By Joel Francis
The Daily Record
Concert capsules are immediate, extemporaneous pieces; less a review and more a reaction.
I’ve never seen a show like this before.
Shortly after 8 p.m., Lucinda Williams shuffled onstage with a warning: she’d suffered a stroke and wouldn’t be playing guitar. The evening would also incorporate stories about her songs, drawing on Williams’ recent (excellent) memoir. Seated in a chair, the stories tended to ramble and the vocals were feeble.
More than two and a half hours later, (nearly as long as Beyoncé’s set at Arrowhead last week) Williams was standing, tearing through “Joy” with youthful vigor. How did this happen?
Buick 6, Williams’ stellar four-piece backing band, and the crowd at the Uptown Theater deserve most of the credit. Buick 6 handled missed vocal cues and lapses with ease, keeping the song going until Williams could climb back in.
The comfortably crowded audience was pin-drop silent during the stories and demonstratively supportive when Williams faltered or questioned if she was doing a good job (which happened several times). The audience never left her side, shouting encouragement at the right times and patiently allowing one of the most accomplished songwriters of her generation to do her thing.
The set list contained deep cuts, such as “Pineola” and “Crescent City,” Bob Dylan and Hank Williams covers and favorites “Car Wheels on a Gravel Road” and “Those Three Days.”
Keep reading:
Catching up with the Hot Club of Cowtown
Social Distancing Spins – Days 62-65 (includes a review of Lucinda’s album Good Souls, Better Angels)
Social Distancing Spins – Day 12 (includes a review of Lucinda’s album World Without Tears)
joelfrancis.com 