Lucero [Yes this is a terrible photo. It is the "I Was There" photo. Just so you know.]
It probably won’t come as a surprise that Lucero’s Next Big Nashville appearance at Cannery Ballroom was my most anticipated show of the festival (especially after my thoughts of their new album, “1372 Overton Park”). Their two hour set took up most of my night, besides catching a little of Ricky Young’s set in Mercy while waiting for them to take the stage downstairs.
Lucero brought with them two openers on their “Ramblin’ Roadshow and Memphis Revue”, Cedric Burnside and Lightin’ Malcom, along with Amy LaVere. Admittedly, most of their sets were spent socializing and going in between the venues that were connected for the night (through the magical red doors that are to the left of the Mercy entrance. Awesome call, folks at Cannery/Mercy- that made it so much easier than having to go in and out and be checked for a hand stamp or pass every time you wanted to see what else was going on).
The crowd for the Lucero show was one of the bigger, more intense ones that I’ve seen as of late, and they were excited to see the band take the stage at 10:30. They opened with “Sounds of the City”, off of the new album, which was a perfect choice; the refrain “I’m falling in love to the sounds of the city” rang throughout and it was clear the boys were ready to put on an amazing show, that night being the first on the road date of the tour (obviously Memphis was the night before). The horn section was one of the most awesome parts of the set, making for more of a party mood than I would’ve thought beforehand. The set did seem to get a little long, an issue relate back to seeing bands play for 30-45 minutes all weekend, so it was a change, but they were on it. They knew the new songs well and the set wound up being a greatest hits-esque show, with most of the new album stirred in.
Some of the highlights of the set were finally getting to hear “I Can Get Us Out of Here Tonight” live, “Last Man Alive in the West”, which I had only ever heard solo on the “Revival Road” project with Chuck Ragan and Tim Barry, along with “Darken My Door”, arguably one of the best tracks from the new album. Singer Ben Nichols addressed the audience quite a few times, obviously excited about how they were singing along all night and showed a sense of being a genuinely good guy, which was cemented after I randomly ran into him a little while after they played.
Lucero definitely did not disappoint with their show and I highly suggest that you see them live if you have even an inkling of interest in the band and they come near you- I’m already wanting to see them play live again and thinking about possibly traveling to see another show on their tour.
Yeah, they’re that good.
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