray-black clouds make me think the rain will never stop. The air is fresh, I think of the heat in Italy these days and I enjoy the rain gradually soaking my Stone Roses t-shirt. I climb the bridge, head to the other side, and make my way towards the Southbank Center, Queen Elizabeth Hall. Inside, a screen reminds me that tonight Isobel Campbell and Mr. Mark Lanegan will be on stage. I enter early, take my seat, and watch people arrive. The average age is definitely high.
At 7:45 sharp like clockwork, the Euros Childs take the stage. There are two of them, switching between various instruments, including a synthesizer with which they transform some acoustically inclined pieces. They're good, but I decide on a beer, the third in two hours.
I head back inside; everything is ready for Isobel and Mark. The band takes the stage, and they follow, starting with "Deus Ibi Est". Isobel is as sweet as I had imagined; Mr. Lanegan is dressed all in black and bent over his microphone, he sings his stories. He floors me when he pays tribute to his old friend Jeffrey Lee Pierce (R.I.P.) with a moving rendition of "Carry Home". One by one, all the songs from "Ballad of the Broken Seas" flow by. Isobel intervenes, and for a moment, I return to earth; she announces a new piece whose title I can't catch, but I'm happy thinking of another album from them. There is complicity between the two, perhaps even something more, who knows. The image they bring to my mind is that of Johnny and June; I think about it throughout the concert. An hour and a half flies by.
I leave, buy their vinyl album—take that, your iPod!—these two splendid voices, opposites yet beautiful, still circulating in my head. Outside, it's still raining, the circus is leaving town.
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