Outlaw Country Cruise- Lu Schedule

Thx for the report!

Last seen by us at pappy and hariette’s, right Tony? Fanatic she is, imbedded on sea and land. I look forward to reports. Meanwhile, I am positioning myself for two additional land reports from the Sunshine State, coming everyone’s way soon.

I apologize for the tardiness and any inaccuracies of this report. Mrs. backstreets and I were running on 4- hours of sleep for about 9 days in a row. We drove from Iowa to Miami for the cruise, figuring that now that we’re retired, a) we have the time to do it and b) to save money. Not sure about the money part as we spent $450+ on gas plus the two extra days of lodging on trip. That’s not to mention the wear and tear on 60+ year old bodies. The cruise itself was incredible, as we were on the go from 1 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. on sea days, and 5 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. on port days. It was a constant that we could be found at 2 a.m. on the deck by the cafeteria eating pizza and having a night cap!

Sorry about the long-winded introduction. To the shows as best as I remember with limited notes (I don’t have stoger’s gift of a steel trap memory, nor his command of language!).

The setlist for 2/26 looks correct, except that she ended with Get Right With God – no encore. Thought the show went very well! She stood the entire show – the boat was rocking a bit (not as bad as it has on prior cruises), but she didn’t seem to have any issues with balance.

The 2/28 pool deck show was rained out. The show was rescheduled to 5 p.m. on Tuesday, 3/1. Following is the setlist:

You can’t rule me
Bleeding fingers
Can’t let go
Crescent city
Changed the locks
Drunken angel
West Memphis
Man without a soul
Pray the devil back to hell
Honey bee (Chris Masterson joined the band for this one)
Joy
Righteously

Wind had to be blowing 40+ mph (excuse me, that should be knots since we’re at sea), which accounted for at least 90% of the issues with the show. Again, she stood for the entire show, but her hair was constantly in her face. About halfway through the show, the wind blew her lyrics monitor over, and the crew was unable to get it working again. From the point forward, the crew had to bring out the lyrics for each song and tape them to her music stand. Also, Lu had a difficult time getting Crescent City started – there were probably 4 false starts with David helping to get her into the right key. Even with the difficulties, she seemed to take everything in stride, and the crowd was certainly with her!

For the guitar pull, Chris Masterson (from the Mastersons and Steve Earle’s Dukes) joined Stuart to accompany her. The setlist (since I didn’t take notes, not sure if 2 and 3 are in the right order):

The night’s too long (Lu was in prime form with her story about how Nashville wouldn’t release this song. Ultimately, she narrowed it down to the word “sweat” and “leather jacket”, saying that apparently they have issues with apparel. Audience was in stiches with the story!)
Big black train (EXTREMELY moving version)
Man without a soul (with the reference now being to the Ukraine situation)

One other note: Buick 6 put on a great 75-minute standalone show to a very appreciative audience. They were playing opposite of Emmylou’s Hot Band’s show (with the likes of Emmylou, Steve Earle, and Rodney Crowell participating), but they drew a decent-sized crowd and put on a hell of a show!

Man, I call this top drawer language from a steel trap mind. Thanks, Mike–er, I mean backstreets. “Crescent City” stood out from the list, and I appreciate the later narrative about its false starts. Buick 6 members are great–standalone or backing. Nash has issues with both apparel and body parts, but enough of that. Who says the “lyrics monitor” is necessary for a set, when that BOOK is there, held in reserve. Thanks for the correction on the Essence show: any non-Essence encore numbers would have been superfluous anyway. chris Masterson, along with his wife and sister-in-law, are top notch pros.

Will we see you and the missus in April?

Outstanding report! Glad you had fun. Crescent City has been problematic before.

Hope it works out. And since I’m too lazy to figure out how to send a private message, could you send me your number, backstreets? My phone imploded with all my contacts. My own phone # isthe same.