She’s a little bit country and a whole lotta rock n’ roll –
Lucinda Williams attracts an unusual group of followers……everyone from accountants and CEO’s to music lovers of all ages, backgrounds and interests. For some reason, this weekend, all of the Lucinda-lovers I know were out of town and I started to worry about what I might do with the two extra tickets I’d purchased, sure that someone would be delighted to grab them up. No luck as everyone was away. So George and I recruited good friends Carol and John to join us to see if the Lucinda-phenomenon of drawing strange bedfellow-fans would extend to chiropractors and Pratt and Whitney execs.
Going to a Lucinda concert when you have never even heard one of her songs is a little bit like drinking 8 ounces of Dewar’s on the rocks for the first time you decide you want to try alcohol. They did pretty well considering they are not big music fans to start and actually said they thought Lucinda was “different” and “entertaining” but a lot more rock n’ roll than they expected. Welcome to Lucinda’s new album.We started the evening at Carol and John’s house and although this wasn’t a strategy, taking one car did ensure that no one was leaving the concert before anyone else. We went to Hot Tomato’s next door to the Shubert Theatre in New Haven where the concert was held. Food was good but John and Carol are limiting their menu choices for a variety of reasons so we didn’t linger there too long before we headed over to the theatre.
The crowd was predictably diverse. There was the couple in their mid-fifties who looked like they just stepped off their Harley after a few rounds at the Red Dog in the afternoon. Then there was the woman dressed in Chico’s best western satin jacket with jewel-studded jeans and a cowboy hat standing with someone I first thought might be her father but then decided he was her CEO husband who was really into Lucinda big time.
We gregariously (or so we thought) gave the opera box seats to Carol and John and took the top balcony center seats for ourselves. We spotted Carol and John right away after we sat down but they didn’t look happy. A few minutes later they joined us in the seats behind us (the balcony was sparsely occupied) because the view was limited from the box seats. Everyone settled in just as the lights began to dim.
Lucinda’s band, BUICK 6, was amazing. They opened with a mix of 70’s-style instrumentals, a mix of steel and electric guitars a-blazin’ and sounding like the best of the best from the all-time greats. Their Led Zeppelin “Black Dog” fired up the crowd and got them ready for a evening reminiscent of the good ol’ days and Toads or maybe even Woodstock for those of you lucky enough to have been there. The mix of guitars, a cello, 12-string mandolin and harmonica made for a sensational opening act. They ended the set with Cinnamon Girl and we were more than ready………
Lucinda came out looking hot and confident in black leather high heel boots, blue jeans and a short black jacket over a hot pink top. She belted out Real Love from her new album Little Honey and we knew it was going to be a memorable evening. Doug Pettibone, guitarist and mandolin player, outdid himself accompanying Lu on this number. We had already been impressed with the entire band, including cowboy drummer Butch Norton, but it was Pettibone who stood out and continued to grab our attention all night. He and fellow guitarist Chet Lyster had several dueling guitar numbers backing up and accentuating Lu’s sultry and soulful lyrics that really added to the overall performance.
About midway through the concert Lucinda mentioned that it was her honey Tom’s birthday. She tried to coax him out onto the stage but he wasn’t amenable so she and the crowd sang Happy Birthday to him in the wings. She sang many of her much-loved old favorites and several from the new album. A surprise was a 60’s vintage protest song that came off really well though I can’t remember the name of it. Apparently she is planning to do a series of protest songs on an album sometime in the future.
I missed hearing Car Wheels and my other favorite, Are You Alright, but was satisfied with all the others. George likes Lucinda but is not as avid a fan as I am. He struggles with her You Took My Joy song that always seems to take away his joy but other than that he had only good things to say about her performance and the evening overall. As for Carol and John, we’ll just have to wait ‘til Lu comes round again and see if they want tickets.
(ed. note: Trish W is a health care exec, cycle rider, occasional big-game hunter, and a big Lucinda Williams fan. Need we say more? We won't.)
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