NYC City Winery 3.18.16 (Night Five)

The final night of Lu’s residency at the NYC City Winery was one of the most eclectic set lists I can recall. As Stoger said, he did “die and go to heaven again.” SamishSeaMike similarly commented that, “She’s trying to kill us tonight!” Lucinda took the stage and declared that, “We’re going to have a good time tonight.” She delivered on that promise.

– Protection (Lu has a new sparkly copper-colored guitar strap; so pretty as it catches the light, although I always like her snake strap) (She says that she likes “the hoots and hollers” from the crowd and that “any artist will tell you that those rooms and audiences are hard to find.” The audience loves her and she says we are a “combo of listening and rocking.”)
– Pineola (with a shout out to the poet CD Wright, who died last January. I know there is a connection between CD and Frank Stanford, and that Lu and CD were friends (?) or at least Lu was influenced by her, but I don’t know all the details. Stoger?)
– I Just Wanted to See You So Bad (I think about this song when I make my various pilgrimages to her live shows… I’m doing it because I just want to see her so bad 8) )
– RIGHT IN TIME (“Oooh, my baaaby)
– Those Three Days (Goosebumps. The crowd loses its collective mind.)
– Can’t Close the Door on Love (“You’re always right some of the time.” ➡ Great lyric. Afterwards, Lu observes that “I wrote a positive love song!”)
– Ghosts of Highway 20
– When I Look at the World (God, those lyrics.)
– Lake Charles
– BLUE (“See what a quarter will do.” Stuart’s guitar is so delicate and pretty here.)
– Are You Down (I just figured out that Butch’s glass rainmaker instrument for this song goes with the rain lyric… Duh. Oh, and as he shared at the merch table surrounded by Buick 6 groupies (!!), he had a special case made to transport it (he instrument, not the groupies) and that’s why it is has not shattered. The case cost way more than the instrument. Somewhere in here Lu introduces the band as Buick 6 and notes that they are “three guys with the power of six… a triple threat.”)
– Dust
– Out of Touch (Lu busts out her electric guitar. F*cking all hail Stuart.)
– Changed the Locks (The audience goes completely wild; it has become a total, ecstatic love fest for Lu.)
– Essence (Everyone goes inward for this one… So many people in the audience have their eyes closed and are swaying.)
– Righteously
– Joy (again, the crowd loses their minds)
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“Y’all make a Southerner feel right at home!”
– Pale Blue Eyes (“Lu tells the New York crowd that their hometown boy Lou taught her how to do both “sensitive ballads and rock out.” She notes that she is happy that she is finally rising above the limitations of being labeled a country artist or Americana. She also points out her “geeky [lyric] book.” I hope she knows that some other artists may not have a lyric book, but they also don’t have a 40-year catalog and play a different show each night, sometimes responding to a song request made right before a show!)
– Change is Gonna Come
– Rockin in the Free World (David attempts to play bass using his wine glass… he soon abandons the attempt :-))

I usually like to be as close to the stage as humanly possible without actually being part of the band, but tonight I was a bit farther out and, I must say, the sound was phenomenal. We sat near the sound engineer and it made a huge difference. I may need to rethink my concert strategy (but probably won’t). Lucinda and the band are on fire. Fangirl, out.