- This topic has 12 replies, 11 voices, and was last updated 16 years ago by
.
-
Posts
-
Do we all love Lu in spite of her “flaws”, or do those quirks make her more human and endearing? Lucinda’s emotional quality as an artist is what draws many of us to her (like moths — or junebugs — to the flame), but is her potential for an unpredictable performance what keeps other fans at a distance and limits her future? I wonder if she cares at all about this. Should we apologize for her, try to “explain” her… or just say, well, that’s Lu?!… We all love Lu. But does that mean she can do no wrong? Is there anything we can’t overlook?
Among the constantly recurring themes in posts old and new — starting with the very mildest observations (are there any i missed?):
“The Book” — Some are shocked at the front and center presence of the lyric book! How can the artist who wrote these amazing songs — her children! — need this crutch? It IS a surprise when you first notice it.
False starts — It’s remarkable when Lu gets through an entire concert without restarting a song. Of course she can keep the entire audience in the palm of her hands, as in this video from the NYC Town Hall shows last fall:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=artjAo-AJxo“Curfew” issues/starting late — It’s not a dive bar she’s playing these days — with just the bartender and wait staff hanging around till all hours! Union labor is expensive, and apparently overtime can’t be afforded, so it’s a shame when the “C” word is used.
Melting… and F-bombs — Since (unfortunately) I haven’t seen this year’s shows, I’m only hearing what is posted here, but it truly sounds like some folks ARE being alienated. Dedicated, passionate fans will let a rant roll off their shoulders, but it’s not hard to understand why some who otherwise admire her, feel they are being dissed at a show. Forget parental warnings — how about audience warnings? (Beware: it’s possible you could have an unpleasant experience!) Think of bringing someone new to a show, and then having to say, well, sorry, you really should see her on a good night… It’s harder for a performer in her mid-50s to get away with tantrums.
But — hey — with Lu, maybe you do have to inform the unsuspecting that you are seeing an artist at work. Maybe this is like seeing a sculptor working a hot foundry. Her stage is the foundry and it can be dangerously hot (not just in temperature). Sometimes the artist gets burned and yells; sometimes the equipment doesn’t work right. Lucinda, live, is always creating — and the creative process is often messy. Do we, the Ticketmaster-paying fans, have any right to preconceptions about how it’s going to be? Maybe we are privileged just to see that process unfold in front of us…
My own thoughts on all of this — The Book: I could care less… hardly even notice it. False starts: No problem — it’s got to sound right to her. She’s said “welcome to the rehearsal” before! Curfew: please don’t shortchange a performance because of a late start… or just announce that it is a short show and say no more. Melt-downs: I am compassionate and sympathetic to whatever is going on in that moment — or in her life — but I might have to cringe at a barrage from the stage (and sadly might regret bringing someone to their first Lucinda show… which would be a shame).
I predict she’s not gonna change much. She yam what she yam. Does that limit her audience? Does it matter? I’ll keep going to her shows whenever I can, ready for anything. It could turn out to be a great night, and even if it’s not I’ll always feel fortunate to hear this great singer-songwriter-artist live.
Personally I think this topic gets WAY too much discussion in this forum. Can Lucinda do wrong? – Absolutely. Is her behavior some times less than professional? – Absolutely.
“The Book? – Its odd but only occasionally distracts from the performance.
“False Starts” or flubbing lines – Its not that uncommon, Jack Johnson is famous for this and his fans actually like the “uniqueness” of the show they got to see, and cheer the errors.
“Starting Late” – Always an irritant, and way too common for live shows, but I’ve never had this issue at one of her shows.
Will any of this affect whether I buy tickets to a show, buy an album, listen to her music, or recommend her music to friends? – Absolutly not!!!
Ray, that is a fantastic posting. Great job. I agree with you that she won’t be changing. After seeing about 25 shows in the last two years, the bar has definetly been lowered.
As for “The Book,” I don’t really have a problem with it. I much prefer her approach to Dylan’s, where he uses lyric sheets on his keyboard but acts as if they don’t exist. Arguably, the lyric sheets are one of the reasons he’s moved from guitar to keyboard in the past few years…and if that’s true, that’s a shame. I do think it borders on ridiculous how much she uses the lyric sheets, but I don’t think it detracts from the performance.
Restarting songs doesn’t bother me too much. It’s a little annoying when it happens several times in a show, but if the other option is a subpar performance of the song, restarting it makes sense.
Starting late does annoy me when there’s a curfew involved, and I posted on this subject on another thread recently. I’ve felt that Lucinda performed long enough at every show I’ve attended – ~2 hours is certainly reasonable – but it annoys me that they play venues with 11:00 curfews and don’t come on stage until around 9:00, effectively making it impossible for her to perform longer even if she wanted to.
The rants don’t really bother me. If she did something like walk off stage mid-show, that would be extremely unprofessional, but frankly I think the rants can lead to more passionate performances.
What’s the problem with the book? Sure some artists can remember the words to hundreds of songs and never slip up – on the other hand some can’t.
I write songs myself and occasionally perform them and I have great difficulty remembering the words or the order of the verses in a few of my songs. I sometimes use a crib sheet live with the first words of each line on it, I reckon that’s better than mangling the songs.
Also, remember that classical musicians play from music scores rather then memorising everything, isn’t this the same thing?
As for the false starts, there are two ways to go if you make a pig’s ear of a song – keep going and try to ride it out or stop and start again – either way people are going to notice so it is really up to the performer which they choose and we all know which Lucinda prefers. As for why the false starts happen, I put it down to the same cause as the book, a dodgy memory – if you can forget the words, you can forget the chords as well!
Late starts and curtailed shows is the least forgivable of the four for me. This shows a lack of professional courtesy for the people that have paid (usually over the odds) to see her perform. I’m not going to defend her for this.
Which brings me to the meltdowns and f-bombs. While I agree that this can be off-putting for some, I see this as a part of Lu’s personality, part of what makes her so great. She pours her heart into her songs and her performances, laying herself so open that her emotions are barely in check. I enjoy this aspect of her. I am awestruck by the amount of herself that she gives in every song. If the downside to this is that she is less able to cope with technical issues, audience heckling, etc. to me that is a small price to pay.
I love the rants, although I do cringe a little. It shows the human side, I love the F bombs…too many bands get on, go through a cookie cutter set, and that is it every night of every tour.
Good thread. I’ve made my thoughts clear on these topics on some show review threads, so I won’t repeat myself but to say that none of this bothers me in the least. The only exception would be a short set due to a late start combined with a venue curfew (something I have not experienced if my memory serves). That would be a shame to me because it would reduce the amount of Lu’s live music I get to see / hear – none of the others do! 😉
Tom
Good post, Ray. I find it interesting that only guys have responded to this thread so far. (I’m assuming Philthy that you’re a guy).
To me, after seeing many shows, the fire is just not there with Lucinda anymore. She was at her peak from 2003-2005, she had a chance to really break thru. She had an outstanding band, and she would come on stage most nights and say something like, “we’re going to play our asses off for you tonight”, or “We’re going to play as long as they let us tonight” and they usually did! It was amazing to see her so driven and in love with the music. She’s just too distracted now onstage. She’s done things that show disrespect for her audience. I remember last March when she was playing Radio City in NYC. It was a big gig for her, but she didn’t take the stage until 9:30. People waited a long time after The Heartless Bastards set. Of course she had to stop at 11 because of a curfew and she made it seem like it was the venue’s fault. Also, early in the set, a couple left their seats, (I have a recording of this show) and Lucinda starts ranting, “There are two seats available up front here. Two people just left. You know, I’m trying my best; I can only do the best I can”, and her voice was shaky. The couple later came back, the woman probably had to use the restroom and the guy went out with her, but Lucinda blew it up into this issue when it was nothing.
Another thing that happened last year was in Sweden. I also have a recording of this show. It was in Malmo. She comes on stage late, and she’s apologizing to the crowd. “Sorry for being late, the door to the bus got stuck and I couldn’t get off.” Immediately a man in the crowd shouts out, “Yeah, that’s the same excuse you used last night!” The previous night she played in Stockholm and didn’t figure that someone would travel to the next show. These are facts and show her insincerety at times to her audience.
When I had a ticket to one of her shows in years past I alway expected a real good show. Sadly, that is no longer the case. If I have a ticket nowadays I can only hope to see a real good show. they are fewer and far between now.I can be the female voice weighing in here.
My first Lu show was the John Mellencamp show in Milwaukee at Summerfest. I witnessed two false starts, an abandoning of the song, along with apologies, among other instances that made me feel like I was at a rehearsal and not a concert . I later read the circumstances behind what I had witnessed on stage that night (no rehearsal time, missed flights, etc.). I have to say I have NEVER witnessed anything like it before (not that I’m a seasoned music fan attending many many shows but I have been going to concerts for many years now) and I am sure it has happened/happens with countless musicians. It was distracting for me, though, to sit through Lu’s set that night. I honestly thought she was going to walk off the stage at one point. HOWEVER, I gave her another shot ( I already had tickets) and the remaining 4 times I saw her were absolutely stellar. They were near perfect. Prompt start times and the music flowed. After joining this forum, I have come to understand the things that happens while she is on stage and can accept that now that I know. It’s LU, right? HOWEVER, for someone seeing her for a first time, and witnessing uncharacteristic behavior on stage from a seasoned professional musician, well those in attendance might not be so forgiving IMHO.
It is interesting, I think, audience takes on shows compared to what the die-hard fans see which leads me to this blog I found on the Radio City show ( I was even more interested in finding something on this since “The Heartless Bastards” are Cincinnati based). Not sure if this was ever posted before or not, it’s a fairly long blog with video clips from the show. He never mentions the blurb about the couple leaving so apparently it didn’t disturb him.
http://oxypoet.blogspot.com/2007/03/heartless-bastardslucinda-williams-live.html
If I am watching an inspired concert, I can take all the false starts, late starts, meltdowns, etc.
I saw a concert last week here in Oregon. I was completely disappointed in her lack of fire. Her performance was totally uninspired. The previous Lucinda concert I saw was not as flat, but it was much less exciting than earlier ones.
My wife and I began looking at the clock, and walked out during the encore. I wondered if this is a trend – so I looked up this forum to see.
I hope she was just having an off night. She is so good when she is on.
I saw Lucinda play live for the first time at the Catalyst show 8/31.
IMHO she was completely wasted, and delivered the lyrics of the first part of the set with as much enthusiasm as a teenager being forced to read aloud in class.
I was shocked to see her read the lyrics, and to give off such a could-care-less vibe—I thought she might A) pass out or B) leave the stage
As a performer, I felt it was irresponsible to her audience for her to show up so late, loaded and lame.The show did improve somewhat, and the band got the energy up, especially the great drummer.
But, after 20 years of listening to her music—Seeing her live, I expected more heart, more presence. I don’t know what was wrong or if it was a fluke. I sought out this forum because it has continued to disturb me.
She’s back in SF in November and I was wondering if I should give it another chance. If this is par for the course, I’ll stay home.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.