Greek Berkeley Show

HI y’all. I’m new to this board (I do most of my posting on one of Patty Griffin’s boards–any Patty fans here?) but I went to Lu’s show, so I thought I’d write up a short review.

She was AWESOME!!!! OK, is that short enough?

First, just so you can judge my review, I’ve seen her live maybe 10 – 12 times, so I’m not one of those die hard go to every show fans, but I’m a pretty big fan. She was in great form. She sang quite a few songs without playing her guitar, did mostly rocking / bluesy stuff, and got a really good response from the audience. After Joy, she exhorted, “That’s fucking rock and roll!”

She didn’t talk a lot, but enough to at least give people unfamiliar with her a bit of her personality. I don’t know if it was sincere, but she appeared to really like the venue, and there weren’t any problems like there were in other places (apparently, from what I’ve read here in other threads). She also said that the new CD should be out in October. Cooooooooolll! My boyfriend and I ended up taking a friend because my roommate couldn’t go at the last minute. My boyfriend and his friend are both Brazilian, and they both loved her. We’re going to the Mountain Winery show in a few weeks as well, and we have extra tickets, but she may end up going with her boyfriend, she liked her so much.

Anyway, the setlist was:
1. Real Love (I love this new song)
2. Tears of Joy (another new song, very bluesy, which I tend to like less, but that’s just me)
3. Right In Time
4. Drunken Angel (a great version!)
5. Little Rock Star (a fantastic new song–I can’t wait to hear that one)
6. Essence (one of my favorites, thanks Lu!)
7. Real Life Bleeding Fingers
8. Honey Bee (a real crowd pleaser)
9. Joy
10. Righteously
11. A Long Way to the Top if You Want to Be a Rock and Roll Star (or something like that–a cover, right? AC/DC?

The only complaint I had was that she didn’t play long enough! 🙂 Also, I know that for a large venue like that, and especially for people coming mainly to hear John Mellencamp (who was also great, BTW), it was smart of her to focus on her more rocking, bluesy stuff, but I really missed hearing some of her slower songs and older songs. I adore West and it was too bad that she didn’t include any of those songs, though I’m sure at some point she’ll start playing them again.

Anyway, I hope you all have a chance to catch her on this tour or maybe behind the new CD. She’s nothing if not authentic.

Kevin