Hot_Blooded

Pardon me my ignorance, but what trend of albums do the shows exactly follow?

It would seem to me based on last night’s set list that the next two albums to be drawn from primarily – for tonight’s show, which happens to be the only one I can make – are “Sweet Old World” and “Car Wheels,” and possibly “Essence” too if it’s in threes and not twos.

If anyone could enlighten me I would appreciate it.

^ Thank you for reading and hearing me out. I realized you had misinterpreted me likely because of your past experiences, and I was aware that there were rumblings on this board during that tour, although I must have not been visiting here much at the time because I do not remember them; I have only seem them alluded to a couple of times.

I for one, aside from the aforementioned, very much enjoyed the show, and I am glad that John made some Lucinda fans out of his own; the moment I saw the pairing of them on a tour poster I realized that a lot of people would probably not bother showing up early for Lucinda or just not appreciate her, but I also realized that she was bound to make some fans during the tour as well, so I figured it was a smart, professional move on her part to make some income and preach to some outside the choir – I had no idea “Little Honey” was coming out until she announced it during the end of the set and did “Real Love” for the first time I heard it, so that made still more sense of her decision to spend the bulk of the summer opening for him.

Still, I will never forget being on the lawn, seeing Lucinda come out, no one seeming to notice her emerge at all, pin-drop sound level, just a guitar in her hand, playing my favorite song possibly ever written (“Passionate Kisses”) and having to tell my dad and his girlfriend that she had walked out and had begun playing, and by the end of the song they had begun making small talk – some people can only pay attention when others are paying attention, and truly, no one was – monkey see, monkey do. It happened to be the least enthusiasm I ever saw for an opening act taking a stage, and it happened for the person I consider to be my favorite songwriter ever; it was disheartening to see such a lukewarm reception for her. By the end of the set, though, some seemed to be a little enthused around my section, although I think a lot of the enthusiasm was for the fact that she was wrapping up and John’s entrance was imminent. Oh, and yes, I really love a lot of his new record, especially the single “My Sweet Love.” It’s wonderful, sincere, very of-this-time material.

I regret getting a little carried away before, so I’m sorry for that – I’m not as effusive as my user name might suggest. I just don’t like being painted as something of an ignorant scumbag, even in the smallest of ways; I am not, and that my comments could be interpreted as such says more about the bias and passion of the interpreter and the interpreter’s past experiences rather than my own experience of one concert’s audience.

This is just a lesson to me to be more politically correct, although I am not going to do it. You should not assume generalizations on someone’s part. Why should I have to outrighly declare that some Mellencamp fans are not DUMB? I was talking about the show that I attended. I am very offended and off-put. You’d think I was an ignorant, pretentious menace. If you go back and reread what I said and you’ll realize how local it was; it was about my night and my experience seeing the joint tour. I said about three words, on an aside, in paranthesis. I’m beside myself here. It’s getting to the point you can’t say anything in this country anymore without getting a tongue lashing.

Why on Earth would you decide that I consider ALL Mellencamp fans to be stupid? I even specified – I said it was dumb Mellencamp fans who were not being respectful of Lucinda (and by extension her listeners); I myself think all opening acts, no matter how well-known or unknown, deserve to be paid attention to until they prove themselves awful, and even then you should not be disrespectful, especially if you are close to the performer and they can see you – after all, some people (such as Lucinda’s fans) come to see a whole show, not listen to people talking.

It just so happened that there were a lot of DUMB ones – yes, dumb – in my immediate surroundings. I don’t like to use euphemisms in my language. I consider myself a fan as well, albeit casual. I gave his last CD 5 stars on Amazon.com, and if you check it out my review is the one on top; he is not as great as Lucinda in my book, but he is a wonderful artist. My main criteria for someone DUMB at a show is someone who would tune Lucinda out just because she is a woman, because she is older or because she has never had a pop hit. No one was paying attention to her. They were talking and drinking, invariably within my range of vision, and that included my father and his girlfriend, who knew I came to see Lucinda as well as John but kept talking, loudly. You cannot force people to be polite and considerate, but you should at least be able to give the behavior an apt label – dumb. I did happen to find two Lucinda fans at the show who eavesdropped on me reporting the set list to my mom on the phone.

As for the standing room only crowds, maybe she enjoys them more. If she does, that’s great. I just don’t, simply because of the energy and time they sap. I saw her at Town Hall and although it is a seated venue she had a wonderful time – during the uptempos people stood and clapped along and swayed, and during the ballads they sat and listened. It was perfect.

^ I am sorry you missed the show, and I can (vicariously) relate…

While there are some elements about standing room that can be fun, I, at 21, do not enjoy it. I cannot remember one standing room show that I ever enjoyed as much as a sitting show. It is not the way to enjoy music. It is a way to be seen drinking and feel trendy seeing shows, and it is a form of self-aggrandizement for the performer; “these people are willing to stand for me.” I also hate it because if you have to use the restroom, get thirsty, need to move for any reason at all, you lose your spot. You have to revolve your whole day around it sometimes. I definitely understand where you’re coming from. That said, the place was pretty crowded.

My mom, about a year older than Lucinda, was uncomfortable – VERY – uncomfortable – at the show tonight, and she skipped the encores, which were wonderful and numerous. The seats were cramped and uncomfortable, even for me, and I am a thin 21 year-old 5’7″ guy, and the place was very hot. VERY hot. Lucinda remarked that she thought the sound of the place was terrific – she was wrong; from our seats, it was pretty mediocre; the band overpowered her voice from our perspective – it wasn’t terrible or even complaint-worthy, but it was definitely neither ideal nor commendable. There were many brain-dead degenerates in the balcony who were clearly not fans; very few majors fans among the balcony. No one seemed put-off, but many people seemed as if they had no idea what show they were going to see. It’s frustrating to be among such people.

That said, Lucinda means a lot to both my mom and myself, and it was a great time seeing her aside from some of the bullshit attached to the night. It was my 4th time and her 2nd time, 3rd for me if you don’t count seeing her open for Mellencamp. A great show and a great set list, but so far my least favorite occassion seeing Lucinda outside of Mellencamp (dumb Mellencamp fans not respecting her and seeing Lucinda come out to a mostly empty ampitheatre when you’re on the lawn is not cause for celebration).

I’m sorry you missed the show though, and I certainly agree that Lucinda is NOT a standing room only artist. In fact, when she did the fall 2007 album-all-the-way-through-shows I made sure to buy a ticket to a Town Hall performance, not an Irving Plaza show, for the simple fact that I wanted to enjoy myself. Remember, this is a 21 year old talking here. So it’s not just you. In my experience either pretentious assholes or diehard fans with above average time and energy tend to favor them.

I apologize; I looked up the venue’s Web site just to clarify; it is the same price for both standing on the floor and balcony seats, both of which are general admission. My mom and I are going tomorrow, and since she will not (and really cannot) stand for a show we bought tickets for the general admission balcony. So the seats are there on a first-come, first-serve basis. As long as we get to see Lu tomorrow we really don’t care.

Just to clarify. If the balcony is not sold out by the time you read this (as of now it isn’t) you can buy tickets for that section instead, or perhaps call the venue and ask if you can exchange/upgrade to balcony.

Good luck and hope to see you there. If you see a mid-50’s something brunette woman with a young man in his early 20s who looks more high school age than college age that is probably my mother and I, so come and say hello. I would love to see some “Sweet Old World” songs, but I’m not counting on it; it’s Lucinda though, why worry? 🙂

Awesome! My mom and I are both gonna be on this DVD like white on rice. So awesome. Maybe the s/t album is due for a nice re-release soon too! 🙂