Wedding Bells at First Ave.

Well, I don’t think there’s much I can say about the big night that hasn’t already been said…but I’ll try anyway. 🙂 I didn’t think I was going to make the trip to Minneapolis, but then I came to my senses and realized – how often is an opportunity like this going to come up? So I drove up there Friday afternoon, excited and nervous as heck about the whole thing.

I finally got to meet some of the familiar names at the forum here – tntracy, stoger, Lafayette, paul_from_losangeles, as well as bigsubi and his lovely wife Mercedes. I couldn’t believe the two of them came all the way from Barcelona, Spain – how incredibly cool. And it was great meeting Caroline and Sandy too, even though they’re not regular posters here. 🙂

We were among the first people into the venue. I’m not used to being on a guest list, so that was a new experience. I ended up almost directly in the center of the floor just a couple feet back from the rail, so probably six feet or so away from Lucinda during the show.

And what a show it was. Paul already posted the setlist here, but I’ll just say that even if it had been a normal show with no wedding or post-show festivities, it would have to rank as the best Lucinda show I’ve ever seen. Five of the first nine songs (Motherless Children, Stop Breaking Down, Lafayette (!), Big Red Sun Blues, and Sweet Old World) were songs I hadn’t seen in the eight concerts I’d previously attended. She also played two of my favorites, I Just Wanted To See You So Bad and Pineola, and two more songs I hadn’t heard before – Plan to Marry and the amazing I’m Happy I Found You, the Hank Williams song she wrote the music for. The last one was just about perfect, though you could tell she was getting emotional while she sang, and I’m even more excited for that album to eventually come out (which is tough because I’ve been excited about the project ever since I first heard about it). I only wish it was already released because that song would probably get played at my upcoming wedding.

The ceremony itself was beautiful. It was wonderful seeing Miller Williams read The Caterpillar, and afterwards I realized that I’d encountered that poem in college but must have read it either before I got into Lucinda’s music or before I knew that he was her father, because I never realized that she was the daughter mentioned in the poem. I thought Lu and Tom’s vows were really sweet (check out the Youtube video of the ceremony, if you weren’t there) and the cheer that went up when they kissed was deafening.

And then there was the reception. It was gorgeous – I especially loved the wedding graphic that was on the candles, the temporary tattoos we were all given as we entered, and on the TV monitors throughout the restaurant. I ended up staying much later than I expected to, given that I had to drive back to Wisconsin that night, but I had a blast chatting with everyone. (Special thanks to Lafayette for being my adopted mom for the night :)) Obviously Tom and Lucinda were very busy with family, friends, and fans, but I did get a chance to meet and congratulate both of them in person. And I got a wonderful picture with Lucinda, which I’m still incredibly excited about! I also couldn’t resist telling her that my fiancee and I are playing I Just Wanted To See You So Bad at our wedding (in less than three weeks now!) because that song meant so much to us when we were in a long-distance relationship. It’s not often that you get to meet an artist and tell her how much her work means to you, but to get to do it at such a momentous and personal occasion of hers? Priceless.

I finally left the reception (which was still going strong) around 2:00 am. The 4.5-hour drive back home wasn’t exactly fun, but I was still on a high from the incredible night, so I managed.

I still can’t get over being invited to such a special event. Tom and Lucinda, thanks again for letting me and the other fans be a part of it. What a generous and cool thing to do for us. As I said on Friday, congratulations and best wishes to both of you for a long and happy marriage!

Thx for the great report! 😀

Lafayette, you rock. I never would have thought of that. 🙂 I think I’ll have time to print it before the show – I only have about an hour and a half drive to get there tonight, which is nice.

My amigo from Spain, bigsubi, who was also in attendance at the wedding & reception, sent me this link. Two of my photos from the wedding ceremony were used in a Spanish music magazine’s music blog (you have to scroll down to see the blog entry about Lu & Tom). No credit was given, and I was not asked for permission to use my pictures, but that is OK – anything to share the love! 😉

Although I speak “un poquito de Español”, I do not know enough to read all the blog entry. Running the text through Goggle Translate resulted in the following:

My congratulations to Lucinda Williams, who married Tom Overby on stage, Hank Williams-style during a concert in Minneapolis last week.

Overby and Lucinda sang together “Happy” by The Rolling Stones in the final stretch of the show.

If you look at the comments, our very own bigsubi posted!

Tom

BIGSUBI ROCKS!!!

Tom

P.S. Mi amigo, the English word for “Verano” is “Summer”, not “Nummer”. Or, did you mean “tema o número”. Then, the English words are “issue or number”..

@bigsubi wrote:

I know, I know my dear friend but I mean the number of the magazine. August number then…in summer, that’s right… 🙄

Yes, I realized that after you quoted my original post, then I edited it before you saved your reply! 😉 😳

Tom

This was the first time (that I am aware of) that Lu publicly performed “I’m Happy I Found You”. This is the Hank Williams “Lost Lyrics” song that Lu wrote the music for & recorded for Bob Dylan’s Hank Williams Lost Lyrics album that has been discussed here in the forum before. Prior to playing it, Lu mentioned that she still was not sure when the CD would be released.

Who can explain me more details about this song???

Other than of course the show, the wedding ceremony itself, being there with Lu & Tom to celebrate, and seeing old friends & Lu fans and meeting new ones, the other highlights of the evening for me were meeting and chatting with Anne McCue, Erika Wennerstrom & Bryson Jones. Bryson told a great story (not about Lu) the next morning in Starbucks to stoger and myself that probably shouldn’t be repeated here… 😳

Maybe it’s time to explain the Bryson Jones great story. 😮 By the way, who is Bryson Jones? 😳

Tom[/quote]

That’s my right arm wrist watch to the left of the image!!! 😆 😆 😆