MARK Lanegan seems to be ageing gracefully. The former "most likely to be the next rock casualty" is looking healthier than he has in years.

The voice, that voice, arguably the best in rock, has also acquired tones long thought lost to cigarettes. It was a pleasure to actually hear the man sing. No longer the sludge-voiced reaper, at 51 Lanegan is increasingly making the sort of adventurous choices that stand him apart.

For a big man with a deep voice, Lanegan has soul and vulnerability in spades, which he showed off with surprising covers, including the Bond theme You Only Live Twice. Stood characteristically stock still at the microphone, fingers moving to the music, head cocked to one side, Lanegan is a fascinating figure. Never talkative on stage, his occasional thanks were by his standards positively exuberant.

The energy levels were high among his four-piece band, with two guitarists and bass, including his collaborator, opening act and purveyor of atmospheric mood music Duke Garwood, on the second date of a monster European tour.

Currently between albums, Lanegan took a gloomy stroll through his back catalogue; dark and vengeful Americana for the most part but with progressive leaps towards electronic and standards.

The imagery of his own songs was drug fuelled and haunting, with Judgement Time perhaps the pick of this blighted crop. Totally believable, Lanegan can truly inhabit a song. His cover of OV Wright’s I’ll Take Care of You was tender, while the desperation he brought to Wright’s On Jesus’ Programme was compelling.

Two songs from his Screaming Trees grunge days drew the biggest cheers but the best moments were also among the quietest. Lanegan’s drug poem Bubblegum was perfectly pitched, and for all the intimations of mortality in his songs, he is truly one of the few you want to stick around.

Mark Lanegan presents An Evening With Mark Lanegan at Leeds City Varieties Music Hall on May 1, 7.30pm. Box office: 0113 243 0808 or at cityvarieties.co.uk