Mountain Winery Show, Saratoga, CA

FORUM Forums Lucinda Williams Lucinda Shows Mountain Winery Show, Saratoga, CA

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  • #30306
    tntracy
    Participant

    Looking forward to tonight’s show, I thought I’d start the official “pre-show / post-show” thread. I know stoger will be there, as well as me & my friend John. Anyone else?

    Tom

    #44124
    tonyg
    Keymaster

    Have a great time! I am in section 1, row A for the Queen Mary show. That sounds pretty good.

    #44125

    Tom, I plan to attend, if Southwest Airlines does their usual good job. At the Winery, I’m at seat 3B1.

    #44126
    tntracy
    Participant

    Cool, Paul – I am sure I will see you there. I don’t know where we are sitting, as I will be picking up our tickets at will call…

    Tom

    #44127
    bigsubi
    Participant

    …my spirit will be there!!!…

    #44128

    In my thread of April 12, I wrote: “There is an extremely strict music curfew at 10:30 PM, with plugs being pulled on famous performers. “

    On August 18, Lucinda joined the select club of having the plugs pulled. At precisely 10:30, just as Lucinda was finishing Blessed, the house lights came on, and the stage power was killed. A dramatic conclusion to a great evening of music.

    Robert Earl Keen began the night promptly at 7:30, and did an entertaining and efficient set, exiting by 8:20. That allowed Lucinda to start at 8:45 and almost complete the following setlist:

    1. Too Kool to Be Forgotten
    2. Happy Woman Blues
    3. I Lost It
    4. Crescent City
    5. Pineola
    6. Copenhagen
    7. Kiss Like Your Kiss
    8. Fruits of My Labor
    9. Metal Firecracker
    10. Drunken Angel
    11. Buttercup
    12. Out Of Touch
    13. Bleeding Fingers
    14. Seeing Black
    15. Essence
    16. Honeybee
    17. Righteously
    18. Blessed (almost completed, then power killed)

    #44129
    stoger
    Participant

    Good work, Paul. Again, allow me a few embellishments.

    Lu’s walk-on line was “I already am looking forward to having some wonderful wine after the show.”

    “Copenhagen” is for her late manager Frank Callari, “whose bark was worse than his bite.” It is full of winter imagery (actually set in the fall); she apologized afterwards for missing a line in the chorus, but who knew?

    “Kiss Like YOur KIss” got a popular shout-out prior, as LU mentioned the True Blood series. David plays upright bass on it. It cycles through the seasons in its lyrics.

    “metal Firecracker” had an elaborate intro about a “road romance” and so on; Lucinda stops just short of uttering the name Rolly Sallee on stage.

    “Drunken Angel” was followed by “I never tire of playing that song.”

    “Buttercup” was said to be another “chapter” in Lu’s ongoing series of “short stories” about getting another “bad boy out of my system.” She stops just short of uttering the name Matthew Greeson on stage. I think this is fast becoming a lucinda signature song.

    “out of Touch” was followed by a look at Val, who was then said to have “kicked ass, Bubba.”

    “Seeing Black” had a bit of a mix-up by way of intro but came good.

    “Honeybee” was followed by praise of the Heartless Bastards, who work in a similar vein; frontwoman Erika was praised as “a little firecracker.”

    Lu thanked us for “letting me dissect things” by listening to the new ones. Bad form was shown my one person who shouted out the name “Doug Pettibone” just as she was introducing Val. AS Paul points out, the sound was far superior to Ventura–except of course when it went off precisely at the bottom of the hour. Keen did a professional job of it opening, with a couple of novelty songs in there and some dancing figures up top among his frat boy/sorority sis fan base. Tight Texas band. It’s late, so all for now.

    #44130
    Lefty
    Participant

    Thank you, gents.
    Maybe it’s just me and my first cup’a’joe talking, but I sense a GOOD VIBE already for this run of shows.
    (“a little firecracker” – – I like it; that’s gonna stick around here) 🙂

    #44131
    tntracy
    Participant

    Our friends paul_from_losangeles & stoger covered the musical information above admirably. With a nod towards hopefully adding a wee bit to their accounts of the music at the end, let me first attempt to speak to the aesthetics of the evening.

    First of all, the venue. This was my first visit to the Mountain Winery and I thought it was beautiful. Stunningly beautiful. From the mountain top perch, one can view seemingly endless vistas of the valley to the east & the southernmost tip of the bay to the northeast. Not quite on the very top of the mountain, the venue itself is nestled in the mountainside very close to the summit. Facing the stage, just to the left & over the wall beyond the seats, grape vines are aligned on a steep slope overlooking the venue. The amphitheater is semi-circular in shape, with a steep rise for the seats, providing a great view for all. The stage is back-dropped by the facade of an old-looking stone building. Included on the grounds, other then the working winery & associated buildings, there is a “white tablecloth” restaurant, a “grill” and several beer, wine & mixed drink carts. Stoger, my friend John & I ate at the grill, where I paid $16 (!) for a teriyaki chicken sandwich (bag o’ chips on the side) which, while good, was not $16 good.

    While on the topic of the venue, I have to say that the staff were very pleasant & courteous. Without boring anyone with the details, they provided me personally with some great service and information. Furthermore, their “security enforcement” did not seem heavy-handed to me at all – quite the opposite with their showing a good deal of patience with the partying Robert Earl Keen fans.

    OK, now for the obligatory fashion report. Lu was wearing a low-cut, lacy black blouse, a pair of faded jeans & her “Old Gringo” brand brown boots with the riveted crosses on the uppers. She was also sporting some beautiful silver jewelery around her neck. She seemed in great spirits, as was the band who appeared to be having a good time. Musically, while I missed me some pedal steel, the band was tight. To my ear, Val particularly shined on “Out of Touch” & “Essence”, adding a little “sumptin’ sumptin'” to the latter to add his own unique flavor to it. Lu’s voice was loud & clear; in fine form to my admittedly biased ear. Of the new material, I particularly liked “Buttercup” & “Blessed”.

    Despite the abrupt (& I thought rather rude) ending where the power was literally cut off on Lu & the Boys mid-song, it was a fantastic night. I am looking forward to LB & SD even more so now!

    Tom

    #44132
    Lefty
    Participant

    Have you been to bed, yet, Tom?
    Thanks for the added color commentary!

    #44133
    West Words
    Participant

    Thanks for staying up late guys, to post the reviews. REALLY can’t wait till next week. xo, sm

    #44134
    tonyg
    Keymaster

    Great reports Paul, Stoger, and Tom! I like the setlist too.

    #44135
    tntracy
    Participant

    @Lefty wrote:

    Have you been to bed, yet, Tom?

    Actually, at the point of my report Lefty, no! 😯 😮

    John & I were still “buzzing” so much from the show & afterwards that, after getting back to his house in SF at about 1:00 AM, we stayed up drinking a few beers & talking. Then after he turned in, I was hungry & restless, so I went out on an undoubtedly unwise walk around the Mission District by myself at 3:30 AM looking for food. Finding nothing open, I came back, posted my report, then finally got to bed at 5:00 AM…

    Now, at 10:30 AM, I am heading to do the “touristy thing” (It’s a “Summertime Thing”?) & walk abound Fisherman’s Wharf!

    Tom

    #44136
    bob
    Participant

    @tntracy wrote:

    good.

    OK, now for the obligatory fashion report. Lu was wearing a low-cut, lacy black blouse, a pair of faded jeans & her “Old Gringo” brand brown boots with the riveted crosses on the uppers. She was also sporting some beautiful silver jewelery around her neck. She seemed in great spirits, as was the band who appeared to be having a good time.

    Tom

    Now that’s what I’m talking about!

    #44137
    tntracy
    Participant

    I wasn’t allowed to carry in my little Flip HD camcorder, so no video from me of any of the new songs. But, here are some pictures of the venue & of opener Robert Earl Keen on stage. By the time Lu came on, it was getting dark, so I took only one pic of her (no flash allowed in the venue).

    Tom

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