The three-night stand at Bowery Ballroom by the beloved Memphis band Lucero gave us a prime example of life imitating art. A quick survey of the band’s song titles gives you a clear eye to their themes: drinking, women, loneliness, women, more drinking. For the Bowery Presents gang, three shows by this band on the first three nights of the week has to be an early Christmas, as the fan base has always proven as willing to indulge the band’s favorite vice as the band themselves. What felt like a shift was the degree to which the band made booze the night’s central theme, from the bordering-on-annoying number of references to being (or having recently been) drunk from frontman Ben Nichols, to the beers being slugged by him not just between, but during songs, including a couple to which he forgot the words. Rock n’ roll has never been a teetotaler’s game, and it probably shouldn’t be. But when you’re a band at Lucero’s level — booking the city’s best venue for three nights straight at a tariff of thirty bucks a head — the line between a get-along good time and unprofessionalism grows thin. That glorified bar-band schtick also sells these guys short — Lucero have some great songs, and on the whole, they’re still a heck of an act at performing them.

All three of the Bowery shows, of which this was the last, were divided into an acoustic and electric set with no opener. This band is nothing if not giving, with almost three hours split between the hour-long acoustic and nearly two-hour electric set. The band came strong out of the gate with “That Much Further West”, and the acoustic set held together throughout, with the packed house singing along to Nichols’ often-melancholy lyrics (two songs with the word “lonesome” in a row, in fact). As the show went on, things turned a bit more shambolic, as Nichols helped himself to the shots being offered up by the crowd. In spite or maybe because of the whiskey flowing, the band’s electric songs took on a certain wanton urgency, with the signature tune “Nights Like These” earning many a fist-pump from swaying hordes in front. Nichols spelled the band at a few points to do solo or duo numbers, including a memorable “Last Pale Light in the West” from his first solo album by the same name. The final encore, “Here at the Starlite” was yet another tale of woe belied by the rock n’ roll swagger still holding together onstage. It’s a strange dichotomy, the sad songs and the party atmosphere they create. But for Lucero, it seems to still be working.

I recorded this set with Schoeps MK41 supercardiod microphones from our usual spot in the venue. The microphones rejected much of the crowd noise, providing for a nice, balanced recording of the night’s proceedings. Enjoy!

Download the complete show: [MP3] | [FLAC]
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Stream “That Much Further West” from the acoustic set

Stream “Nights Like These” from the electric set

Lucero
2014-11-05
Bowery Ballroom
New York, NY USA

Exclusive download hosted at nyctaper.com
Recorded and produced by acidjack

Schoeps MK41 (slightly LOC, PAS, at SBD)>KCY>Z-PFA>Sound Devices USBPre2>Edirol R-44 [OCM]>2x24bit/48kHz WAV>Adobe Audition CS 5.5 (align, mix down, compression)>Izotope Ozone 5 (exciter effects)>Audacity 2.0.3 (tracking, amplify, balance, downsample, dither)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Acoustic Set
01 Into Your Eyes
02 That Much Further West
03 Wandering Star
04 When You Decided to Leave
05 Across the River
06 Hello Sadness
07 Last Night In Town
08 Better Than This
09 In Lonesome Times
10 Other Side of Lonesome
11 Hold Fast
12 The Last Song
13 Ain’t So Lonely
14 Hate and Jealousy
15 Shelter

Electric Set
16 Downtown/On My Way Downtown
17 Kiss the Bottle
18 Hey Darlin’ Do You Gamble?
19 Women & Work
20 Texas & Tennessee
21 [banter1]
22 Union Pacific Line
23 Nights Like These
24 Sounds of the City
25 Chain Link Fence
26 I Can’t Stand To Leave You
27 [banter2]
28 Tonight Ain’t Gonna Be Good
29 Little Silver Heart
30 Sixes & Sevens
31 Goodbye Again
32 All Sewn Up
33 [banter3]
34 She Wakes When She Dreams
35 [banter4]
36 The War
37 [banter5]
38 Tears Don’t Matter Much
39 Fistful of Tears
40 [encore break]
41 Last Pale Light in the West
42 Here at the Starlite

Thanks to Kronosphere for the setlist.

If you enjoyed this recording, PLEASE SUPPORT Lucero, visit their website, and buy their records in their online store.