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Dan Coren
Judging by reputation and by available videos and DVDs, Lucinda Williams hasn't always been at her best as a live performer. And, if you've read my recent review of her most recent album, Little Honey, you can imagine why I hadn't been particularly optimistic about her March 6 concert at the Keswick Theatre in Glenside. It's so nice to be proven wrong.
After an opening set by her band, Buick 6— a set that, to my ears, was devoid of everything but volume and throbbing monotony— the band miraculously transformed into a rocking chamber group and the great lady herself sang non-stop for 100 minutes or so. And then, obviously relishing an appreciative audience, she rewarded us with two little but juicy encore sets.
Williams is 56, but her voice has never sounded better. Although there is of course nothing remotely operatic about it, and it's by no means pretty— sweet lyricism is something she doesn't do— Williams sings, as I've said before, with Verdi-like conviction and intensity as well as with what seems like inexhaustible strength and complete ease. You can hear that it all comes from her gut with virtually no strain on the vocal chords; she was belting it out with as much power at 11:15 as she had been two hours earlier.
Dark though her subjects have been over the years, Williams gives the impression of being completely at ease with herself and her fellow musicians. She also seems to revel in the luxury of being able to draw upon 30 years' worth of her own songs. She had just appeared in Washington, D.C., and I had read a blog account of her play list there. It astonished me how little overlap there was— some, of course; she is, after all, pushing her new album— but between the two concerts she covered just about all of Carwheels and a generous amount of material from two or three other albums"“ about 20 songs at each concert. When does she find time to rehearse?
At a concert like this, you never know which or how many of your favorite songs you'll get, if indeed you get any at all. But I got lucky: Williams did a laid-back version of my personal favorite, the already sensuous and expansive "Fruits of My Labor."
She closed with a bow to her roots: covers of other folks' blues and, to my delight and astonishment, Bobby Gentry's "Ode to Billy Joe." While I hadn't thought about this song in almost 40 years, it sounds to me as if Williams has had it in the back of her mind throughout her career. Here's a link to Gentry's original.
After an opening set by her band, Buick 6— a set that, to my ears, was devoid of everything but volume and throbbing monotony— the band miraculously transformed into a rocking chamber group and the great lady herself sang non-stop for 100 minutes or so. And then, obviously relishing an appreciative audience, she rewarded us with two little but juicy encore sets.
Williams is 56, but her voice has never sounded better. Although there is of course nothing remotely operatic about it, and it's by no means pretty— sweet lyricism is something she doesn't do— Williams sings, as I've said before, with Verdi-like conviction and intensity as well as with what seems like inexhaustible strength and complete ease. You can hear that it all comes from her gut with virtually no strain on the vocal chords; she was belting it out with as much power at 11:15 as she had been two hours earlier.
Dark though her subjects have been over the years, Williams gives the impression of being completely at ease with herself and her fellow musicians. She also seems to revel in the luxury of being able to draw upon 30 years' worth of her own songs. She had just appeared in Washington, D.C., and I had read a blog account of her play list there. It astonished me how little overlap there was— some, of course; she is, after all, pushing her new album— but between the two concerts she covered just about all of Carwheels and a generous amount of material from two or three other albums"“ about 20 songs at each concert. When does she find time to rehearse?
At a concert like this, you never know which or how many of your favorite songs you'll get, if indeed you get any at all. But I got lucky: Williams did a laid-back version of my personal favorite, the already sensuous and expansive "Fruits of My Labor."
She closed with a bow to her roots: covers of other folks' blues and, to my delight and astonishment, Bobby Gentry's "Ode to Billy Joe." While I hadn't thought about this song in almost 40 years, it sounds to me as if Williams has had it in the back of her mind throughout her career. Here's a link to Gentry's original.
What, When, Where
Lucinda Williams. March 6, 2009 at Keswick Theatre, Glenside, Pa. www.keswicktheatre.com.
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