Look to your left. A young couple is passionately making out. To your right, two grizzled bearded gentlemen are getting drunk and rowdy, and singing loud as hell. And don’t forget to look up, because an old punk rocker has just launched himself from the stage. Welcome, you are at a Lucero show.
“Each person makes Lucero their own thing,” says front man Ben Nichols. “Everyone identifies with us for completely different reasons. For one reason or another, Lucero becomes a very personal band.” But the one thing that seems to unify Lucero fans of all kinds is the band’s all-or-nothing live show, and Live from Atlanta, the band’s latest live record, thoroughly captures that.
Live from Atlanta is a massive, career-spanning collection of songs recorded over three nights in Atlanta’s Terminal West. It’s a four-LP greatest hits collection of 32 tunes played the way they were meant to be heard, with all the distinguishing elements you’d hear at Lucero’s live show—horns, pianos, and the trademark instrument of the band’s live sound: whiskey-fueled audience sing-alongs. Courtesy of Alternative Press, dive into the live version of the classic track “Tears Don’t Matter Much” HERE.
“When you listen to ‘Freebird,’ you’re not listening to the studio version. You want that 17-minute crazy one. That’s the one you think to go to,” says guitarist Brian Venable. “So we’re hoping with this record, you’ll finally get a version of ‘Tears Don’t Matter Much’ that you know.”
Lucero’s entire catalog, from 2000’s The Attic Tapes to 2013’s Texas & Tennessee EP, is represented on Live from Atlanta, which clocks in at over two impressive hours. “You should’ve seen us turn that record in,” laughs Venable. “They wanted an 88-minute live record. But we were like, ‘That’s just not a live Lucero show!”
The album’s extensive assortment of songs proves that Lucero is a band for everyone. Parts country and parts folk with an added heaping of punk rock, the six-piece cover the musical gamut. Even the band members have varying opinions on how to define their sound. “We’re each playing in a completely different band. We’re on stage and each playing in our own Lucero. I’m not sure that’s how it works for other bands,” laughs Nichols.
However you see Lucero, Live from Atlanta will satisfy your needs, whether you’re in the drunken couple, one of the drunk and rowdy beardos, or the stagediving punk rocker. Whether you look towards slower Lucero songs to get you through tough times like “Nights Like These” or party jams like “All Sewn Up,” Live from Atlanta has got you covered. It might even make fans out of non-believers (especially if they like whiskey). Because like bassist John C. Stubblefield always says, “Lucero loves you.”
Upcoming Tour Dates
6/11 – San Antonio, TX – Sam’s Burger Joint
6/12 – Dallas, TX – The Elm St. Music & Tattoo Festival
6/13 – Hattiesburg, MS – Brewskys
6/13 – 6/15 – Manchester, TN – Bonnaroo
7/11 – Fort Collins, CO – Aggie Theatre
7/12 – Morrison, CO – Red Rocks Ampitheatre
7/13 – Telluride, CO – The Ride Festival
7/15 – Kansas City, MO – Crossroads KC
7/16 – St. Louis, MO – The Ready Room
7/17 – Memphis, TN – Levitt Shell
7/19 – Frederick, MD – Flying Dog Brewery
7/20 – Dewey Beach, DE – Bottle & Cork
7/22 – Asbury Park, NJ – Stone Pony
7/23 – Harrisburg, PA – Fed Live
7/24 – Rochester, NY – Party in the Park
7/25 – Port Chester, NY – The Capitol Theatre
7/27 – Newport, RI – Newport Folk Festival 2014
7/28 – Akron, OH – Musica
9/6 – 9/7 – Toronto, ON – Riot Fest
9/12 – 9/14 – Chicago, IL – Riot Fest
9/13 – St. Paul, MN – Midway Stadium
9/19 – 9/21 – Byers, CO – Riot Fest
9/27 – Baltimore, MD – The Shindig Festival
