El Rey Shows 11/22 and 11/23

@tonyg wrote:

Shit. Musta been a wine moment. I’ll fix it.

Major screw up.

Not really, tonyg. 😀 Just something any one of us other old farts could have done as well. Thanks for rescanning the ol’ memory banks & adding the missing songs. I just updated the setlist over at setlist.fm as well…

Tom

I think this is a nice fitting way to end Tour 2011 with such an enthusiastic fan dancing to “Joy” at the El Rey.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivucsFaJtlA

While I’m at it, a big thank you to all the following for performing > 110 gigs this year.
Lucinda, Tom, Butch, Blake, David,Eileen, Nick + the rest of the roadie crew.

With honorable mention to Dylan L., Val M., Amos L., OTR and of course the Friendly Forum reporters.

Take a well deserved rest and Happy Thanksgiving.

lwj

Thanks fior the report & setlist, tonyg. You get an extra cookie for spelling out the entire title of “Real Live Bleeding Fingers and Broken Guitar Strings”… 😉

This setlist has been posted at setlist.fm…

Tom

This was my favorite Lucinda Williams show to date.
Yes I said it. And I’ve seen a few….

Her voice sounded amazing.
I remember thinking how great she sounded at the beginning, but by Drunken Angel I turned to Tom Overby and said “…this sounds amazing” and he said “yes it really does” in that confirming acknowledgment, that only comes from someone who sees her every night… I just knew the rest of the night was going to be stellar and it was nothing short.

Pineola – God I love this song. From the rasp of Lu’s voice, to the kick snare snap of butches entrance to the song, to the tasty little guitar licks, it always delivers hard, like a bullet to the chest and at such a slow tempo. Perfect opener.

Drunken Angel – Considering I had one too many the night before and Lu ended up being my evenings Angel this song had tons of meaning for me last night. I’m still getting used to Blake and this guy really is amazing. For sure, one of my new favorite players. I love how even WITHOUT the sound of this songs classic electric 12 string in the arrangement, Blake and Lu brought this song new life without it. It was really well performed, fluid and the melody was spot on.

The tempo and mood of the “first program”, seemed to me, to be a slower, more acoustically focused set of arrangements, this lasted for like 11 numbers but the evening just soaked them up. They were so beautifully performed with the band so spot on. Each member listening so closely to each other executing each note with such precision. Sometimes you see just how great players are when they play slow and this band plays like they’ve known each other forever.

The first surprise in the evening, came in a new Lucinda song that she said hadn’t been recorded yet.
Stowaway in Your Heart – I loved it. Instantly indentified wtih the lyrics and loved the song construction. This is one is gonna be one to look out for. Can’t wait.

Ventura – Just awesome. Such a beautiful melody and Lucinda delivered it. I of course have my favorite lines…”..put Neil Young On”…”Lean over the toilet bowl and throw up my confession”, I’ve always loved how poetic, and unapologetic Lucinda has always been with her writing. I instantly identify with her and she takes me to a higher existential place. And last night she swallowed me up in an ocean of love”

With World Without Tears and Blue, I found myself signing along as usual but
“Born To Be Loved” and “Blessed” had me thinking how important this last album is.
Lucinda has really stepped out and honored humanity in these lyrics. If these songs don’t heal wounds and or help those who’ve lost their way, then no song ever will. I could almost imagine my mother singing these songs to me and I finally stopped feeling like the only songs being written today are by a class of ignorant narcissists. Thank you Lu.

Still I Long For Your Kiss – Acted like a lighter hearted transition to the rockers. It was like Lu was DJ’ing her set and getting me ready for the rockers.

Real Live Bleeding Fingers and Broken Guitar Strings – Had its classic “fuck yeah, fist pumping head rockin’ vibe”, But Essence had a new slower darkness to its overall tone thanks to Blake. Its like Blake heard all the coolness of the previous guitar parts and just added a stack of edgier grit and tone to it.

“Changed The Locks” As always kept the party rockin, another of my wifes favorites who just loves to jump up when she hears it. Of course at this point we needed a blues breather and the Allman brothers classic “It’s Not My Cross To Bear” did just that. Blake Mills once again having a great number to stretch out his chops.
The night was so powerful that songs like “Joy” and “Honey Bee” who usually just steal the show seemed not as large as usual. But still great they added that wow I am really getting my monies worth tonight because there isn’t a killer song here. Just awesome way to end the rockers and get us ready for the encore.

The encore was really in all honesty way more than an encore. It was another mini set.
Encore to me usually means 3 or so more songs because you’ve been such an appreciative audience. Truth is Lucinda had gratitude and support for the working class and wanted to show her support for those standing up to the occupy wallstreet movement across the country. And Lucinda is no late comer to supporting working class values. The set she brought was as I hear a shortened set from what she delivered in San Francisco a few nights earlier.
Encores:

I Ain’t Got No Home In This World Anymore (Lu Solo) (Woody Guthrie)
Amazing how people sang along and how great just she and guitar filled the room.

Factory (Springsteen) She dedicated this to her husband Tom’s father who worked in a factory for over 30 plus years. I’m not that familiar with the original and will need to listen to it this week while her performance is fresh but the band and her made it their own and sounded full to me.

Marching The Hate Machines Into The Sun (Thievery Corp.) This is one of those covers of Lu’s that impresses me with her courage to take on anything and recognize the inner beauty of not only the core melody but the power of a song.

Bone of Contention. Perfect placement of something Lucinda has written that went well with the theme of this Encore SET.

Salt of The Earth (Jagger/Richards) At this point I just felt so happy to be seeing this I was wondering just how was Lucinda going to bring the night to the end and of course she did it with the soulful R&B groove “Inner City Blues” by Marvin Gaye. Of course her point was how relevant the song was to the current economic issues at hand today and it was a perfect close to a working class issues inspired set.
Dave nailed the groove on bass and Blake amazed me with his R&B strat funkiness but I just remember saying to myself…right on sister… Thank You!