MUSIC: Lap Dance Offer Doesn't Stop Lucero's Show

Ben Nichols of Lucero at the Social. (Credit: Miriphoto for Metromix)

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I was bit giddy about going to see Lucero Tuesday night at the Social. I’d heard that Sunday night’s performance was a bit of a drunk fest and at the end of the show the band’s performance sort of fell apart. It had been a couple years since I’d seen them play last – at the old Will’s on Mills. Should I expect drunken shenanigans? Or, would I be delivered into a sweet rock and roll fantasy?

David Dondero opened the show. He was a lone guitar man singing tails of weird encounters, love, and pain to a chatting crowd of drinking, chatty chatting folks. [there was a lot of talking going on!] He sounded okay and was certainly not horrible, as I’d seen some bands be on that same stage. But I guess he messed up a few times: He did the start and stop routine during a couple of songs then berated himself while on stage in front of the indifferent Lucero lovers.

He said something like, “Stupid. Stupid! This is so stupid. Really… It really is. Playing guitar on a stage… Don’t ever do this, folks.”

This stirred our attention and I could hear a quiet “boooooo” underneath the chatter. I thought Dondero might just be fooling around because he recovered and played a few more tunes. He joked with the crowd and smiled once or twice. But then his show ended in the weirdest way when he suddenly announced that this had been his worst performance ever and he’d personally give money back to any unhappy ticket holders. Quietly, he walked off stage.

“Is he serious,” I thought?

Yes, because he never came back to the stage. But I don’t think anyone remembered he was there or to ask for money back once Lucero took the stage.

The audience packed in when Lucero lead singer Ben Nichols walked on  - all skinny, his face and neck hidden behind thick, short hairs with longer, softer looking tufts poking out from under a ball cap. In no time we knew that this group of men, musicians, are doing exactly as the Universe intended for them to do. One group of fans bought the band a round of shots, then toasted and drank with them. Happily, the alcohol did not affect their performance and Lucero delivered a skilled and endearing rock performance. Fans not only appeared to know all the lyrics, but also feel just as closely to the songs' meanings as Ben does.

I asked a friend also at the show how she would describe Lucero’s sound. The music was loud (of course) and I thought she answered with, “hard folk.” But I think she said, “heart folk” because she followed with, “their music goes outside of genre because it comes straight from their heart.”

Yeah, she was tipsy. Nonetheless, Heart Folk sounds cool and I agree. But considering the gargling whiskey, cigarette smoke infused texture of Ben Nichol’s voice, I think “Hard Folk” is a good description as well.

The only time the band’s performance went off track was when two pretty girls jumped on stage and offered Ben a lap dance. Their sultry actions didn't annoy the seasoned front man by any means. He joked with, "Good night! Show's over!" He then laughed, politely declined the invitation and thanked the women for their enthusiasm. After the two left the stage, Ben took the next several moments to recall exactly what it was he was doing and if the song he was planning to sing had words. It turns out it did and he remembered them all and the good music went on.