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SXSW review: Lucero
“This is the last time we’re playing this (expletive) festival. Of course, I’ve been saying that for eight years in a row.”
Welcome to the warped cantina that is the mind of Lucero’s Ben Nichols. The above wry line came roughly an hour and innumerable whisky and Cokes into his roots rock band’s sprawling, epic set Friday at Red Eyed Fly, and was a microcosm of the acerbic open heartedness that dominates Nichols’ lyrics.
The show, which weighed in at nearly two hours - “That clock on the wall better be right, because we’re going to use every single minute,” Nichols chided the sound tech - was a display of the muscular but nuanced sound of “Summer Song,” the open lament of “Wasted” and the singalong glory of “Sweet Little Thing.”
What really stands out live is that as easy to pick apart as Lucero’s sound is - Tom Waits fronting The E Street Band while trying to cover The Band - the ache and world weary joy Nichols pours into every word holds the entire outfit together. And it doesn’t hurt that he’s got a crack band who can just about read his mind (there’s a tremor-inducing thought) behind him.
By the time “What Are You Willing To Lose?” closed things off at 1:59 a.m., with Nichols’ voice sounding like it was emanating from the bottom of the galaxy’s deepest whisky barrel, there was enough beer on the floor and fists in the air to pretty much guarantee that “the Lucero family picnic,” as the singer dubbed it, will probably make its ninth SXSW appearance next year.
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Permalink | Comments (1) | Categories: SXSW 2010
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By Dan Moilanen
March 20, 2010 3:23 PM | Link to this
I’m bummed because I really wanted to see this show last night, next year I’m getting a badge. Nice review, Chad!