Sac show a disappointment as a first time Lu show

Davidinmain-
You fired the first hostile shot:
“Just be ready for the occassional rabid LW fan to take one’s venting out of context, Howa. That’s a common behavior of a fanatic–go bombastic on a balanced perspective or vent.”

(rabies – the source of the word rabid)

I was trying to be funny, not mean-spirited or confrontational.

Tom –
Tell Lu that I brought 2 new fans with me to the show in Sac and they’re hooked. They’ll be coming with me to the Fillmore.

…and we want to hear Changed the Locks!

A few final comments:

1. Tom—LW has not been playing 18-20 song sets regularly especially as an opener for JM. I remember years ago when her encores were often longer than her original set. Somerville Theater with Kenny Vaughn and Jim Lauderdale is good example of that among many other shows. When she finds her groove there is no stopping her.
2. I think it is important to define what is considered “older” music. Many long-time fans think pre CWOGR represents the heart of her catalog. What’s more, she captured many, many of her latest fan-base as a result of CWOGR and the associated media support. Before that time, us fans were often referred to as “a cult-like following” by the press (Village Voice, etc). It’s perfectly OK that I am not a big fan of her newer releases and “sound.” After all, Gurf Morlix and Charlie Sexton and Bo Ramsey and Kenny Vaughn and Doug Pettibone all have different “sounds” as do the hands of the producers and final polishing efforts in terms of whoever masters the record. There are light years that separate her early albums and CWOGR.
3. No need to get too, too defensive (curious is the undertone of defensivness—why undercut my comments? Are they not valid as well? Should they just be discounted and undermined? If so, why? If not, why?). I have read every review that I could find that has been published during the past twenty years (both “real” and organic) and my opinions reflect many of the professionals (and fan-base) as well. Many individuals really enjoy LWs morphing direction while others don’t. That’s natural as change is inevitable—it’s the only thing we all share—constant change.
4. Who ever stated that dbs comment is now a “standard.” I thought it was a very interesting comment especially in consideration of dbs efforts as an artist, philanthropist, musician, former label-owner, budding engineer, and entrepreneur—currently he and BE have side-stepped the entire recording industry (which is shrinking anyway) and are managing the release/distribution of their lastest recording via the web (www.everythinghappens.com). During the first day when a free download was made available (Strange Overtones) over 40,000 individuals grabbed the freebee. Perhaps his comment is reflective of the thought and energy he puts into what he does—that’s all. Perhaps his comment was authentic of a professional musician and not worth sweeping aside. Arguably speaking, where would we be without Talking Heads musically? And it looks like we will be thanking him for his pioneering efforts in helping artists in getting their music distributed and making money at the same time. The current model is not working–look at CD sales and store closings for example. His latest tour is going to be Songs of David Byrne and Brian Eno–you don’t like those songs, don’t bitch if you go to the shows. Simple, really.
5. What would you say if I was a “real” critic? What definition are you using? Sure, I am not a paid publicist out to “promote” her latest record/sound but I could never do that job. Sure, I am not a “fan” who visits this site who has been listening to her new records and is absolutely in love with her sound and setlists. I do my research before going to a show because I am that into it. And as I said, I am not going to travel—like I always do—to catch a few shows because I am not in love with what she is playing now. I am sure you have read the reviews of LATF—not all stellar that’s for sure. And that’s OK. There have been many Elvis Costello tours that I have missed for the same reason—not in love with his latest sound and so forth. But be assured, there have been many LWs tours where I have filled up my car and traveled around to catch her wherever possible (Montreal, Cleveland, New Orleans, Boston, NYC, Buffalo, NH, MPLS, Milwaukee, Chicago) and so forth. And I have promoted her albums/persona to no end—she is awesome and the best. I trust my critical ears and know what I like, what I am doing, and what I am hearing.
6. Everybody’s opinion is valid unless they demean or swear or are hostile, etc. Of course the forum is going to be primarily super-positive because it attracts super-fanatic fans. It’s only natural. There is still room for those of us who have been around long before Lost Highway, when LW was playing in support of her early records when Gurf used a half-empty Budweiser bottle to create his swampy steel-sounding Gibson guitar that transported us all instantly to Grant Street Dance Hall in Lafayette. Sure, LW and DP do that today and do a darn good job of it. But please, don’t try to take away my perspective. It’s as valuable as anyone else’s here. I’m not taking jabs at anyone and expect the same in return. Just taking a learned approach to my love of Americana and Heritage music. And who are the monikers of this sound?—nobody could argue that LW is at the top of the list. I am just giving up my seat at the concerts for someone else for the time being. That’s all.

IbU: You are exactly correct–and I apologize. My choice of words can easily be interpreted as harsh (why I used rabid is beyong me–it sounded OK at the time but should have not been used–it’s easy to see why you took offense to that). I am glad you reposted as it gives me a chance to apologize.

In an effort to reword, I have been following this board since it went up on the old website and have frequently seen postings that get belittled when they question a recording, performance, or quality etc when it is an entirely appropriate thing to do–especially when the recording, etc in question deserves a bit of a critique. That’s what I was pointing to. I do a bring a different prespective to her music as I have a long-standing streak. I realize some long-standing streakers love her new concert sound, I am just not one of them. I guess I suffer from a critical eye and ear. As I mentioned above, I love her music and always will. She opened the door to many different things for me. Anyway, thanks for the clarification. Here is one review that might serve as a summary of what I am point towards. Notice the way the author describes her different sound…

Review: Lucinda Williams
The Salt Lake Tribune
Article Last Updated: 06/23/2007 02:31:08 AM MDT

Trying to pin a simple label on Lucinda Williams’ songs is a fool’s game.
As soon as you call her “country,” Williams will break into a swanky blues walk. When you think you have her pinned down as a folkie, she’ll lead her band into a rock tune. Williams herself realizes just how tricky she is to define. At one point at her Friday concert on the University of Utah campus, she introduced “Get Right with God” as the song that won her a “Best Female Rock Vocal” Grammy, before adding, “It’s anything but a rock song.”

Friday’s show, though, was a rockier affair than typical for Williams. Several times she stepped back from her microphone to dance to the raucous sounds coming from her three-piece backing band, led by excellent guitarist Doug Pettibone. Songs like “Atonement,” “Unsuffer Me” and “Come On” all had an added kick missing on their recorded versions.

Given that Williams took the stage in a Led Zeppelin t-shirt, jeans and knee-high boots, her focus on rock material shouldn’t have been a huge shock. But her version of concert standard “Joy,” complete with riffs lifted from Led Zeppelin and The Doors courtesy of Pettibone and opening act Kelly Joe Phelps’ dueling guitars was a surprise.

“Rescue” from Williams’ “West” album opened the show with a sparse arrangement, but Williams quickly built some momentum with stellar takes on “Fruits of My Labor,” “Words” and “Those Three Days,” which featured some excellent vocal harmonies from Pettibone.
Not every song was a home run; “Sweet Side” had Williams straining to hit some notes, and her efforts at spoken-word/rapping on songs like “Righteously” don’t really work, despite their strong lyrics

Nice perspective, Steve. Your post is well-written and easy to read. It’s true–I do know the tour, the music, the players, and have a good feel for the fan-base as well. I appreciated your grounded stance and approach. Finally, it is difficult to understand how/why Tom Overby came out with guns blazing. Your correct–why try to back someone off having a favorite song or time stamp. Finally, it’s not too, too hard to find a current concert review that does not sing the praises for LWs latest sound. Enjoy the day.

David

Tom, thanks for posting your input. I didn’t find it to be offensive or confrontational at all, though I agreed with parts and disagreed with others. I also want to add right away that I was not at the show that was the original topic of this thread, so my comments are only relevant to the discussion that has followed.

Anyway, I do have to quibble with one thing you said:

This is first time in her career that she’s even had new albums out in consecutive years so from 2004-2006 there weren’t even any new songs tp play.

While there was certainly a gap between World Without Tears and West, she was most certainly playing new songs in 2005 and 2006. I know because I heard some of them at shows I attended. 😉 Personally, I enjoyed most of the new songs I heard; I can still remember the heart-stopping Where Is My Love from Chicago in 2005 that blew away any other I’ve heard since then, including the album cut. And I definitely appreciate that Lucinda’s willing to give us a glimpse of songs she’s written fairly recently and still working through onstage.

Anyway, while I understand that Lucinda is naturally going to be focused on her new material and what’s freshest to her, you have to understand that fans who consider earlier albums to be their favorites are naturally going to hope that she plays more songs from them. Neither Lucinda nor the fans who want to hear songs from 10-20 years ago are wrong; it’s just the nature of seeing an artist who has done a lot in her career and moved through different styles of music in the process.

I do feel that a couple comments you made suggest that you don’t understand where fans who wish she’d play more of her earlier music are coming from. You commented “there are only 3 albums prior to Essence,” and highlighted that those albums are 10-20 years old. No offense, but that’s kind of like saying to a Dylan fan “well, he only did 7 albums prior to 1967, and those albums are over 40 years old, so why would he play anything from them now (and why would you want to hear them)?” The answer, of course, would be that in the opinion of many, they constitute the pinnacle of his songwriting and it’s only natural that fans who rate those songs the highest would want to hear them live even decades later.

Personally, I doubt Lucinda will ever put out an album to rival Car Wheels in my mind. That’s not a dig on her current work, but merely a statement of appreciation for the level she reached on that album. The vocals, music, and songwriting came together to create a truly magical album, and one that is very special to me. (In fairness, I’ll also note that she does regularly play songs from Car Wheels; it’s not like she’s turned her back on the album).

And let me be clear: my relative lack of enthusiasm for her newer songs compared to her older ones has less to do with my assessment of the quality of her new work than it does with my personal genre preference. I think the rock sound she’s striving for is exciting to a great extent, but I’ll always prefer the rootsier sound of her earlier work. To each their own; it’s the price to pay, after all, for following an artist who doesn’t always work in the same genre and doesn’t keep writing songs that sound the same.

One last comment in this long-winded post: I know I had hoped that after she revisited each of her older albums last fall she would reintroduce a few long-discarded songs into the setlist on a regular basis. She doesn’t owe anyone that, of course (that she played those full-album shows at all and made the CDs available to fans is more than we could ask, and more than many artists have done), but that she revisited those songs for those shows led me to hope they’d continue to be played now and again. (I bet I Just Wanted To See You So Bad would make a rocking opener, BTW :wink:)

Good post Tim. Nice knowin ya.

Just kidding. I think Tom is entitled to voice his own opinion, though, just like the rest off us. He shoudn’t blast people, but some of us do that too.

It must be Lucinda’s fault. She is making us all crazy.