Most of the time I don’t bother with detailed concert reviews because when I go to a show, my reaction is mostly that was awesome/awful/someone shoot the opening band/those lights sucked. It’s not insightful commentary; it’s either, I had a good time or I didn’t. But I wanted to make a few notes about the Lucero show, mostly for myself, before I forgot about them.
- The horns make a huge difference in the show, and it’s a good one. I expected the new stuff to sound excellent with them, but it’s their influence on older tracks, like “That Much Further West” or “I Can Get Us Out Of Here” where I really noticed them, taking old songs that I love and turning them new. Ben also appears to be deeply smitten by his horn section; it was charming and hilarious.
- One of my favorite parts of going to see Lucero is watching the crowd. Man, the only other time I’ve seen that much man-hugging and man-weeping was after the Tar Heels won the basketball title back in April. A+ viewing experience.
- On a number of songs, Todd Beene gets out from behind his pedal steel and plays the tambourine very enthusiastically. It was also totally charming and hilarious.
- At one point Ben disappeared off stage in search of, as it turned out, whiskey, while the rest of the band vamped into what would be “Sixes and Sevens”; I proposed that it was time for the costume change, and S., R. and I pondered the idea of Ben Nichols in a white sequined jumpsuit. Ultimate vote: potentially the funniest thing in the world, ultimately probably not a great fashion choice.
- They played a very tight, very sharp set, and it was nice to see them on the Cradle’s larger stage — lots of room for rock starring up there.
- Michael Casey threw cards at Todd all night, and I caught a few great shots of single cards abandoned on stage, like the one above. They’re part of a set that I’ll eventually pull together in prints to show, and call “Michael Casey Was Here”.
- It was really, really a wonderful set. I am ridiculously glad I went.
brand new kind of photography 