Parker Playhouse Ft. Lauderdale Jan.24, 2015

Outstanding review, here’s the whole blog.

Concert Review: Lucinda Williams at Parker Playhouse
Jan 25th 2015

Perhaps a few lucky South Floridians had the opportunity to see Lucinda Williams play on a cruise ship this past week. For those of who couldn’t afford to board the star-studded Cayamo Cruise, which returned to Fort Lauderdale Friday, Williams treated us to a passionate and dynamic performance at Parker Playhouse Saturday night, her last show before a two-week break, and her first South Florida gig in more than three years.

Dressed in outlaw couture—all black, including leather jacket and boots—Williams drew heavily from her exceptional 2014 album “Where the Spirit Meets the Bone,” along with a smattering of hits and a few surprises that haven’t turned up in any recent set lists. That said, it took her a few songs to find her groove; during the first three tracks, she seemed disconnected from the audience and her own material, glancing far more than expected at the chords—or lyrics?—for songs that she’s played for years.

But even Williams’ workmanlike approach early on didn’t dampen the enthusiasm for the infectious swamp-blues of “Something Wicked This Way Comes,” or the unforgettably acrid punch of “Those Three Days,” a relative rarity on the set list. It helped that her band and the Playhouse’s sound system were pretty darn impeccable, to my ears: Close your eyes at any point, and you’d think you were listening to a live record. Rather than the guitar and bass melding into an indistinguishable sonic mass, you could hear every note from every instrument, absorbing the concert like an audiophile.

(Photo by Yafi Yair)

Once Williams transitioned into a deeply touching set of country-tinged ballads, she must have regained her sea legs. She became more talkative, shedding new light on the origins of “Drunken Angel,” “Compassion” and especially “Lake Charles,” which she prefaced as one of her three “beautiful loser” songs. Spontaneous cries of “thank you!” erupted after that one.

More songs about death, loss, injustice, and transcending these three things continued as the folk and country tunes gave way to a series of rock ‘n’ roll favorites, each of which sounded like a potential closer. The incredible, frenzied jam that concluded “Are You Down?” resulted in a justified, mid-show standing ovation from the majority of the audience. And the positive, anthemic foot-stomper “Everything But the Truth” was blistering and fiery—far better than the recorded version—and “Unsuffer Me” was positively epic, a slow-burning, molten rocker that brought out Williams’ inner head-banger. Again, the sound mix deserves our praise: The room was alive with every isolated thwack of the snare drum.

Williams played two encores, bringing the show to more than two hours. It wasn’t until the last song of the first encore set—the exhilarating tent-revival spiritual “Get Right With God”—that the audience almost unanimously rose to its feet and danced. From there, we stayed upright for the rest of the show, which culminated in a howling Robert Johnson cover and a magnetic “Keep On Rockin’ in the Free World,” sending us home inspired and rejuvenated. Neil Young would have been proud to hear it, and we felt privileged to experience it.

SET LIST

1. Blessed

2. Something Wicked This Way Comes

3. Those Three Days

4. Greenville

5. Drunken Angel

6. West Memphis

7. Compassion

8. When I Look at the World

9. Lake Charles

10. Bus to Baton Rouge

11. Are You Down?

12. Protection

13. Out of Touch

14. Everything But the Truth

15. Unsuffer Me

16. Essence

17. Righteously

18. Honeybee

ENCORE 1

19. Hickory Wind (Gram Parsons cover)

20. Joy

21. Get Right With God

ENCORE 2

22. Stop Breakin’ Down (Robert Johnson cover)

23. Keep on Rockin’ in the Free World (Neil Young cover)

Tags:concert review,lucinda williams,Music,parker playhouse,fort lauderdale

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