Lucinda Williams Rocks the 9:30 Club

Lucinda Williams, March 4, 9:30 Club, Washington, DC

It was as if Lucinda Williams telepathically heard my appeal for a blues show. The southern belle played a high-energy two-hour-plus set at the 9:30 Club Wednesday night. Other than a handful of songs from her newest album, Little Honey, and a couple of other songs, her second show of two nights was entirely different from the previous night. This one focused heavily on blues, rather than country, and was reportedly more up tempo. She did not, however, neglect her country side. One of many treats was “Passionate Kisses,” a song later recorded by Mary Chapin Carpenter, which earned Williams her first Grammy in 1994 for Best Country Song. The song that followed, “Greenville,” Williams boasted, was one later recorded by Emmylou Harris.

Williams has been making music for three decades, hopping among genres: blues, country, folk, rock, and it's refreshing that she pulls from her entire catalog and changes up her shows so frequently. There were undoubtedly fans at both shows this week and they essentially experienced two different sides of her.

This was my first Lucinda show and I cannot be happier about it. I came close to seeing her at New Orleans Jazz Fest a few years ago but the headliner competition was stiff and I wound up instead checking out Van Morrison. On the way out, I did hear her final song, “Get Right with God,” and eagerly awaited getting to hear a full set. It was worth the wait.

Her backing band Buick 6 opened the show.

Set List: (courtesy of Dave)
I Just Want to See You So Bad
Happy Woman Blues
I Lost It
Circles and X’s
Can’t Let Go
Right in Time
Passionate Kisses (solo acoustic)
Greenville
Jackson
Fruits of My Labor
Tears of Joy
Real Love
Out of Touch
Little Rock Star
Real Live Bleeding Fingers and Broken Guitar Strings
Unsuffer Me
Atonement
Honey Bee
Righteously

Encore:
Disgusted
The Things I Used to Do
Joy
Long Way to the Top (AC/DC)