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Lucinda Williams opened for John Mellencamp last week in Boston. Williams played news songs to those few, but excited fans that arrived at the concert early. Mellencamp was able to mix new songs with old songs while keeping the crowd entertained the whole concert. There is a review of this concert on the Country Standard Time Website at: http://www.countrystandardtime.com/concertreviews.asp. Check it out!
Well having saw Lucinda Williams in Lowell I was glad that it wasn’t with John Cougar. Lucinda belongs as a headliner and shouldn’t be backing up ANYONE! Also,though I enjoyed the Lowell show immensely,Lu does not need to be doing other peoples songs especially AC-DC !
Sorry for that negativity but I can’t stand AC-DC and to hear my favorite female artist cover them is painful! I hope to see her again this fall sometime when the new CD comes out! JDI was actually disappointed she didn’t play “Long Way to the Top” in Cincinnati. I’m not an AC/DC fan either, but it is a rockin’ song, and if Lucinda picked it, I’m sure she enjoys it. I bet The Chet and Doug Pettibone sound great jamming out the tune.
As far as whether she is the opening act or the headliner, I’ve seen her both ways, multiple times, and have enjoyed every opportunity to see her perform. Her manager Tom Overby is just trying to expand her fan base, which can only be a good thing. I remember my Xtieth High School reunion after the Neil Young Greendale Tour talking to my friends who I saw at the show more about how good Lu was, than about the weirdness of Neil’s show.
It was also clear to me at Riverbend that the stands and lawn were mostly full and the fans were watching the show, not milling around and talking. I’m sure Lucinda picked up quite a few new fans here, just ask Lafayette. I left shortly after her performance so that other guy didn’t bother me one bit – LOL.
I attended yesterday’s show at the Greek. It was unfathomable to me that the theater was about 75% empty while Lucinda performed, and that many who had made it their seats were milling about, chatting, and generally indifferent to Lucinda.
Lucinda told the audience that she had much the same base of fans as Mellencamp, but I don’t think so. Honey Bee was torrid – tight, intense, and mesmorizing. It made me sweat. Yet half way through, the couple seated next to me went for beer. Real Live Bleeding Fingers versus R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A. Most in attendance missed or ignored the first, and swooned at the second. I went for beer half-way through R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A., an above average, nostalgic, pop song, for sure, but I needed a couple of beers to recover from Lucinda’s blistering set.
Lucinda should open for Springsteen. She’s one of the few artists who could complement his concerts. Bruce fans would adore her on first note. They are used to literate lyrics, appreciate blues and rockabilly and country-western; and are comfortable sweating at a concert. (Lucinda made me sweat yesterday.) Neil Young also would work for a dual-bill.
Mellencamp was a bad match. He has too many pop rock fans who come to see John Cougar. Lucinda is too raw, too powerful, and too unfiltered for them.
I’m surprised to hear that the Greek Theater was not filled with Lu fans. I’m fairly new to this forum but I thought for sure since Lu is based in LA this would be HER crowd. I’ve been to 5 shows on this tour (opening for Mellencamp) and 3 out of those 5 shows had an above average audience in attendance when she hit the stage IMO.
As far as her opening for Mellencamp and it not being the right match, and, don’t get me wrong,I’m certainly not here to defend him as this is a LU forum, but I can say as a die hard fan, John’s first two shows on this leg he tried to craft a set list that I refer to as artsy. People were sitting in their seats until he broke out his “pop” hits for the last 5 or 6 songs of the evening.It wasn’t working for him so he went back to his setlist from the fall. Of course, this is my opinion, and not fact but I’m pretty sure from following him all these years that’s what happened.
I think the new material on his latest release, if he had performed them in the manner they were recorded, is very well suited to Lu’s style. I went to the first 3 shows of this leg, and it was in Jones Beach, after Milwaukee and Philadelphia, that she started telling the crowd that she felt like her and JM shared the same fan base. You should have seen the crowd in Detroit and Cincinnati…it was phenomenal, especially Detroit.
It’s a bummer to hear the crowd wasn’t there in LA. I hope Berkley is better.
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