Fifty minutes into Lucinda Williams’ two hour and ten minute performance, a lady behind me that was a long time fan bemoaned, “I think I’m going to slit my fucking wrists.” Eight slow tempo sad songs about women in abusive relationships, women in suffocating relationships, or women trapped in their own loneliness can take its toll on a person. Lucinda Williams is unarguably one of the preeminent songwriters of this era. However, given her melancholy bent, a calculated grouping of her most disconsolate songs can make strychnine poisoning seem like choreographed cartwheels.
Lucinda and I have a (gulp) 25 year history. I loved her 1988 self-titled album (which included “Passionate Kisses,” later a major hit for Mary Chapin Carpenter and “Changed the Locks,” later covered by Tom Petty). I first saw her in concert in Portland, Oregon in the early 1990s; she opened for a Rumour-less Graham Parker and completely blew Geep off of the stage. During that timeframe, the wonderfully named Gurf Morlix served as Williams’ collaborator and lead guitarist. When Morlix played, ev-er-y note mat-tered. He sounded not like a band member, but as though he was an emotional extension of Lucinda’s voice. That is not an easy trick to master and nobody has come close to effectively replacing him.
Speaking of voices, Lucinda commented that she wasn’t in excellent form on Friday night, stating that she sounded, “Rode hard and put away wet.” Her Southern drawl has thickened considerably over the years and she’s lost some of her range. The result –less enunciation and less emotive vocal performances. On this evening, she wasn’t working with a full band, only with guitarist Doug Pettibone. Pettibone plays every note you expect to hear with expert timing and crisp precision. Precision, of course, does not equate to passion or soul.
Lucinda’s best moments in this show, which lacked any significant momentum, were her erotic turns on “Right in Time,” “Essence,” and “Honey Bee,” the latter being Pettibone’s best performance of the night as well. For a woman that will turn sixty before the month ends, she still sings enthusiastically about doing the she-bop and getting her hive buzzed. She isn’t your mother’s female singer/songwriter.
For the encore, Williams brought out members of the opening unit, a bunch of hair freaks from Alabama called The Kenneth Brian Band. On the last two numbers, a reverent yet buoyant cover of Hank Williams’ “Jambalaya,” and an extended jam session on her own brimstone gospel shouter “Get Right with God,” Williams reminded the audience, and herself, that humor and righteousness remain powerful and steadfast musical affirmations. The dessert was undeniably delicious, but the meal was an unfulfilling chore.
Grade = C+
Setlist:
Lake Charles
Side of the Road
The Night’s Too Long
Greenville
Fruits of My Labor
Look at the World
Concrete and Barbed Wire
Over Time
Port Arthur
Jailhouse Tears
Bitter Memory
Drunken Angel
I Lost It
Right in Time
Essence
Down the Road Blues
Changed the Locks
Joy
Honey Bee
Encore:
Disgusted
Jambalaya
Get Right With God