By Mark Hornok

Lucinda Williams, touring behind her latest release, Blessed, brought a rare “cool” show out of the city and into the suburbs. She played quiet and then got loud for the packed house at Durty Nellie’s in Palatine. She ran the gamut of love and anger. The crowd left appreciative of everything they got.

After opening with a rollicking version of “Can’t Let Go,” Williams focused a good part of her set on her “relationship” songs. It made for something of laid back first hour, but did feature some highlights. “Buttercup” had Williams taking one last shot at a lost love. The live version was more fleshed out than the album and featured some of the many colorful fills by lead guitar player and opening act, Blake Mills. A new song, “Stowaway in Your Heart,” sounded really good and was well received. Williams spent a few minutes plugging the cartoon video for the song “Copenhagen.” She seemed really proud of it. I checked it out this morning and it tells a strange, but touching relationship story.

The last part of the set turned the volume up considerably. Starting with “Seeing Black,” Williams proved that this band could turn it up. “Essence” might have been the best song of the night and “Changed the Locks” got the biggest crowd response. Mills and drummer Butch Norton seemed thrilled to let loose whenever they got the chance.

Almost every song had Williams following along in a giant lyric book laid in front of her onstage. While this is not that unusual, Williams made a point to remark on it early in the show. She apologized, calling it a “safety net.” She might have been searching for the words, but knew what she wanted to say. Her message was clear in the music and she made her political thoughts clear. Williams talked excitedly about the fact that her song “Joy" had been used in several of the protests in Wisconsin last year. She dedicated it this night to the current Occupy protests.

The suburbs got a great show. Here’s hoping we get some more from time to time.


The setlist:

Can't Let Go
Pineola
Drunken Angel
Buttercup
Stowaway in Your Heart
Well Well Well
Concrete and Barbed Wire
Fruits of My Labor
Copenhagen
Born To Be Loved
Tryin' To Get To Heaven
Steal Your Love
Those Three Days
Seeing Black
Real Live Bleeding Fingers and Broken Guitar Strings
Essence
Changed the Locks
Joy
Honey Bee
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Blessed
It's Not My Cross To Bear
For What It's Worth

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