April 10th, 2014 turned out to be a great night in Denver. Those who were in town for the Craft Brewers Conference mingled with the locals at various establishments all over town. Falling Rock, Fresh Craft, Star Bar and TRVE were all standing-room only as bartenders were busy pulling taps and filling glasses with decade’s old stouts, spicy saisons and hopped-up IPAs. The patrons who took to the streets were comforted by warm temperatures that teased a summer that hadn’t quite arrived. The scene could not have been set better — a quick bite, some amazing beers and a short jaunt down Broadway to catch Lydia Loveless and her band rock a late night set at Hi-Dive.

My buzz did nothing to subdue my excitement. Somewhere Else is literally my favorite album to be released this year and I wasn’t able to catch the young singer-songwriter when she last came through town. High expectations are a dangerous thing when heading to a show, but I was confident that she couldn’t disappoint. And when the band took the stage and Loveless announced that they were going to “play some songs until there were no more songs to play”, I was even more encouraged. I (probably unfairly) lump Lydia Loveless into the Two Cow Garage, Lucero, American Aquarium, Drive-By Truckers camp — bands that blur the lines between country and rock ‘n roll, all while pounding whiskey through sets that push past the two hour mark. As it turns out, Lydia Loveless and her band were very much like those other groups when it came to sound and style, but not so much when it came to staying power.

Stamina aside, this show was far from a disappointment. I had read in interviews that despite her bold and assertive lyrics, Loveless is quite shy. This really came through in her stage presence, as she spent most of the evening with her eyes closed and her shoulder-length hair concealing her face. She was the antithesis of her flamboyant bassist (and husband) Benjamin Lamb, whose hair was also in his face most of the evening, but that was just because he was rockin’ the stage like he was performing in AC/DC. He was fun as hell to watch, but the downside of the small Hi-Dive stage is that Lamb’s antics concealed Jay Gaspe and his pedal steel. I love watching the pedal steel, so it was unfortunate that Gaspe was kept in the dark all night. That being said, the real personality on the stage, and the reason the small crowd were gathered for an 11:30pm set on a Tuesday night, was Loveless’s voice.

It would be a disservice to compare Lydia Loveless to anyone else, as she really has her own style, but if I were pressed to explain that style to someone who had never heard her, I would have to say she sounds like a young Lucinda Williams. Loveless is happily married and doing what she loves for a living, but she can still channel the depressive side of life. Where Williams’ material suffered when she found balance in her life, Loveless’s just got better. Whether she’s just singing about being somewhere else, or doing blow and stalking an ex-boyfriend, or tragic French poets — you believe she’s somehow lived it all. Even when she writes from an egotistical male standpoint, as she does in “Head”, you forget that it’s not possible for her to have lived some of those events…at least not from the perspective she is presenting. Her earlier work was full of dark humour, and some of it might have come across as a cartoonish caricature of the farm girl who grew up in Ohio, but her recent Boy Crazy EP and Somewhere Else album show an artist who has matured in so many ways. Some might question how somehow so young could write these types of songs, but I’d argue that those people don’t remember what it was like to be 23 years old. That’s why I’d never say “Lydia Loveless is amazing for a young artist”. Lydia Loveless is an amazing artist, period.

The set opened with “All I Know” from Boy Crazy before Loveless took us through most of Somewhere Else. There wasn’t a lot of stage banter, but at one point she did offer to sell us her black pleather jacket for $500 — a jacket she is very attached too, but that has taken a beating on this tour. In all honesty, I don’t think the jacket was the only thing that was the worse for the wear. The music didn’t suffer, but it was obvious that Loveless was tired. Those bands that I mentioned before are fronted by guys who take celebratory chugs off the bottle of Jack between songs, using it as fuel to keep the indestructible machine going, but when Loveless put her glass to her lips, it seemed like the machine was already beyond repair. So it was disappointing, if not a surprise, when she announced that “Can’t Change Me” would really be the last song. She used the ‘school night’ excuse, but it wasn’t much of an excuse at all. We all knew it was a school night, but we were willing to stay out late to catch the show. So it was somewhat of a downer to be left with a fresh drink in my hand when the music died. The set had lasted less than an hour, and although it was a great set musically, it seemed like it had been cut short by an artist who let the road get the best of them.

Anyone who follows this blog knows that I am not really a critic. I just love music, especially live music, and I love to share my experiences with whoever is willing to listen. Based on a comment from Benjamin Lamb last night, telling me that they will “play the songs slower next time”, I am guessing that Loveless and her band won’t like what I have written here today. And for that, I’m sorry. But I’m just being honest. That being said, I will still recommend Somewhere Else to anyone willing to listen. And I will continue to spin my copy until the needle wears out. I will also do my best to make it to their next show in Denver. I have no regrets about last night. I am glad I went. I really didn’t expect them to play songs until there were no songs left, but I was hoping for just a little more than they were willing to give.

Setlist:
All I Know
Wine Lips
Head
Chris Issak
To Love Somebody
Hurts So Bad
Somewhere Else
Verlaine Shot Rimbaud
Really Wanna See You
Mile High
Bad Way to Go
Can’t Change Me