Lucinda Williams live

Saw her in good form open a large venue for Neil Young, and rough and tired or lazy in a small theater as described by Bizango: forgetting lyrics and restarting songs with too many self-deprecating digressions. She's lucky to have a crackerjack band that balances her lack of varnish-- which after all is exactly what she is all about, and her core audience knows and loves this.

lucinda is one of my all time favorites,she is always in heavy rotation on my system,ive seen her twice,once in the front row and once in the third row,crossing my fingers she will do some shows in pittsburgh/cleveland/buffalo again soon

I've seen Lucinda several times, and always good or better performances. The best being when she closed her "Essence" tour in Santa Cruz, CA after a sold out stand at the Filmore. She was really excited by her "breakout" acclaim, and promised to play till the bouncers dragged her from the stage. Which they did, during a version of "Get right with God" that had everyone in her outfit banging on instruments on the stage. (By that point, she'd been sipping determinedly at something in beer cup all night.) Amazing show, but I was ready to go home! She's famously erratic, so not surprised about the mixed reviews here. Still very with a try, though.

On the recordings, I don't think anything since "Essence" has been up to the standard of "Carwheels" and "Essence." If you don't know it, I highly recommend the early "Happy Woman Blues."

John

Saw her last week at the wonderful Mountain Winery in Saratoga, CA. Third time I've seen her live and it will probably be the last. She's a very strong songwriter and I own and enjoy most of her albums, but I don't care for her stage persona. She seemed particularly out of it at this show. I appreciate the talent in her current band, but they're a bit too in the badass/axe-slinger model for my taste (others will disagree). Robert Earl Keen and his band opened the show and stole the night as far as I am concerned. Add them to your don't-miss list.

I saw her live around 1999 and the sound/band was very tight. Prolly the most i have been impressed with band ever. Usually sound is disappointing. Not Lucinda's!