Venue:
Birmingham Town Hall
Date: 29/01/2026
Lucinda’s touring schedule since her stroke has been frenetic to say the least. I think I have seen her at least 5 times in that period maybe even 6. She rarely disappoints and tonight was no exception. There is a slight shake up of her live band members. Now comprising Dave Sutton on bass the only remaining member of Buick 6, Marc Ford and Doug Pettibone on twin lead guitars and the magnificent Steve Ferrone on drums. The tour was to promote her latest excellent album World’s gone wrong and there were a fair smattering of songs from the album the highlights being her take on the Bob Marley song Too much trouble in the World and How much did you get for your soul ?(no clues to who that one is about). We still had plenty of room for fan favourites Car Wheels, Lake Charles and Stolen Moments amongst others. The sound was razor sharp, the guitar solos from Marc and Doug often in turn in the same songs were lyrical and exciting and Lu was the most effusive I have seen her for a while. She has an engaging personality, is an exceptional songwriter and I hope there is room for even more albums to add to her already impressive canon of work.
The audience:
For a Birmingham audience they were respectful and she got warm applause between songs but I thought they were either too old to dance or too stuffy. In the encore of Rocking in the free World my wife and I and one other were the only ones up and dancing.
It made me think..
Lu is up there as my favourite female songwriter ever – her gigs and albums have given me great pleasure over the years. I feared the worst when she suffered her stroke but her resilience is frankly astonishing. Her voice if anything is actually stronger and her songwriting undiminished.
Shame she is not currently able to play guitar but I am just happy to still have her in my life.
Stuffy Birmingham audience; quelle surprise…..
I have seen her live 3 or 4 times. The last couple were a bit painful. I hope she is in a better place, but she seemed tired and weak. I wonder if she has financial concerns to keep her out there. I hope she is doing it because she loves to do it.
Did she keep quiet about her father and Car Wheels?
As you’ll recall, last time she was disappointed that the audience didn’t react to the anecdote, having heard her tell it a number of times already.
No she only prefaced Car Wheels with the fact that it was partly produced by Steve Earle.
Actually she did t mention her dad at all. She is obviously physically struggling but her voice is actually very strong and so too her personality which shone through.
Not aware that she has financial difficulties – I think that is way off beam. She enjoys performing pure and simple and has a superb band with her.
I didn’t say she has financial difficulties, but when I last saw her she almost appeared to be somewhat “broken”. Medical costs are incredibly expensive in the good old US and many musicians don’t have any insurance. I really hope it isn’t the case for her and if she is doing better now then that is good news
Engaging personality… last time I saw her she upbraided us for not clapping enough after the first coupla tracks. It was a desultory performance and the applause was about right for what we got.
I cracked it after that and have missed some excellent performances by all accounts. She recently toured down here as support for Paul Kelly.
I like the new album esp How much did you get for your Soul. Cracker. Shades of Gloria in that guitar intro?
Yeah did that one in Brum pretty good version to be fair.
We saw Lucinda at Bridgewater Hall in Manchester the following evening. Pretty damn good it was too. I think her voice is stronger now she doesn’t play guitar. It’s sad seeing her have to be helped on and off stage, but once on stage, she’s all there. The new album is one of her strongest since Ghosts of Highway 20 a decade ago.
Agree her voice is very much stronger now that she doesn’t play guitar. New album excellent and better than Rock and Roll Heart. Her work rate is impressive for someone so physically impaired. She is an inspiration.