Nostalgia, rock n roll, a moment of silence, and mutual respect between icons.
We knew before we got to the show that this night was going to be special on many levels. Grammy winner, Lucinda Williams had a recent collab with Mike Campbell, with ballad ‘Hell or High Water’ on his new album Vagabonds, Virgins & Misfits with The Dirty Nobs. She’s co- headlining with him on several shows on this new tour that kicked off in Austin at the iconic ACL Live. Then she continues on through fall dates with her band and Campbell with his. The collab is so fitting as she toured with Tom Petty in the 90s and said he’s a hero of hers. The kickoff in Austin was fitting as she lived her years ago.
The show had 3 sets, one with Lucinda and her band, one with Mike Campbell and the Dirty Nobs, and one with them together which included an epic finale of classic Tom Petty songs including ‘You Wreck Me’ and ‘Runnin’ Down a Dream’. Fans who left early missed this special nostalgic time.
Lucinda suffered a stroke a few years ago and mentioned she’s ‘still struggling a bit’. She says she’s ‘singing her ass off’. She continued to write songs during rehab as she learned to walk again. It was hard to see her helped on and off the stage, and held onto the mic stand, but as the show progressed, her voice seemed to get steadier and stronger. Although she hasn’t been able to play the guitar, hoping she will again. The kindness Campbell showed her when she was on stage to play a set together with him, (along with words in her ear that made her smile), was everything. They clearly had tons of mutual respect.
Her collabs and awards are too numerous to list, but she recently duetted with Willie Nelson on Billy Joe Shaver’s “Live Forever,” which won a Grammy in February for Best Country Performance. Don’t Tell Anyone the Secrets I Told You, A Memoir’ came out last year too. She’s been a busy woman.
She played some pandemic tracks like ‘Let’s Get the Band Together’ as well as classics, ‘Port Arthur’ about Janis Joplin, and others. She also sang with Mike on several Tom Petty songs at the end of the night including her ‘fave Tom Petty song’, ‘Southern Accent’ which Campbell agreed was his favorite too. She also sang ‘Stolen Moments’, she previously said, “I wrote this song after he passed away. I was just heartbroken, and I’m still reeling.”
Mike Campbell has way too many accolades to list, but he was one of the founding members of The Heartbreakers and has collabed, written for, and produced with icons like Don Henley, Aretha Franklin, Bob Dylan, Stevie Nicks.
Campbell’s band consists of another confounding member of The Heartbreakers, epic drummer Steve Perrone, and 2 brilliant Texan guitarists, Chris Holt (multi instrumentalist), and Lance Morrison (both from Don Henley). The show happened to fall on September 11th, and although we failed to realize that, Campbell ensured we didn’t forget. He called for a moment of silence and we really appreciated that.
The fact that Campbell has such a similar voice when he talks to that of Petty, made you do a double take at times and reminded us of how much we miss him and what a loss it was for so many music lovers. Campbell is paving a new path for his band since creating it a few years ago and has come a long way since he and Petty started in Gainesville decades ago. Although many fans were there strictly to hear Petty classics, diehards who’ve been following him the last few years, knew there was more. We were happy to hear some of those classics and lesser known tracks like “Fuck That Guy” (one of our faves), but were equally impressed with Dirty Nobs tracks we weren’t familiar with. And he’s just beginning.
Set list
SHAKE BLUES
DARE TO DREAM
SO ALIVE
ANNA LEE
ANGEL MERCY
HANDS TIED
FUCK THAT GUY
DON’T WAIT UP
I STILL LOVE YOU
DON’T FADE ON ME
SOUTHERN BOY
second set with Lucinda
CHANGE THE LOCKS
LOUISIANA RAIN
METAL FIRECRACKER
SOUTHERN ACCENTS
RIGHT IN TIME
YOU WRECK ME
RUNNING DOWN A DREAM
