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why does Lucinda use a cheat sheet with the lyrics during the show – at least she did Saturday in Boston? Seems very odd. Any ideas?
You hit a certain age and the memory banks aren’t what they used to be. Doesn’t hurt to have a safety net. 😉 It’s one of the prevailing theories as to why Dylan no longer plays guitar live – – it’s easier to have the lyrics in front of him on the keyboards.
Well, is that response based on anything or just a thought? I think i can onl8y remember a very few instances where i’ve seen someone use lyric sheets. And i’ve seen some older guys perform too like George Jones, Willie, The Who, the Stones, etc. It just seemed really odd.
well the other night she mentionde after a request, that now she has so many songs it is hard to choose songs for the list. i see her lyric sheets more like a poet using a notebook at a poetry reading and there is nothing out of the ordinary with that. that book of hers is thick like a phone book, should anyone expect her to memorize everything she has ever written? i don’t think the lyric promt takes anything away from the music.
@countryst wrote:
Well, is that response based on anything or just a thought? I think i can onl8y remember a very few instances where i’ve seen someone use lyric sheets. And i’ve seen some older guys perform too like George Jones, Willie, The Who, the Stones, etc. It just seemed really odd.
It’s more common than you think. Several artists use teleprompters that you don’t notice from the audience. They look just like any ordinary stage monitor. At least Lu is open about the fact she has them. I’d rather her have the cheat sheets then constantly flub the lyrics. Of course even with the cheat sheets she still flubs the lyrics from time to time..
I believe she mentioned recently that she truly wants to provide the absolute best experience for her audience, and doesn’t want to ever flub a lyric, so she resorts to the sheets when needed.
When I saw the great Tom Waits a few months ago I noticed that he was using a teleprompter as well, sorta hidden, right in front of him on the stage (basically looked like an audio monitor).. he gazed at it quite a bit, but seemed to use it more to refresh his memory about the upcoming lines, and he didn’t so much just read from it.
In both cases (Lu and Tom, both at the Tabernacle in Atlanta), I felt privledged to be seeing such a great artist perform in person, and could not have cared less about the lyrics help. Both performances were stellar.
the biggest difference in lucinda’s reading of the lyrics is she has the lyriic book on a music stand instead of a teleprompter that looks like a stage monitor wedge or buried in the platform of the stage. the last couple of years the dead had the teleprompter screens flush with the stage. i’m pretty sure they copied that from another large act, might have been the rolling stones but i’m not certain on that one. she is far from the only performer who uses a refresher. but she does draw attention to it when she flips through the pages for the next song. after hearing bob weir fuck (can i say f$ck here? i got censored for saying a$$ in a previous post) up lyrics forever, i have no problem with her glancing at the book.
I saw Loretta Lynn recentyl and sure she flubbed lyrics but at least she had her dignity.
I was really embarassed to see Lucinda using lyrics sheets. The only other person I’ve seen use one was Courtney Love (circa 2004 at the height of her second drug problem).
It wouldnt have been so bad if it wasn’t that she was obviously reading them line by line. And to boot, she actually did flub the lyrics (no beer smokin).
I’d rather her be more spontanious and less concerned with a perfect show. Perfect shows are boring. If I wanted perfection I’d listen to the cd.
@countryst wrote:
why does Lucinda use a cheat sheet with the lyrics during the show – at least she did Saturday in Boston? Seems very odd. Any ideas?
She has done that for all of the approximately 25 shows I’ve seen her. Other than the blatantly obvious, why is all speculation. Lu likes security & perfection. The music stand enables both.
The lyric sheets don’t bother me when Lucinda uses them – as others have said, at least she’s honest about it. And if it means she’s willing to oblige a request from time to time that she wouldn’t do otherwise, I’m in favor of it. At least she doesn’t allow the need for lyrics to change the overall sound of the show like Dylan does (assuming that the need for the lyrics is the main reason for his switch to piano).
edited to add: ha! Not five minutes after I posted this, I looked up the setlist for Dylan’s first show of his European tour, and apparently he played guitar on the first seven songs. So much for that theory.
I am certainly not an expert on the subject, but at the Jax show Lu used her NYC yellowpage sized lyric book during her performance…and she mentioned as a couple others here mentioned, she has alot of songs…and cannot afford or haven’t advanced to the teleprompter age yet. It seems like most bands use some sort of crutch to keep the show going…and some are more comfortable on stage…so I don’t feel she should be criticized for it…especially since she is very open about it. Even though she had the page turned to the current song, she refered to it more on the songs she doesn’t play as often…although on a couple songs she seemed to be standing there reading rather than playing to her audience. I just feel she is a perfectionist and really wants her music to sound very similar to her studio music. She also mentioned that her new band is still learning some of the songs, so be patient with them. I feel she does puts on a great performance once she gets settled in with the crowd, sound system, and surroundings. Seems like she sticks pretty much to the planned setlist prepared for the region she is in…but tends to take a couple requests. Hopefully Lu will plan some additional concerts to some areas so everyone gets the chance to see her tour.
flightbag89 wrote:It seems like most bands use some sort of crutch to keep the show going…and some are more comfortable on stage…so I don’t feel she should be criticized for it…quote]I don’t feel she should be criticized for it either but after seeing 75 concerts each of the last 2 years & with over 1200 concerts in my lifetime I can tell you your first assertion is so absolutely wrong it begs the question: who the heck have you seen that make such an outlandish statement? 😯
well, last night in Albany Lu addressed the lyric prompt issue and pretty much mentioned everything we have all said here in defense of the lyric prompt. I guess the only people that complain about it are the critics. 🙄
Coming from a musician, my quick take is…once you record a song, you tend to forget it. You move on to other material.
Now…if you’re playing this song live, or someone requests a song you haven’t done in a while…it’s easy to forget arrangements, lyrics, guitar parts…etc.
A cheat sheet doesn’t bother me in the least.
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