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Concerning the fall tour — I live in OKC also. I have never seen Lucinda as a headline in OKC. Usually drive to Dallas or Tulsa to see the love of my life. Last time she came thru we got a 45 min set before Don Henley. She almost made me “come on !!!!!”. This time she is suppose to be skipping her opening slot on the OKC leg for John Mellencamp because she has some prior engagement. With that being said, please put us on your fall tour in one of our great theaters. I will personally make sure everyone I know will go. OKC needs some love from Lucinda. thanks
I saw Lucinda warm up the crowd at Niel Young’s Greendale performance at Germain amphitheater in Columbus Ohio. And yes the crowd was still milling about and hardly anyone was in their seats. But the devoted fans of Lucinda were there enjoying her music and acknowledging one another. There were a group of women to my right totally enjoying her performance just like me.
So I have my tickets to Lucinda opening for John Cougar Mellencamp at Riverbend in Cincinnati. I imagine I’ll watch her perform and then see the beginning of John’s show and stay until I get bored. I don’t really agree with Pit Bull’s comparison of him to Barry Manilow (Thats a Stretch). Not sure what the point of being hostile to other folks musical inerests is but I’ll listen and decide if its entertaining.
Enjoy,
@stevarino wrote:
Not sure what the point of being hostile to other folks musical inerests is
Amen – I have never understood that.
I also personally don’t disdain any musician who elects to let his / her music be used commercially. It’s their work, their product if you will, and their selling it in any way they see fit is their decision. In fact, I have discovered some new artists (for me) that I really enjoy because they elected to gain exposure via a TV commercial. Now granted, an established, well-known artist is a different matter, but still – all I’m saying is if someone wants to make some (more) money with their work, more power to them.
I’m no big fan of JCM (he’s OK – if I was going to his show to see Lucinda, I’d stick around to hear his set), but I’m just saying… 🙂
Tom
Here are two posts from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Lucinda’s Opening Act for John Cougar at Summerfest 2008 on June 28th:
“Lucinda Williams opened for John Mellencamp Saturday Night and created enough drama to keep the crowd’s attention. Never mind the music! Reading song lyrics from a a music stand she performed an uneven set punctuated by bizarre behavior. At one point she walked off the stage to have a discussion with her guitar tech. Another episode included starting and stopping a song twice, and then scolding her drummer for playing the tune too slow. All this in a 40 minute set! I think someone forgot to tell Lucinda that she was opening for John Mellencamp in front of 20,000 people. During this somewhat dysfunctional set an audience member yelled out, “Your acting like Amy Winehouse!” Lucinda, if this music thing doesn’t work out you can always be assured a spot on the next VH1 reality series.” – Rock of The Arts
“Lucinda Williams needs to get over herself! I felt that we were part of her rehearsal session and did something wrong in getting there early to see the opening act. She opened up by saying “thanks for coming early to see your opening act” as if we really didn’t want to be there at all. As stated in an earlier post she was bizarre! After restarting the song twice she said something like “well we F***ed this one up” and never even played the song at all – like we would have even known the drummer might have been a tad slow?. This woman has to realize the reason you get opportunities to perform for larger acts on the road is to introduce yourself and your music to an audience that may otherwise never hear your music or style. I have seen many, many shows in my 44 years of life and this was the worst! Thank god for John Mellencamp he played great as always! ” – Flipper
I’m sure Lu and the band will get tighten things up further on down the road, but you can’t change the fact that when you open for John Cougar you’re playing in front of “MellonHeads” every night.
I have to say, having been at the Neil Young Greendale show in scenic Camden NJ, Pitbull’s right. Many people wandered around largely ignoring Lucinda’s set, it was like seeing a show in a bus terminal.
AND, a Philly “classic rock” station was blasting y’know “classics”, like Mellencamp and Fleetwood Mac etc, from a “party” tent in the courtyard adjacent to the ampitheater (sp?) DURING her set and clearly audible to about 1/2 the seats. When I grabbed an usher and asked him to cut out that junk so we could hear Lucinda he said he couldn’t do that.
I vowed never to return to this shed and we moved up to the first section for Lu’s set.
Of course I agree, to each his own, but to see an artist of Lucinda William’s creative stature open for JCM is a bit like Hendrix opening for the Monkees…
still, it might be a killer show, I might be wishing I’da went. Have fun if yr going.
…reminds of the joke: Drummer says to singer, “how do you want it this time? Too fast or too slow?”
😀I was turned on to Lucinda during Neil Young’s Greendale tour.
Couldn’t really tell you what any other members of the audience were doing
because I was front row and completely enthralled.
But I can tell you I came away wanting to hear more and have been a big fan ever since.Have seen her perform three other times as the headliner since then,
but this will be my excuse to finally see JM.Really looking forward to a new album !!!
And Dan in NJ, I had to lol at “scenic Camden, NJ”…
Saw Bruce there last summer.Hey June Bug. My girlfriend is named “June”. All Junes I’ve ever met are wonderful people, I love that name.
The Greendale show in Camden was great besides the incident described. Lucinda had a little issue at one point. She stopped Drunken Angel and abandoned it, don’t know why (sounded good to me!). June and I saw one from the front row, the recent tour w/ Charlie Louvin, a good show.
My favorite Lucinda show so far was at the Mann Center in Philly—it was brutally hot, but a killer show. That was some band (w/ Taras P., Jim Christie, and Doug P.), seeing it ON like that was unforgettable.
Lucinda can have those issues anywhere and when headlining too. We saw the sold-out Radio City show and she seemed to get very upset that some people front row center got up and left, it rattled her. It didn’t ruin the show or anything but beyond the first row, in the dark was a sold-out Radio City filled w/ rabid fans.
I think her fans accept that she is not an “act” in the classic sense, she’s not “showbiz”. Like Dylan, you take yr chances, because you love the songs so much you want to see them performed live. Dylan’s playing in Aug near me in Asbury Park at Convention Hall—very excited about that.
Seeing an artist that has enriched your life is almost always worthwhile, right? And JM might be a fantastic live act and well worth seeing.
I just hope Lucinda plays a decent amount of time.
I’ll have to check around to see if there are any setlists from the JM shows.I’ve never seen a show at Convention Hall, but have been in the building.
Hope you have a good time!From an eyewitness account…
Posted: Fri Aug 01, 2008 11:08 pm Post subject: Los Angeles – Greek Theater – 7/31
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.”
Thankfully, after tonight this sorry little pairing will be over and done with.
I saw Lucinda last night at the Greek in Berkeley and she was awesome as usual. She was really in a good mood and seemed to have so much fun with the band. Especially when Andy York from Mellencamp’s band came out and played with her. She played 4 new songs from her upcoming album and they we all great. At first the Berkeley crowd was walking around and still getting their seats but after about 3 to 4 songs it was like they finally understood what a treat they were getting and they really got into her performance and she received a full-house applause by the end of the set. I prefer seeing her in smaller settings though the Greek is a great venue. I will be seeing her on her own on 4 Sept in Sacramento at the Crest and can’t wait!
@cyclist911 wrote:
I saw Lucinda last night at the Greek in Berkeley and she was awesome as usual. She was really in a good mood and seemed to have so much fun with the band. Especially when Andy York from Mellencamp’s band came out and played with her. She played 4 new songs from her upcoming album and they we all great. At first the Berkeley crowd was walking around and still getting their seats but after about 3 to 4 songs it was like they finally understood what a treat they were getting and they really got into her performance and she received a full-house applause by the end of the set. I prefer seeing her in smaller settings though the Greek is a great venue. I will be seeing her on her own on 4 Sept in Sacramento at the Crest and can’t wait!
AWESOME!!! I saw Andy side stage in Cincinnati singing along and watching Lu’s entire set. He was really getting into “Joy”. I even pointed him out to Stevarino. He’s probably my favorite musician in Mellencamp’s band these days. He really started to shine on “Trouble No More”, where Mellencamp covered “Lafayette”. Andy made that record with his guitar work.
Do you remember what songs he played with Lu?
I asked my mellenbuds about Andy playing at Berkeley. They, too, said Lu seemed to be in a great mood. It also sounded like Andy played in LA along with Dane Clark, Mellencamp’s drummer, who joined in on cowbell and maracas. Would love to hear more if anyone could offer up any more details.
I wasn’t very familiar with Lu before her tour with John Mellencamp.
The first show I saw was Summerfest and as mentioned in other places, it seemed a bit rough at times. To be honest, I wasn’t impressed with the false starts etc. . . despite some of the problems I decided I liked her voice and some of the songs were catchy.
At the next show I attended I started talking to a Mellencamp fan that I recognized from years past. He informed me that although he would have bought a ticket to see a Mellencamp show anyway, he was more of a Lucinda fan. Since he had seen her live on several occasions I asked him if Summerfest was a typical performance. He said her shows weren’t always polished, but she was so good it didn’t matter. I thought that was interesting and reserved judgement until after the show.
I thought she looked good and her set was very smooth and the audience reaction was more enthusiastic than S’fest. Everyone seemed more energetic and in a good mood.
I decided that I liked Lu’s music and I would be interested in seeing her perform again.
Now it’s a month later and I’m at work and the backgound music penetrates my consciousnes – It’s a Real Love is playing but I can barely hear it over the other noise at work. I’ve only heard it twice but I was sure that’s what I was hearing so I excuse myself and run to the radio and sure enough, Lu is on the display.
Bits and pieces of the song were stuck in my head the rest of the day – little brain worms that won’t leave me alone. As soon as I can I google Lu and try to find what albums RL and Honey Bee and ?Little Rocker Girl? are on. I also wanted to know what song she brought out the silver/gray roses? guitar on, so I go to her website – no Real Love or Rocker Girl (do I have the name of the song wrong?) and I remember her saying that some of the songs she sang were new. I then go to youtube to see if I can find the songs I want to hear and finally I get to hear Real Love so I play it over, and over, and over. . .
Next, I check this forum out to see if I can find more info and I read these threads about her tour with Mellencamp. This purpose of this long, rambling post is to let anyone that cares 😉 know that Lu gained a new fan. I doubt I would have been fortunate enough to see her live if it hadn’t been for the shows this summer.Welcome and thank you for the post, especially knowing you found Lu through the summer tour! Imagine that.
I’m a newbie but feel comfortable enough telling you the songs you are wanting to hear are on her upcoming release “Lil Honey”, slated for an Oct 14 release. Hope that helps.
Also, she is touring behind the record, be sure to check the “shows” link for Sept and October.
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