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Fine job West Words: pleasure standing beside/in front of/behind you, as things shifted during the long evening, which featured a 1 hour 50 minute gap between doors and Lu walk on. You captured Lu’s bilinguality and otherwise gesturing toward our Continental guests well. After “Come On,” I caught bigsubi’s eye across the way and he thumbed-up the song, with gestures stage left; later, I confirmed he meant to endorse Val McCallum, the second guitarist he’s ever heard with Lu. As for “Metal Firecracker,” she did return to it in a sense, saying late in set “I haven’t forgotten” the song was but was never “in the mood” to do it. Ha.
Finally, note to paul in los angeles (who was right about weekend disco night circa 10 p.m.): the public restrooms at the Webster are unisex. Word to the wise.. .
Yes, “Come On” and “Hot Blood” were tour debuts too, along with “Awakening,” I’m pretty sure. Lu herself is critical of her ability to hit certain notes during “Hot Blood” (including some body language self-doubt last night), but I loved the rendition myself. No Gia C needed (though it’d be great to see the two of them harmonizing on “Learning How to Live” sometime).
Tight tight show in Boston, great audience. Any tentativeness about “Copenhagen” and “Seeing Black” which lingered from past shows was dissipated last night. Several shouted requests (“Are You Alright” from multiple quarters) were not heeded, but I believe we got at least one song from every studio record save Ramblin’. West Words is correct that 7 from Blessed may be the high water mark in one show.
No Eilen Jewell in evidence night two, but perhaps she’ll be in house with Lu times over later in the touring year. And kudos to now-of-age bard Dylan Leblanc, who brought a Bostonian named Marissa on stage for two songs, one a cover of the Don Gibson classic “Oh Lonesome Me” which almost rivaled the time M Ward did it on stage with Lucinda (maybe that was Portland?). Fine night.
So the moderator gets the privilege of red letters: well done on the Portsmouth thread clarification, sir. LWJ, I saw no evidence of d in maine, though I wouldn’t know him; I mentioned him to Tim, who didn’t seem to think he was in attendance. Thanks lafayette for the e jewell scoop, to which I can add that she would make an excellent opener for LU. I doubt that last song was coincidence and thanks for making me aware that she had covered “Get Right with God.” I met Jewell at Fitzgerald’s music fest last summer and discussed briefly her shared Idaho pedigree with Ronee Blakely. You might check my spelling there too!
1 I Just Wanted to See You So Bad [tour debut!]
2 Happy Woman Blues [tour debut!]
3 Tears of Joy
4 Pineola
5 Drunken Angel
6 Buttercup
7 Concrete and Barbed Wire
8 Copenhagen [with a false start, Lu discouraged throughout with the struggle to hear on stage, a rare appearance on stage midset by tour manager Eric Frankhkouser after the song to gauge her level; ultimately, Lu concludes after asking us that “if it sounds OK out there, that’s all that matters”]
9 Born to Be Loved
10 Blue
11 2 Kool 2 B 4 Gotten [tour debut]
12 Convince Me
13 Seeing Black [absolutely nailed]
14 Out of Touch
15 Righteously
16 Changed the Locks
17 Honeybee
_________________________________________
18 Blessed
19 Joy
20 Get Right with God [with Dylan LeBlanc and several masqued Mardi Gras dancers up front]All this with Eillen [sp?] Jewell in house, one row behind me. . . And out of the 900 or so seats in the vneue, who was two spaces from me but Forum member Tim, mother and friend Donna in tow? Tim was kind enough to say “we’ve been waiting for you for two hours” when I arrived fashionably late 5 minutes before Lu, and while he couldn’t have meant this literally, it was flattering. Take it away, Tim.
You mean I can’t wildly rush the stage during “Righteously” or “Changed the Locks” a la the good suitors and citizens of Ithaka?
1 Are You Alright [slight lyric flub in second verse]
2 People Talkin’ [with a false start]
3 Ventura [followed by “I’m more comfortable now; a lot of times I get nervous at the outset”]
4 Pineola
5 Drunken Angel [Lu seemingly having more trouble with sound]
6 Right in Time [tour debut!]
7 I Don’t Know HOw You’re Livin’
8 Born to Be Loved
9 Blue
10 Tears of Joy
11 I Lost It [after which both Butch and David get up as if to leave stage, but instead walk over to the monitor guy and, seemingly, read him the riot act]
12 WEll Well Well
13 Buttercup
14 Convince Me
15 Out of Touch
16 Righteously [tour debut!]
17 Changed the locks [with the crowd swelling and swarming up front standing, which started during the previous song but was supressed by security]
18 Honeybee
__________________________________________
19 Blessed
20 JoyI’ve been waiting for this moment for months to say the following: LEFTY, take it from here!
Good to hear it, Tom, though by the time you posted I had confirmed this the old school way: Slushy walk down West State Street to the tour buses [plural!]. West Words, I’m journaling and more. Cold and clear by late afternoon, cold and clear. I just returned from the Cornell campus where I found the former office of one of my favorite authors, Vladimir Nabokov. A plaque commemorates the spot, but more significantly there is “The Pale Fire Lounge” across from the English and Comparative Literature departmental offices in the same building. Coeds, a couple of them barely post-nymphet in status, lounged oblivious on the chairs and sofas as I walked around them and craned upward and around to see first edition cover posters, quotes from the novel Lolita, a timeline of his days lecturing at Cornell, etc. etc. Did I mention their tears last night at being unable to find a ride back to their dorms? Well, I’m feeling less inclined to pity their Ivy League frames today: give me those cornfed smiles I got last month on the Indiana U campus killing time before Lu’s Bloomington show any day. Ah academia, can’t get enough of you…
Your intrepid reporter/road warrior is high and dry in downtown Ithaca at moment, hitting town some 24 hours before the concert (I suspect the band and crew got here 36 or so hours ahead). It was simply a matter of taking the train from Toronto to Syracuse and then hopping a New York Trailways bus (same station) for what should have been a 1 hour 35 minute run to Ithaca. Well, it took about 2 and a quarter, our driver skirting multiple wrecks along the way. We were greeted with a locked depot in downtown Ithaca, the station employee himself hopping on the bus (which was going to try to make it on to Elmira) after wishing the dozen or so of us who de-bussed good luck and announcing that no cabs were running “to the hill,” much less local bus service. There seemed maybe one cafe type place open in sight, it being Sunday night. I verified that my motel was a mere quarter mile from station (good planning there) and prepared to hoof it when one cab did drive up, a couple of tearful Cornell coeds somehow talking the driver into trying the route. I hope they made it, as sometime overnight the sheriff closed all roads to non-emergency traffic until 8:30 a.m., and Cornell was opening on a delayed schedule with first class at 11:30. So the quarter mile seemed at least a half; hoisting my wheeled luggage, I moved on and was seldom so happy to see that yellow neon Super 8 sign through the blowing snow as last night.
I have officially declared today LAUNDRY DAY IN ITHACA. The laundromats (and the Chili’s franchises: late dinner well met last evening) do not close here; our Tennessee retailers would have shut down on Sunday afternoon under such conditions, half of such conditions.
Have I menioned how much I love doing all this?
Thanks to lwjetta for noting that travel and off days must be factored in for fans as well as artists; your phrasing and patience are appreciated, and the setlist is spot-on. First of all, Rug, I went dry vis-a-vis the American Express booth, staffed by a toothsome youngster who, despite the clear blue AE logo on the card I produced, could not come through with the drink tickets. “I’ve never seen one like this,” she stated, perhaps referencing the nation of its issue? But I had already seen the “platinum gold” sign booth left, and knew my plastic, though technically American Express, was several tiers below that level. “It never hurts to ask” was the second, consolatory sentence from out behind those pearly whites. I went to the Fran’s bar counter.
Has anyone in this stream noted that “Crescent City” and “Evangeline” got done 7-8 in the main (Helm) set Saturday night? Excuse the passive voice “got done”: Hell, she belted them out, with a little help as follows (and notice the Emmylou kind of pairing, if you will, with these song choices): Brian Mitchell on accordion; John Weiner on guitar; Byron Isaacs on upright bass; Larry Campbell on fiddle; Amy Helm and Teresa Williams [a k a Mrs. Larry Campbell] on background vocals and, . . . oh yeah, Levon Helm on drums. Sublime. The downside was no Lu circa 11:45 p.m. when “The Weight” and “I Shall…”got done again Saturday, but hey–no complaints.
“Seeing Black” was a bit rough around the edges, Lu having what I think was some trouble hearing the instrumentation and background mikes from her spot–Val had to pretty much lead her through one of the “seeing white: choruses by simply singing on and not letting her stop and start over. STill, it was great to hear it done again. And “Convince Me,”firsttime in my hearing since Ventura: superb, solid. The whole set was a better band night than Friday, perhaps slightly less of a Lu night, but only slightly.
So does Levon have 2 Grammys or3? The “live”introducer said 2 Sat., while the canned PA gave him 3 inthe intro Friday. I only ask because we know who has a definite 3… And how about 9 of the 14 Lu-set songs Sat. new from Fri. This is much appreciated.
Oh god: Nicholas Sparks? I could have done without that “literary” reference for dozens of more Forum visits, WW, but let’s hope this guy Barclay’s prose style is a cut above, his maudlin quotient many notches below. This reminds me that “If. . .” has not been played on this tour, hmh. . . West Words, I now challenge you to find a work of fiction published under the title “Circles and X’s.” 😀
Almost more heartening than the peoples’ rebellions in Libya and Tunisia to hear of this focus, WW. . .
@rugles wrote:
>>>> as LWJ mentioned, a new one is due out soon.
I saw Colin Linden play several weeks back. He mentioned a new Blackie and the Rodeo Kings album was coming out soon and it features tons of female singers. He mentioned Lucinda was one of them.
>>>>>spend some funny money Paul.
Hilarious, the Canadian dollar is worth more than the US peso right now. When Lucinda takes the “funny money” that she earned last night and tonight back across the border … she will instantly make an extra 3% on the exchange rate. Now that is funny .. laughing all the way to the bank.
My short review. I did love the announcer saying “the second half of the show”. Hope you were in the fantastic downstairs bar. Hope you also noticed that American Express was handing out FREE BOOZE and BEER simply by flashing an Amex card. YOU’RE KIDDING: DIDN’T SEE IT! I’M A PRETTY VISA-DEPENDENT GUY, BUT DO CARRY AN AE CARD BACK OF WALLET FOR EMERGENCIES AND FREE GIFTS. HERE’S HOPING NIGHT TWO HAS THOSE SAME REPRESENTATIVES DISHING THE DRINKS OUT.One of the people I took to the show last nigth was surprised how good Lucinda sounded and played. I was not. He had barely known who she was before last night. His only exposure to Lu was the Austin City Limits show that I played for him a year ago (that is still on my DVR and its saying there! ) I told him I have seen her a couple times and she has not dissapointed us and I was looking forward to seeing her more than I was looking forward to Levon’s band.
When we walked out he said to me …. “Lucinda Williams stole the show“.
And I dont think it was just the free Amex beer that was talking. Because this morning at breakfast he said he was going to pick up her CD’s.
Another convert for Lu. = awesome!
Indeed the towering Paul left way too early, though I’m betting the Friday Yonge Street nightlife was not to be sneered at. LWJ, may I add that Lu took the second verse on “I Shall Be Released” in addition to the opening (Nazareth) verse of “The Weight?” She harmonized throughout on both and seemed in heaven.
This was a true co-bill; when the PA announcer gave the 5-minutes-before-Helm warning by saying “the second half” of the show was about to commence, I thought this was a generous way to phrase it. Though technically Helm and band played longer than Lu, it wasn’t by all that much. I didn’t count quite 13 side[wo]men, LWJ, but “umpteen” to be sure, triple or quadruple the newly arrived Lu band contingent. Levon’s “bandleader” Larry Campbell married a west TN girl and has roots in my geographical area; he functioned as frontman in many ways, though not obtrusively. Amy Helm was along, playing what looked like an electric mandolin on “Ophelia” and providing several fine vocals. An OTHER Williams, Teresa, sang and played stage right of Campbell. Levon Himself played the sticks with one gloved hand (perhaps subconsciously emulating the protagonist of “Broken Butterflies”) and had some fine gravelly vocals, evoked the great BAnd days with “The Shape I’m In” and others. And I just happened to have Colin Linden’s liner notes in my backpack for Big Mouth, where Lu sang on one track; as LWJ mentioned, a new one is due out soon.
AS LWJ and Paul said, Lu and band got out of the gate somewhat slowly. David seemed tentative about coming in on background vocals on songs 1,2, and 4–though the sound level around his instrument seemed to be fluctuating. Before every song but “Joy,” Lu announced its title–then said nothing else about it or the background. She couldn’t introduce “Joy,” as the band started it while she was switching out guitars. But a workmanlike set, which the crowd appreciated.
Nice seeing Paul and LWJ
