bridged the gap between half a dozen or so genres at the on Saturday night, “country-fying” everything from grunge to punk to power-pop in her sprawling two-hour set. Yet, what stood out most in a night rife with modern classics and vintage covers was the sheer musical prowess of her backing band.
Led by guitarist Blake Mills, Williams’ three-piece band gave the singer room to run free on Saturday while pushing her songs forward with winding, meaningful instrumentals. Mills opened the show with a 30 minute set of original singer-songwriter material, though it wasn’t until he flanked Williams on both traditional and slide guitar that his musicianship transitioned from understated to awe-inspiring.
Williams offered a set list that ran the gamut of three-decade career, opening with a freight train version of “Can’t Let Go.” Mid-tempo ballads like “Drunken Angel,” “People Talkin’ ” and “Essence” dominated the bulk of the show — such is the gritty pop-rock that made Williams a household name many years ago.
The latter part of the night saw three brilliant covers — Bob Dylan’s “Trying To Get To Heaven,” the Allman Brothers’ “It’s Not My Cross to Bear” and Neil Young’s “Rockin’ In The Free World,” the last of which was part of Williams’ second (and well-deserved) encore.
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Click to read our interview with Lucinda Williams.
John Hendrickson is the managing editor of Reverb and a multimedia journalist for The Denver Post. Follow his rants on music and more on .
Tina Hagerling is a Denver photographer and regular contributor to Reverb. Check out more of her .
