Lucinda Williams @ Harley-Davidson Roadhouse
Thursday, July 3 @ the Harley-Davidson Roadhouse
“It’s
disconcerting and frankly it’s starting to piss me off,” she growled, adding,
“Don’t worry. I’m not going to do anything weird.” Like walk off. Fortunately,
her two-hour-plus performance saw her mood lift. She even cracked a smile at
times. Rocker that she is, the 55-year-old tackled some surprising gems and
nuggets from classic rock’s past.
Starting
out on acoustic guitar, Williams gave a plaintive performance of “Passionate
Kisses” before being joined by her four-piece band, which included veteran
guitar wiz Doug Pettibone (hardcore fans saw Pettibone step out to join
supporting act Alejandro Escovedo on a rollicking cover of The Rolling Stones’
“Beast of Burden”).
Despite
the noise bleed, Williams ably showcased a number of new tunes from her
upcoming album, slated for a September release.Songs like “Well, Well, Well” and “Circles and X’s” marked Williams’
return to a more traditional country sound, and balanced out new rockers like
“Real Love” and “Little Rock Star.”
The
recognizable bass lines and electric organ blips of The Doors’ classic “Riders
on the Storm” appeared toward the end of her set before Williams made the song
her own with her straight-forward vocals. And Williams cut loose with the
show’s final encore, “It’s a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock ’n’
Roll)”—yes, the AC/DC song.
“Love,
peace and revolution,” she called at the show’s end. Williams certainly
displayed those sides and more, creating her own fireworks long after the dark
summer sky had cleared.



Blaine
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