DC ROCK CLUB
Long live rock, I need it every night

Saturday, October 17, 2009

*What Are You Willing to Lucero?

Lucero - 9:30 Club - Thursday, October 15, 2009 $15

Any time I see a band with their name displayed behind them, I start to worry. This is exactly what dbag Scott Stapp does when he's on stage. Look here, you can make out the 12 foot tall letters of his name in the back. A word, if I may. Don't be like Scott Stapp. It was fine when Elvis did it in 1968. But that was 40 years ago, and he was The King. You can see where I'm going with this. Quite literally. There's a picture...

Lucero was a band I had read about as participants in one of the many musical festivals that operate in our great nation. And when I say read about them, I mean that I read their name on a list. I didn't do any research on this show in advance, though Jumbo Slice did give me a head's up: "a little too Southern Rock for me. They’re not bad, it’s just not my thing." On this, we agree.

The 930 was 5/8 full for this Thursday night show. Lots of white dudes in attendance, myself included. I know there's a good number of single women in DC who are looking to get themselves a man, if they aren't too picky, perhaps a show like Lucero's would serve them well. Lucero hails from the wide state of Tennessee and has the twang to prove it. I think I counted 6 band members on stage, not including the 3 horn players. At $15 a ticket, that's a lot of folks to split the money with.

I think the horn players were perhaps the best thing about this show. They balanced out the otherwise overwhelmingly strong southern stylings into a fuller, richer sound that grabbed my attention. But that was as exciting as the band got. I'm not much for the vocals offered by Ben Nichols. Too raspy, though maybe the throat spray he used was indication of a weakened voice box. It was a little too close to a redneck version of Everclear, though I like the Everclear hits, I must admit.

*"What are you willing to lose?" is track 2 on Lucero's 2009 release, 1372 Overton Park.

No comments: