Tough, poetic, suffering, sensitive, Lucinda Williams’ music beautifully blends together the many (at times conflicting) characteristics of being southern, and she well and truly brought this to her show at Enmore Theatre last night. A much loved singer songwriter hailing from Louisiana, Lucinda delivered her extraordinary repertoire to the packed out room, playing to a swarm of devoted fans – many of whom have most likely been following her career since she first emerged as a recorded artist in the 1980s.
Dan Sultan kicked off the night as the support act, playing a stripped back and heartfelt set that had the crowd’s full attention from start to finish. A soulful artist who closed with the moving track “Old Fitzroy”, Dan was the perfect choice as support for his incredible knack for writing songs that tell a captivating story – much like Lucinda.
Lucinda Williams opened her set with the growling track “Protection”, from her 2014 album Where The Spirit Meets the Bone, a song that perfectly draws upon country, blues, soul and rock much like many of Lucinda’s songs. In itself a wonderful amalgamation of influences and along with Lucinda’s dry and vivid story telling lyrics and low, captivating vocals, her sound is a unique one. Across the set Lucinda delivered a great variety of tracks, building up energy with each song to work in the more rock focused numbers at the tail end of the show. Indeed, following her opening song Lucinda brought out the faster, bouncier, “Can’t Let Go”, to be followed by the Americana/blues jam, “Pineola”.
Highlights of the set would have to have been the melodic (and somewhat melancholy) “Drunken Angel” from Lucinda’s 1998 record Car Wheels on a Gravel Road, as well as the soulful “Lake Charles” also from the same breakthrough album. “West Memphis” took on a more sinister growl for the tale about the injustice taking place in that area, while “Cold Day In Hell” maintained and worked upon the darker side of Lucinda’s music.
Indisputably a mesmerising wordsmith, being the daughter of the poet and college professor Miller Williams has certainly helped, with Lucinda even using his poems in her songs “Dust” and “Compassion”. Other crowd favourites were, “The Ghost of Highway 20”, the title track off her forthcoming album which felt like a country and western tale with a brilliant Americana feel, and the electrifying track “Honey Bee” had Lucinda and her three piece band rocking out as they closed the main set.
Coming back onto the stage for encore, to play a vibrant “Should I Stay or Should I Go” cover, “Get Right with God” and an extraordinary rendition of Neil Young’s “Rockin’ in the Free World” (perhaps in response to recent world events), Lucinda closed out what was a powerful and strong set brilliantly. While I personally would have loved old favourites including “Are You Alright” (2007) and “Sweet Old World” (1992) to have been played on the night, it was still an extraordinary set played by one the best musicians of the south.
Lucinda Williams continues touring around Australia this Sunday. For dates and more details head to her Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/LucindaWilliams
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