Still catching up - into June now - Mark Lanegan & Isobel Campbell, June 12th, Manchester Academy 2

I was really looking forward to this. I've loved Mark Lanegan's work with the Screaming Trees and the last solo album, Bubblegum, in particular was a fine effort. I'm not that familiar with Isobel's old band, Belle & Sebastien, but aware of her dreamy voice from the first album she did with Mark a couple of years back. They've done a second album now, Sunday at Devil Dirt, which builds on the dusky chemistry of the first album and is laced with lots of folky americana. Sadly, the first thing that hits me as the gig starts is that that chemistry does not appear to be captured live. Actually, it's the second thing, the first being that Isobel's ethereal and breathy vocals are lost in a venue as large as the Academy 2. It's sold out, no doubt on the strength of their two albums and both's strong musical heritage, and she's drowned out. Mark's voice is as strong as ever and though he sounds on top form, it's a shame we can't hear her very well.
With barely a glance at each other, it's hard to tell quite where the albums have come from. Both stand quite still when singing, though Isobel's obviously a multi-faceted musician and plays several instruments during the set. There's very little in the way of audience interaction either, though Mark's not the most chatty person on stage in any case.
They play a mix of songs from both albums, though the two that stand out to me are Backburner and Keep me in Mind, Sweetheart which show the range of their music together from brooding and atmospheric to gentle and playfully lilting. I think they're both great singers, but all the way through I'm wishing I was somewhere like the Night and Day where the atmosphere I was expecting could really have built. It's unfortunate too that the song that sounds best to me is when Mark sings one of the songs off his last solo offering, 'Wedding Dress'.
On the whole, I couldn't help but feel a little disappointed as I was hoping for so much more, but I'm afraid it's a case of it working much better on record.
6/10