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WOW, 27 SONGS.
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Review: Lucinda Williams takes Royal Oak show into overtime
By Gary Graff, ggraff@digitalfirstmedia.com,, @GraffonMusic on Twitter
POSTED: 11/23/14, 9:36 AM EST | # COMMENTS
ROYAL OAK — Over 36 years on the road, Lucinda Williams has established a reputation for reliably good, and often great, shows.But her concert on Saturday night, Nov. 22, at the Royal Oak Music Theatre went even beyond what the sell-out crowd could have expected.
On a particularly spirited occasion, Williams and her three-piece band turned in a deluxe 27-song, two-hour and 20-minute edition of their usual show, stretching things out with an extra encore following their usual night-ending cover of Neil Young’s “Rockin’ in the Free World.” “Like Patti Smith said, people have the power. Don’t forget that,” Williams told fans at the end of the Young song, and it was the power of the fan’s response that convinced her the add the extra couple of songs after that.
Had the show finished as schedule, of course, no one would have complained. Williams and company delivered a wide-ranging troll through her catalog, from the rich opening of “Blessed” through honky tonk energy of “Can’t Let Go,” the crunch of “Pineola” and the melancholy majesty of “Drunken Angel.” She also tapped her excellent latest album the two-disc “Down Where the Spirit Meets the Bone,” for five tracks, including a solo acoustic rendering of “Compassion,” a musical adaptation of a poem by her father Miller Williams.
Williams, who kept a lyric book on a music stand to her right, also played solo troubadour on “Plan To Marry” and “When I Look at the World,” while guitarist Stuart Mathis — whose solos provided highlights throughout the night — re-joined Williams for a gorgeous duo treatment of Lake Charles and, later, the Grammy Award-winning “Passionate Kisses.” Amidst the abundance of other highlights were an aching rendition of Gregg Allman’s “It’s Not My Cross to Bear,” a romp through Robert Johnson’s “Stop Breakin’ Down Blues,” a stretched-out closing jam on “Are You Down,” the church-flavored “Get Right With God” and raving rockers such as “Protection,” “Change the Locks,” “Righteously,” “Honey Bee” and “Joy,” with Williams giving props before the latter to Michigan singer Bettye LaVette and her cover of the song.
And then there were the “bonus tracks,” as an ebullient Williams brought the band back on stage for Skip James’ “Hard Time Killing Floor Blues” and her own slinky “Hot Blood.” Toasting her wine glass towards the crowd, Williams walked off without comment, which was just as well — no words could have properly captured the magic that had just happened onstage.
From Setlist FM (tonyg get your RED out if so advised from the imbedded one.)
Blessed
Can’t Let Go
Pineola
Drunken Angel
West Memphis
East Side Of Town
Compassion solo acoustic
Plan to Marry (solo acoustic)
When I Look At the World solo acoustic
Lake Charles
Like a Rose
Side of the Road
Are You Down
Protection
Something Wicked This Way Comes
It’s Not My Cross to Bear
(Gregg Allman cover)
Change The Locks
Essence
Righteously
Honey Bee
Encore:
Passionate Kisses
Stop Breakin’ Down Blues
(Robert Johnson cover)
Joy
Get Right With God
Encore 2:
Rockin’ in the Free World
(Neil Young cover)
Encore 3:
Hard Time Killing Floor Blues
(Skip James cover)
Hot Bloodlwj
@tonyg wrote:
Plan to Marry for sure, right? And the Robert Johnson and Skip James covers? 😕
Maybe the James cover was a tour debut, but the Johnson wasn’t. I’m pretty sure “Like a Rose” deserves the red designation befitting the final word of its title: geez, haven’t heard that one in ages. Hellfire, maybe there really will be FOUR encores one night in Nash–it’s getting close to that plateau. So much for a “tired” Lu walking on in Cleveland: eee haaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!
Thank you all once again, what a wonderful set list…..
West Memphis was my favourite on first hearing the new album, and I have not lost any love for it since.
But my love for When I Look At The World just grows and grows overtime,
what a great one two that and Lake Charles must have been.Sounds like Lucinda and the band are on top form, please tell us we can get the chance to see and hear this sometime soon.
Best tweet to sum up this show:
There’s a good chance #LucindaWilliams isn’t going home tonight. @RoyalOakMusic 😆
I am looking forward to tonight’s Nashville show. Who all is going to be there? Stoger-Hoping to see you. Kelly 😀
From Tom:
“Well this was a night for the books. Given that this was the fourth night of four, when we usually limit Lu to three in a row, just made it all that much more unlikely. At the last minute Lu added a couple songs that were special requests so the set was already a little longer than normal. But once again an incredible audience right from the beginning made the night, and it didn’t seem like it was going to end. It’s been a long time since Lu’s done a third encore, but some rare nights just happen that way. After the second encore Lu was part way down the backstage steps but no one was leaving and they were being very vociferous. At that point there was only one song left in the book (Hard Time Killin’ Floor Blues) and no time to huddle to figure out what to do. At the end of Hard Time Killin Floor, Lu came over to the side of the stage and asked her guitar tech Justin to grab Hot Blood out of the master books -after a couple of frantic minutes he found it while the band was alreadt starting it. As the final notes of Hot Blood, the 27th song of this epic show, were fading out Lu started to wave and walk off the stage, but not before grabbing David Sutton’s mic laughing and saying “Lucinda Williams has left the building”.
Time for a needed day off.4 more songs made their tour debut, bringing the count to 69. (I did subtract one as someone pointed out that This Old Heartache was played in Lexington. “
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