By Southern rock band Lucero ruthlessly performed to a sold-out crowd at Alex’s Bar in downtown Long Beach Thursday night also celebrating the bar’s 11th anniversary.
The evening kicked off with a short but impressive performance by Steve Soto and the Twisted Hearts. Soto is also known as a member of the punk bands Manic Hispanic and The Adolescents. Once Steve Soto and the Twisted Hearts cleared the stage, the crowd of devoted Lucero fans pushed toward the stage and anxiously awaited.
As Lucero took the stage, the anxious fans greeted the band with piercing yells and screams. The band played their best-known songs into the night along with a few requests and ended with a three-song encore around 2 a.m. Their outlaw antics and rebel lifestyle were obvious, as lead singer and guitarist Ben Nichols never strayed too far from a drink. Nichols voice is extremely raspy and sounds as if he’s been smoking a pack of cigarettes everyday since he was 12.
The Memphis based band has been together for roughly 10 years and continues to produce quality albums and an increasing fan base. Despite the groups love for California and the West Coast, Lucero’s music has maintained a traditional southern sound and is tastefully saturated with slide guitar and an aggressive accordion. When Nichols explained why Lucero lyrics often refer to coming out west, he said he has always found the idea of going west more romantic and inspiring, whereas the northeast coast tends to stress him out.
“I enjoy playing in New York because people know us but it’s always nice to come out west. I also really enjoy the California weather,” Nichols said.
The fans of Long Beach were defiantly pleased to have Lucero performing at such a unique and small venue like Alex’s.
“Alex’s is one of the most classic bars in Long Beach. Lots of great bands have traveled here since the place opened in 1998,” said Joey Cullpeper, a long time Lucero fan. The bar’s acoustics and sound system are impressive and it’s creatively decorated with obscure art, vibrant colors and a bright spinning disco ball.
Alex’s Bar marks the 12th stop on the group’s 62-show tour with many stops along the Van’s Summer Warped Tour.
“We’re a bit nervous about playing the Warped Tour,” Nichols said, “We’ve heard horror stories from other bands, and we’ve never really played for kids before. We usually just play in bars and small clubs.”
Lucero recently played several shows with Social Distortion in early January.
“It was a blast and an honor getting the chance to play a lot of shows with a great band like Social Distortion, but it’s nice now to finally play a headlining show and have our fans in the audience. So I’m pretty excited about playing this show in Long Beach.” Nichols said.
For more information on Lucero and their tour schedule, visit myspace.com/lucero.
Disclaimer: The Daily 49er is not responsible for Postings made on www.daily49er.wpengine.com. Persons commenting are solely responsible for Postings made on this website. Persons commenting agree to the Terms of Use of the website. If Postings do not abide by the Rules of Conduct or Posting Regulations as listed in the Postings Policy, the Daily 49er has all rights to delete Postings as it deems necessary. The Daily 49er strongly advises individuals to not abuse their First Amendment rights, and to avoid language suggestive of hate speech. This site also encourages users to make Postings relevant to the article or other Postings.
