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Here is a preview article / interview for the upcoming Athens, GA show from the Athens Banner Herald…
Tom
Thanks, tonyg – I plan on it. But first comes a preview day after tomorrow night at Track 29 in Chattanooga… 😉
Tom
GREAT show, GREAT-sounding room, ENTHUSIASTIC crowd (with albeit some yakking, most noticeably by the drunk chicks right behind me – why do I always seem to attract them?), and a WONDERFUL setlist with some real surprises (“Soldier’s Song”? YES!), but I will leave the setlist details to my esteemed “Lu-head” collegue, stoger, who, with little rest the last few nights, has already turned in in our guest room (after all, it IS 4:35 AM!). More details from yours truly as well tomorrow (er, later today)…
Tom
1 Can’t Let Go
2 Right in Time
3 People Talkin’
4 2 Kool 2 B 4 Gotten [Shelby Lee Adams’ new book of photos out soon]
5 Buttercup
6 Stowaway in Your Heart
7 Copenhagen [animator is in house, Dave Willis maybe?]
8 Soldier’s Song *
9 World Without Tears
10 Born to Be Loved
11 Trying to Get to Heaven…
12 Those Three Days [followed by “for some reason, people really like that song”]
13 Little Rock Star
14 Seeing Black [no intro, but not without significance trotted out in the town of Vic Chesnutt]
15 Essence
16 Unsuffer Me
17 Changed the Locks
18 Joy
19 Honeybee
_____________________________________________
20 Blessed
21 Real Live Bleeding Fingers… [for Dewitt, former guitar tech of Lu’s and Athens resident]
22 Ain’t My Cross to Bear
23 Get Right with God* oh my god
Great night, as tntracy mentioned. Good also to meet “boots” from Forum and see “su_gar” from Forum again. Blake did six songs to open, three with Butch stage right in light percussion accompaniment! The last two were covers, Bobby Charles and a chick singer named Williams respectively. Crowd noise was an issue. But when Lu came on, she praised Athens, the pre-renovated venue, REM in retirement, etc etc. Good rockin’ this night, for sure for sure.
@ParkerCA wrote:
@Stoger and TomT I need to get me one of those Black Cain’s shirts next time I go to a show there.
I really liked the one David had on on stage last night. The black one pictured below on the left is the one he had on…
Tom
OK, time for more “stream of consciousness” observations about last night’s show…
I really like the rebuilt Georgia Theatre. The old brick exterior walls (visible from the inside) remained; everything else appeared new. They had a computerized POS system like Track 29 that let them swipe your credit card once, and then you automagically had a running tab at every bar (I think there are three of them – I know for sure there was one downstairs & one up on the rooftop – a REALLY cool spot! – and I think there was one on the balcony level, but I did not go up there to see). There were these three cool ceiling fans in the venue that looked all post-modern industrial, the one in the center was HUGE. The sound was very, VERY good (Lu commented on it several times). The stage was about 4 feet high, and you could stand right up against it & lean your arms on it. (We were right up front, and stage right from Lu, in front of David).
The set list “mixed it up”, in my opinion, even more so than in Chattanooga two nights before. “Soldier’s Song”, “People Talkin'”, “Little Rock Star”, “Seeing Black”, “Those Three Days” (again), as well as repeated performances of the new “Stowaway In Your Heart” & “Tryin’ To Get To Heaven” (I welcomed all three repeats!). Just awesome.
Lu’s voice sounded a bit stronger to me than in Chattanooga; no surprise, since last night followed a day off, while Chattanooga was an almost unheard-of fourth day in a row she performed. The band was great again; special mention needs to be made of Blake’s opening set (which I enjoyed very much – despite the INCESSANT talking during the entire set – even after he politely asked the crowd to listen closely when introducing the fourth song as it was “a quiet one”. He left the stage with a sarcastic – although he didn’t say it that way – “Thanks for being polite & listening…” I felt bad for him). For the first three songs of his set, Butch accompanied him, sitting where David normally stands stage right on this white “percussion seat” that he leaned over and played with various drumsticks or his bare hands. VERY cool, and the added percussion added a lot to those songs, IMHO (I am a big fan of percussion).
Lu wore her dark brown Frye’s “biker boots” again, black jeans, a white & black pin-striped, “busstier”-style blouse, topped off with a denim vest. And, in a first (I believe) fashion report for David, he wore the aforementioned Cain’s Ballroom (Tulsa) black t-shirt. 😉
Lu was in great spirits, chatting it up with the audience between songs. The crowd was VERY enthusiastic and, while there was still some chatting going on, they were at least a bit more respectful towards her and the full band than they were towards Blake & Butch during the opening set. Maybe it was my imagination, but there seemed to be a tad bit more intoxicated folks, at least right around us up front, than at other Lu shows I have been to recently. Maybe the bar had cheap prices; I don’t know, since I no longer drink alcohol. But, with the exception of the aforementioned chatty older chicks right behind me, they were all harmless.
It was nice meeting “boots” for the first time, and then hanging out with her & stoger at the bar on the rooftop after the show. And, it was nice seeing “su_gar” again, also up on the rooftop. A great night all in all; I just wish Lafayette & West Words could have joined stoger & I – it would have been that much more fun & special.
That’s all I can think of to say, other than it was also a somewhat bittersweet night for me as it more than very likely represented the last time I will see Lu perform live for not only the rest of this year, but also a large part of the first of next, given that Lu will not be touring the first half or so of 2012 (per TomO elsewhere in this forum)…
Tom
I like that red shirt also. Very cool!
looks like that red shirt isn’t a shirt but a poster. Would make a cool shirt though.
@ParkerCA wrote:
I like that red shirt also. Very cool!
Yeah, that one is real “old school” looking, like old-timey, block-printed posters…
Tom
Ummm… Just went and saw Bo Ramsey and Pieta Brown open up for Amos Lee. And, guess what happened? The crowd was thin and very, very chatty. It’s a reality thing. If people aren’t going to attend to two very well-known singer-songwriters like this, how in the world are they going to attend to an unknown like Blake? It’s simply setting him up to fail…
I missed being in Athens, hanging with the Horsemen, missing Blake open along with percussion talents of Butch *despite excessive talking*, and of course, missing Lu sing so sweetly.
West Words — thought of you immediately with “Seeing Black” & “Soldier’s Song” on the list.
Athens was Great! I had a blast meeting Tn Tracy and his lovely wife, as well as Stoger, up on the rooftop of the Georgia Theatre.
I agree, that this was a great venue for live music. Athens has an enthusiastic crowd for live music. A definite party crowd. Because of the lack of seating, the floor is a standing only, and makes for a rowdier audience. I met some nice true fans, from Athens, standing on the center left of Lu. About midway thru, a group of very drunk college girls appeared behind us and screamed incessantly . I am not kidding, my right ear is still ringing. Earplugs, next time. But, I enjoy a standing concert, It is hard to sit still when Lu and Band are Cooking. Which they were.
Blake was great, loved Butch, great percussion sound. I thought Lucinda’s voice was strong, and the band sounded great. “Seeing Black” was cool.
TnTracy is right on about the venue details.
Not a bad drive from Atlanta, and I would go there again for a concert.
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