more Utica Club

Lefty’s detailed report on this show says it all (thanks Lefty!), but I wanted to add just a few more random thoughts…

I drove 6 hrs up from South Jersey, thinking that an old brewery in an industrial-age mill town would be an interesting — maybe even great — place for Lu to perform. I got there early, and was taken aback by how empty the city of Utica is. Abandoned, almost. (And “Abandoned” would have been a good song for her to play here….) All these old brick buildings with tons of character, and probably plenty of ghosts from the town’s glory days. I kept thinking that the context for many of her songs is kind of inverted here, but still appropriate — twisted around in a way, south-to-north, that’s as fitting as if she were playing some old whistlestop Mississippi cotton town that had seen its best days long, long ago.

Lu and the band sounded amazing in that small courtyard — the big brewery and the surrounding brick buildings also gave the feel of being in a small canyon. Very cool. Four or five rows back from the stage seemed like heaven.

I didn’t really mind the false starts, though they did cause people turn to each other and shrug. I looked at it as added authenticity — didn’t mind witnessing the process of getting it right, or whatever it was.

I saw her in April at New Orleans JazzFest (with only about 12,000 others!) and was wondering how much of a contrast there would be with this show. The contrast was huge, of course. That JazzFest performance was emotional, raw and loose (Crescent City brought tears to my eyes then, and Unsuffer Me went beyond any Janis Joplin comparison…) and she didn’t want to quit. This Utica performance was tight and “professional” yet still a great rockin’ show. She and the band were warm, friendly and, as she said, it really was intimate. It felt like they should just naturally have hung out after the show at one of those picnic tables and had a few local brews (Utica Club? or Saranac?)

Loved the new song Honeybee — real rootsy rock’n roll. I Love My Life was also new to me, but seemed a very fitting cover for her. I liked it. The Mama Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to be Cowboys cover was just fun. The whole set list worked beautifully. I wanted more, of course, but I left feeling really happy. (Still am, a day and a half later!)

I’ve only seen her perform a couple of other times (about 8 years ago in NJ), but I think this show — with a small local crowd on a warm summer night in a forgotten upstate NY town, is gonna be the most memorable.

I AM sorry I didn’t get to see Charlie Louvin.