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OK, you Dylan-heads – let’s get this thread back on topic – namely, dropping a big FAT hint to Lucinda & InsideJob that a box set of unreleased / hard to find stuff would be a GREAT IDEA!!! 😈 😆 😉
(Just kidding, of course – post all the Dylan stuff you want – I just wanted to reiterate THE HINT!) 😉
Tom
Hi Paul – Welcome to the forums!
Lucinda has a tour this fall, but, if my memory serves, w/ no European dates this go around. But, fear not, she has a lot of fans on “your side of the pond”, so I imagine she’ll be there eventually, especially with the new CD (“Little Honey”) due out this October.
Tom
@tonyg2756 wrote:
I think what I am saying is I wanna go to a show and hear great music. No diva acts. Show up on time and play. Don’t tell the audience to fucking leave. Remember what chord the song is in. I want to go to the show. I do not want her to stop touring.
OK, I lied. That’s not all I’m going to say. 😉 In retrospect, it hardly seems fair to throw my opinion out there and say “the discussion is over”. Especially when the discussion is being kept at a high level, without flame bait, like you are doing, Tony.
OK, you want all that out of a Lu show. That would be ideal, I must admit. My point is (and if I misrepresented anyone else’s position in making it, I apologize) that that’s not Lucinda Williams. She is emotional & passionate enough about her music that when something pisses her off such that she feels it is negatively impacting her performance, she says something about it. Like some drunk yelling “Play some Floyd!” (whether it was meant as a joke or not). Or improper light or sound systems. Or whatever. Yet, she still plays her music, and I think we can all agree that she cares a great deal about the product she delivers to the audience. If she didn’t, she would not restart songs, apologize, offer a free show to make up for one she feels didn’t go well (which, improbable as it was that she would / could actually do it, she did here in Atlanta). So, to recap – she’s temperamental, she’s emotional, she cares a great deal about her art. In short, she’s like many, many other creative geniuses.
OK, so given all that, given all that Lucinda is, my point was if you love her music and poetry enough, you can look past all that. At least I can. And, if I was someone that felt that her performances were ruined by these things, I probably would not go to her shows. That was the “why bother” comment – it it makes you so mad, or so upset, that it ruins the experience, why spend the money just to be disappointed?
Finally, my “do you want to see her quit touring altogether” comment was almost a plea to stop all the hand-wringing & criticizing her about this stuff. Again, I accept that this is the way things are (and, to a certain extent, I think I understand where she is coming from – from a “I care a great deal about my art” standpoint). And, it’s not that big a deal to me (i.e., I don’t let it detract from my enjoyment of her shows). So, I don’t want her to get so disgusted with the whole process that she quits touring, or cuts back on the amount of touring. I guess that does make me a selfish apologist, but I just love her shows & music so much, I’d rather have things as they are, than not at all, know what I mean?
Tom
I really, really don’t understand all the criticism. So, she can be temperamental! Other great artists have been known to be temperamental. What, really, is the big stink? Do you love her music, her artistry? I know I do, and I cannot imagine letting some grousing from stage ruin a show for me. The music is there. The performance is there. What’s the big deal about what she sometimes says between songs? Not everyone is happy-go-lucky all the time – I know I’m not. I get moody, I get depressed. Hell, I get pissed-off. If I were a performer, all that would probably show through. She is an emotional person, with emotional art, and she gets emotional on stage. Big deal. None of us know what it is like to work with her and, even if it is hard, we don’t have to work with her or for her. We just have to enjoy her music enough to look past her flaws. Or not. But if the latter is the case, then the question that begs to be asked is this: if you can’t deal with her behavior on stage, if it ruins the music for you, then why bother? Would you rather her stop touring altogether? (And, come on, how bad has she really been on stage? She hasn’t stormed off of the stage to my knowledge, she hasn’t verbally assaulted the audience or members of the band, she hasn’t thrown things at people – all things other artists have certainly done. And, what happened week before last at the Botanical Gardens was far from what I would call an emotional “meltdown”).
I’m not going to flame anyone for their opinion – I’ve had more than my fill of forum flame wars elsewhere, and I am so over all that. So call me an apologist, call me a “new” fan (it’s true, I’ve only been a fan since 2003), call me whatever, I won’t get into a name-calling session with any one over this. In fact, I’ve said all I’m going to say on the topic.
But I really, truly do not understand how some F-bombs and complaining from the stage can negate the lovely thing that is Lucinda’s art.
Tom
@homosacer wrote:
did you get a chance to check out Michelle Malone open for KT? She’s one of the best live acts in America right now…
Yup. It’s the third or fourth time we’ve seen her (we’ve seen her headline at Eddie’s Attic & The Earl). She’s one of our favs…
Tom
Oh, and as a postscript. Sarah & I went back to the Botanical Gardens last night to see KT Tunstall. One week after Lu’s show, and the lights were no longer a problem. I checked them out and, unless my memory fails me, it seemed they were higher above the stage for the show last night than they were for Lu’s show…
Tom
EDIT: P.S. Sarah just told me that, in fact, she noticed last night at KT Tunstall’s show that some of the lights were not even ON – those closest to center stage. That might have been what made me think they were mounted higher…
Tom –
I don’t care what anyone else says, Lucinda did more than redeem herself (not that she had to). She dealt with an adverse situation and still put on a show that I thought was great. Like I hope I conveyed when we met later (and if I didn’t, I apologize – I was rather ripped as I said earlier), it was not a problem for her true fans. We loved the show.
I just feel bad that a) you & Lu & the band had such a bad night in a town and a venue I love, and 2) Lu has received such unwarranted criticism for her reaction to a very bad situation. I can only imagine how bad it was for her – having worked myself in front of hot halogen lamps while painting in an inside, air-conditioned space, it must be 10x as bad outside in the heat & humidity of a Southern night.
Some here will undoubtedly accuse me of “kissing butt”, etc., but I don’t give a crap. Lu gave a great performance in a very adverse situation and showed concern for the audience and their perception of her performance. I, for one, had a great night – one I will never forget. I look forward to seeing y’all back in Atlanta soon – at another venue, of course! ;o) Take care & give Lu my & Sarah’s best.
Tom
EDIT: Spelling error fix – y’all know how I am… 😀
A Lu boxed set w/ lots of unreleased material (and hard to get duets, etc.)? Yum! That would be AWESOME!
Tom
@stellablueee wrote:
http://tinyurl.com/5m6mjg
Listening to the upcoming album by Lucinda Williams, Little Honey, I was thrilled to come across the voice of Elvis Costello on a song called “Jailhouse Tears.”
Gee, must be nice working for Paste magazine and getting to listen to “Little Honey” almost 3 months before it is released… 😕
Tom
@wgordon wrote:
I wasn’t sure I remembered how she spells it. It is “2 Kool” isn’t it?
“2 Kool 2 Be 4-Gotten” 😉
Tom
@wgordon wrote:
The encores were great- I didn’t recognize the first song- a little help, please.
That song is called “Are You Down” and is off of her album “Essence”. You’ve got the other encore song titles right.
Thanks for posting the setlist & review. Glad you liked the show! Sounds like it was a lot more comfortable weather-wise than the Atlanta show… 😉
Tom
@Tim wrote:
Inside Job has said that they have a record that will be out very shortly, but it will only be available at Lucinda shows at first.
And I asked at the merch booth at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens show, and the guy there, while he knew about the album, didn’t know when it will be available.
He did have some copies of Doug’s CD, “The West Gate”, for those of you looking for that.
Tom
All I’ve seen in the Atlanta paper (we only have one major newspaper, believe it or not) about the show so far, is this little blurb. Kinda sad, but that’s the state of the press in this city…
Lucinda Williams feels the heat
Atlanta’s heat and technical problems took Lucinda Williams’ “Joy” Friday night while performing at the Atlanta Botanical Garden. Three songs into her concert, the Grammy-winning folk-rock singer halted the show because of glaring stagelights.
“It’s not a [expletive] light show,” she announced into her microphone, directing technical crew to remove the heat light, err, spotlight from her face. Concertgoers filling the garden’s Great Lawn didn’t seem to mind her mood, even when several songs later she stopped the show again because of the sound system, this time announcing she was “as sober as a [expletive] judge” and that she’d have to hold a free concert to make up for what she felt was a lackluster performance. (Buzz is pretty sure she’s kidding about that free show.)
Williams later rallied, ending the show with a rousing “Get Right With God,” and drawing laughter from the crowd when she said Southerners have more soul than the rest of the country. They’d have to, she said, to deal with Atlanta’s heat.
http://www.ajc.com/search/content/metro/stories/2008/07/28/buzz.html
Tom
There is a CD in the offing, don’t know the release date – maybe someone else does. I agree, tho’ – they played a great opening set at the Atlanta show Friday night…
Tom
@stoger wrote:
Damn, TN Tracy, I’m pretty sure now that you were the guy near the buses when “paulfromlosangeles” and I left the [Lu-less] “aftershow” and asked directions to Piedmont Ave. Both of us have gotten to meet Tom and Lu before, so no problem there, but I wish I had paused to chat with you and your wife. I’m happy your wait was rewarded. We were two “rows” in front of you during the show, a bit to your left sounds like. Thanks for adding to this, and I second your thoughts on Lucinda’s actions and words.
Dang, sorry we missed you. If the guy you saw was 6′, about 250 lbs w/ short grey hait & wearing a black “Lucinda Williams & The Love Band” T-shirt then, yep, that was me!
Tom
