My introduction to Lucero was via The Gaslight Anthem's live cover of "The War", which they did on their 2010 American Slang tour. They brought out Tim Barry (who opened on a bunch of dates) to help sing the song and did an amazing job. It had very powerful lyrics that made me want to further check Lucero out.
But as is usually the case with me and new bands to my life (even with my early interest in Gaslight who have now basically become part of my bloodstream), I made a mental note to check them out, but then proceeded to drop the ball. I still haven't checked out all of Alkaline Trio's stuff and have been meaning to for years!
When I saw Lucero was on the bill for Warped Tour 2011, I made a point of going to see their set when I covered the Long Island date. By the time Warped came around, I was a big fan of "Hey Darlin' Do You Gamble" from seeing it on YouTube during a quick search of their stuff. I was won over by the lyrics and rich Southern sound. Since that and "The War" were all I knew going into Warped, I had hoped to hear more when I saw them live. Of course stupid Long Island Saturday morning traffic caused me to be late to the show, effectively making me miss half of Lucero's all too short set that afternoon. But I walked away so impressed from the little I saw, that I decided I would have to check out a full show.
It's weird to me that they were randomly on a festival that included Black Veil Brides, Less Than Jake, Paramore and A Day To Remember. But I guess I'm a shining example of why- if I hadn't seen them there, I may not have been inclined to go see them on their own when they came back through town. So surely new fans were made on that tour besides me, proving the idea of playing Warped to be a good one.
Soon they announced a string of dates for a short little Winter tour at the end of 2011 and I got a ticket for the Brooklyn Bowl date. I knew they were playing the next night, New Year's Eve, in Boston. I considered going to that show too, but if I'm being honest, I was scared by the idea of going into Boston and dealing with massive public drunkenness along with the dumb parking situation in that town ($35 in cash to park at a show at House of Blues. BOOO!) So I got my Brooklyn ticket, arranged for a photo pass, and looked forward to that show.
Now, I knew they were going to be good live, but overall I had no idea what to expect. I only saw slower numbers at Warped, so I didn't see what happens to the room when they rock out.
They were totally amazing.
Lucero is not like other bands I listen to, in that I don't listen to anything remotely Country-ish unless you include Chuck Ragan's acoustic stuff. By "Country" I mean that down n' dirty outlaw/roadhouse stuff. Not sappy pop called "Country" just because the singer has a Southern accent. In short, Lucero scratched an itch I didn't know I had. To hear them play live and see the effect their music had on a crowd was quite an experience. It seriously reminded me of the "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" scene from "Great Balls of Fire".
The crowd was almost a bit too much for me to handle; ever been dirty danced on against your will by a drunk couple? I have. That is an experience that life can't prepare you for. But the show was so good, I couldn't give up my front row spot just because of a few drunk kids all up on me. As it turned out, years of battling space invaders and spontaneous mosh pits trained me well for Lucero shows. If need be, I figured I'd break out my anti-mosh elbows without hesitation. Well maybe a little. Dealing with the inebriated can go either really well or crazy bad. But I digress.
Though I only knew "Tennessee" and "1372 Overton Park" very vaguely going into the Bowl show, I loved every song I heard them play even when I didn't know it. However, the crowd around me was totally the opposite in terms of song knowledge. They knew EVERY word and drunkenly sang it right in the band's collective face as loud as they could. It's one of the more physically aggressive displays of love I've ever seen at a show.
As someone who tries to avoid liquor-fueled scenarios (blah, long story), I have to say that I have begun to not care at Lucero shows. I've come to expect the occasional boy-fight nearby or drunk girls bumping into me while they're having a dance, so I guess I just got used to the environment. I saw a clip of Ben saying "If you're wondering if this is how it is every night. Yep. It is." And he's right.
Another one of the great things about Lucero is that they're so down to Earth. They've been a band for 14 years and have an impressive enough following that if they were even a little bit full of themselves, I'd understand. But they're not. They take time to meet their fans, don't have a setlist and gladly take requests from the crowd. Even their early stuff, provided they can remember how to play it of course! Lots of bands stick to a setlist that they refuse to stray from, leaving multi-show followers knowing the script by the third show into the tour. But Lucero are just dudes playing music to people that like them. Screwing up a song isn't the end of the world, and may be even welcomed just for a laugh. Taking a request means knowing they are satisfying someone who spent their hard-earned money to come to the show, and offers some variety in the band's evening as well. Sometimes I wonder if bands who don't take requests aren't a bit scared and need to be a little more adventurous.
Singing about whiskey and drunken lovesick evenings are a common theme in Lucero's lyrics. While I'm not really in that place emotionally, at least at this moment in my life, I have enough fond/awful memories of similar nights that I can still relate to those emotions. "Chain Link Fence" reminds me of a party my cousin took us to in Ohio at someone's farm house when I was a teenager, plus, who hasn't been through a dreaded unrequited love situation at least once that left them scarred forever? Actually, you don't have to be a heartbroken drinker to pick up what they're putting down. It's the kind of music you can appreciate just for being beautiful and awesome even if you're not in that mental state.
And let's not forget the music itself. The guitars! Brian and Ben really come up with some great riffs and interesting sounds. "No Roses No More" blows me away, "A Dangerous Thing" is beautiful, and "The War" (which people freak OUT over live) is one of the most well written songs I've ever heard. Accompanied by minimal guitar, the lyrics to "The War" shine even more. Apparently the arrival of horns into Lucero's sound on recent albums hasn't been appreciated by a certain faction of their fan base, but I think it sounds great. I always think of brass when I think of Dixieland music, so it seems fitting to me that a Tennessee band would want to include that in their sound. Todd's pedal steel is divine, and Rick's keyboards and accordion are just… well it all just sounds so pretty.
Ben's voice. BEN'S VOICE. Who sounds like him? No one. I love it because I have a fetish for Southern accents, and the South itself. I guess I'm over the Northeastern Corridor life in some ways and can appreciate some things about that region that other New Yorkers just don't understand. Delicious food; cordial people; taking things slow and patiently rather than being so generally cutthroat and selfish, nearly killing someone else to get there first (wherever "there" is doesn't matter, it's all about being self-important). I can't be in the South all the time, so Lucero brings the South to me. I was stuck in Baltimore traffic recently, a situation that would normally make me homicidal. But listening to them kept me calm. Not having to look over my shoulder for potential sideswipers every 5 minutes gave me a chance to relax and enjoy the music.
Driving home from my Lucero show marathon at the end of April (I drove 1,260 miles in a week!), I listened to "Tennessee", "1372...", "Nobody's Darlings" and "Women & Work" on loop during my 8 hour voyage. The minute I got home, I bought the rest of the albums I didn't yet own. I was completely floored. I just sat in front of my computer for hours spacing out to their music as I went through my photos from the road trip, completely mesmerized.
Between the music, the shows and all that comes with it, I hate that I've missed out on a good decade of Lucero. I will find a way to make it up to myself for such a crime.
Well, I think I've blathered on long enough. If you take anything away from this lovefest I just posted, it should be that you've gotta check them out. That is all. Please enjoy this video of Lucero doing "Chain Link Fence" from a show I wish I had been at. It's pretty representative of what goes on at their concerts.
Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.
