A few of us had the chance to catch Lucero perform at The Vogue in Indianapolis. Last time they rolled into town they played at Radio Radio, a smaller club just south of downtown Indy, so it was interesting to see them play at a place the size of The Vogue. Several of us saw them at that sold-out show last April and were floored by the energy and how every other person there seemed to have all the band's lyrics memorized. I thought then as I do now, "How is it these guys aren't huge yet?"
Lucero's recent album, 1372 Overton Park, has been receiving critical-acclaim and was on the 2009 top 10 list for many music bloggers. So, playing at a larger venue made sense as their fan base appears to be growing.
But what I noticed the moment I walked into The Vogue was that the band didn't seem know that they were becoming a bigger deal.
My first stop was the merchandise table where I picked up a Lucero sticker and button. On the couch behind it sat lead singer Ben Nichols and guitarist Brian Venable. I thought, "Well, that's cool. They're making themselves available to fans." Later Nichols was standing up front with the rest of the crowd watching Glossary's set. No hiding out in the green room or watching the opener off-stage. Ah, so nice. Just hanging out with the rest of us.
I then headed to the bar. I asked the bartender if there were any beer specials. "$2.50 PBRs and $3.50 Bud Lights", he said. I, of course, bought a PBR. I found out later that midway through Lucero's set they had sold out of PBRs. That might be a clue as to the crowd that attends their shows. I was surprised they didn't sell out of whiskey too considering the band was partaking in multiple shots throughout their performance.
The opening band, Glossary, kicked off the evening. I was as interested to hear them as I was to see Lucero again. I'd been hearing some buzz about this band recently. Earlier in the week I had downloaded their album The Better Angels Of Our Nature that they made available as a free download on their website. Click here for their download page.
Glossary started their set by simply mentioning they were from Murfreesboro, TN and then played roughly three or four songs without saying a word. They didn't need to say much because their music was doing the talking. They play a wonderful blend of southern garage rock and, as their MySpace page has it titled, "melodramatic popular song". Their set rose from a quiet and soulful beginning to an all-out rock fest by the end. Nearly a perfect setlist to build energy with the crowd and to setup Lucero.
I meet a few members of Glossary at the merchandise table later during Lucero's set. Very kind group. What I found interesting is that their lineup is almost identical to ours. The female vocalist even reminded me of Mandy by the way she worked the tamborine. All they needed was a keys player and they'd be the spitting image of Nightjar. Ty told me that Joey Kneiser, one of the two guitarist/singers, even looked like me. I was surprised to learn that their latest album was their sixth one. I had no idea they had been at it this long.
Speaking of Joey Kneiser, he gave me a card that was promoting his new solo record. He has made it available for free from the Glossary website. Haven't given it a listen yet but looking forward to it based on the tremendous performance that Glossary gave.
So, how was Lucero? Pretty bad-ass. I had heard that they were going to have the horns players with them. I assumed this was so they could play several songs off the new album. Well, no horns were to be found. Didn't really matter. They played the new tunes anyway and if you hadn't heard the album you wouldn't have known something was missing.
They also had no problem falling back on some crowd favorites from earlier albums. Songs like "Chain Link Fence", "Nights Like These" and "Tears Don't Matter Much".
These guys connect with a crowd in a way that almost makes you feel like you're hanging out with them in a basement during one of their rehearsals. The bar girls were bringing them shots. Nichols was talking to the crowd and might have even taken a few requests. The bass player lite up a smoke at the non-smoking show. I almost forgot I was at a club.
There was the normal group of guy fans that I saw at the show last year. Drunk, arms around each other (Ty called it "bro-love"), and singing along to every song. They're harmless until they start spilling beer over the ten closest people to them. Oh well.
So, all-in-all, it was a great night. The show ended a little before Midnight. The only downer was when the bass player, who was sporting a Saints tattoo, walked to the mic at the end of the evening and mumbled, "My condolences on your loss." Dude, we were all having fun and had nearly forgotten about that silly game for the past three hours, but thanks for bringing it back up.
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Three singles from the new album "Hometown Stranger" are now available to stream and download. Listen and take them with you before the album goes on sale on March 28. The songs "Check Your Mirrors", "Catch My Soul" and "Lonesome Whistle" will also be performed at the special CD release show held on Saturday, March 27 at Radio Radio in Indianapolis.
