Lucinda Williams Tour Opener Shocks, Awes

Start of the Little Honey tour tears the roof off the sucka...

By Fred Mills

Last night's (Sept. 25) Little Honey tour opener for Lucinda Williams brought a raft of surprises. First of all Williams, whose new Lost Highway album arrives in stores on Oct. 14, was scheduled to kick off the 27-city run at Asheville, NC's Thomas Wolfe Auditorium, but at the last minute slow ticket sales prompted a move of the show to the considerably more intimate Orange Peel club.

A lesser artist might have bitched and moaned about the situation - the change undoubtedly forced some compromises in the staging and lighting, and there were indeed a few technical glitches, primarily involving out-of-focus images on the above-stage screen projections - but instead, Williams and her band Buick 6 took the challenge as an opportunity to seek out the silver lining. A nearly 2 ½ hour show ensued, and by the end the packed venue had been reduced to aching feet, sore palms, hoarse throats, and ear-to-ear grins. Williams herself seemed positively thrilled at the response, chatting with the audience, dancing with the band members, and in general feeding off the proverbial tight-but-loose vibe that is the hallmark of any great concert.

BLURT's own Fred Mills was on hand and will be filing a full review of the show early next week for our site. In the meantime, though, he agreed to answer a couple of questions.

BLURT: How many folks were on hand at the show?

MILLS: I would estimate around 800-850. The capacity of the Orange Peel is 942, but they also had a small section on the right side of the room set apart for chairs, maybe 75 or so, possibly as a concession to folks who were disappointed they wouldn't be attending a sit-down show as they'd originally envisioned when they bought tickets for the Thomas Wolfe. Ticketholders were also offered the option of returning the tickets to the box office and getting a full refund if they didn't want to go to the club - I know of at least one couple who took that option because they'd planned on taking their two kids with them.

BLURT: So slow ticket sales forced them to move the show?

MILLS: I wouldn't say "forced." But no artist wants to be looking out at a venue that's only about half-full, and the Thomas Wolfe holds 2,431 at capacity. And to be honest, as you said in your intro above, it turned out to be a smart move. The audience was ecstatic to see Williams up close and personal - in the past she's usually played the Thomas Wolfe - and it really seemed like she enjoyed the interaction herself. Aside from a potential beating the promoter took on the deal, it turned out to be a win-win situation for everyone. The fans, the band, even the club, as this was a crowd of serious drinkers. Make that a win-win-win situation. As an aside, I should point out that the Asheville area has been hit by a severe gasoline shortage during the past week and it's still a problem, so I'm betting that affected ticket sales too. If you only have enough gas to get to work and back, you can't be driving into town for routine entertainment options.

BLURT: What did Williams play?

MILLS: The focus was definitely on the new album, especially during the first hour or so. She opened with the album-opener, "Real Love," and included other new songs such as "Tears Of Joy," "Jailhouse Tears" - which on the record is a duet with Elvis Costello and last night had her great guitarist Doug Pettibone taking the E.C. role - and "Wishes Were Horses." Lots of Luce gold, too: "Out Of Touch" just killed, and she had a neat subtle political intro for it when she said, "I think this is appropriate for the times..."; "Essence" really hit a lot of G-spots for both the guys and the girls; and "Real Live Bleeding Fingers and Broken Guitar Strings" was another anthemic high point. Interestingly, and I stand to be corrected, I don't recall her doing anything from her last album, West, which was fine with me, as I thought that record was overblown and sterile-feeling.

     I should mention the end of the show as well: Lucinda gave a little speech that was certainly pro-Obama, but she stopped short of preaching and simply emphasized how important it was to vote this year - and then the band eased into Buffalo Springfield's "For What It's Worth" just to underscore the urgency surrounding the upcoming election. After that they tore into AC/DC's "It's A Long Way To The Top (If You Wanna Rock ‘n' Roll)," which is also the closing song on Little Honey - I mean, how cool is that, Lucinda covering fucking AC/DC! - and at this point the whole Orange Peel roof just blew clean off.

BLURT: That's a metaphor, right?

MILLS:  Uhhh....

BLURT: You seem a pretty professional guy. Good looking, too. Why aren't you reviewing the show for somebody like USA Today?

MILLS: I'd sooner slit my throat.

BLURT: We can arrange that. When are you going to write your review?

MILLS: As soon as I can. I'm a busy guy. Hopefully by Monday. Are we done here?

Lucinda Williams Tour Dates:

September 2008

25 - Asheville, NC - Orange Peel

26 - Knoxville, TN - Historic Tennessee Theatre
27 - North Charleston, SC - North Charleston Performing Arts Center
29 - Charlotte, NC - Belk Theatre
30 - Raleigh, NC - Raleigh Memorial Auditorium

October 2008

3 - New York, NY - The Theater at Madison Square Garden
4 - New Haven, CT - Shubert Theater
7 - Albany, NY - Hart Theatre
8 - Boston, MA - Orpheum Theatre
9 - Montreal, Quebec - Metropolis
11 - Toronto, Ontario - Massey Hall
12 - Rochester, NY - Harro East Ballroom'
14 - Ann Arbor, MI - Michigan Theater
15 - Columbus, OH - Lifestyle Communities Pavilion
17 - Nashville, TN - War Memorial Auditorium
19 - St. Louis, MO - The Pageant
20 - Kansas City, MO - Uptown Theatre
21 - Des Moines, IA - Hoyt Sherman Theatre
23 - Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue
24 - Chicago, IL - Riviera Theatre
25 - Madison, WI - Orpheum: Madison

November 2008

5 - Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue
9 - St. Alberta, Alberta - Arden Theatre
10 - Calgary, Alberta - Jack Singer Hall
12 - Vancouver, British Columbia - Vogue Theater
13, 14 - Seattle, WA - Showbox at the Market
16, 17 - San Francisco, CA - The Fillmore