There were four of us who went to see [tag] Lucinda Williams[/tag] at the [tag]Atlanta Botanical Gardens[/tag] this past Friday night. Alison, Alley, and a friend of mine from South Carolina -Melanie, got tickets early on (because we are good members of the Gardens) and we were quite excited to see Lucinda on stage.

After waiting in line for 45 minutes, we walked in and my camera was immediately confiscated therefore the picture you see above is a stock photo… We did, though, get a great space on the grass close to the stage. Melanie and I spent a ton of money on good food from [tag]Sun In My Belly[/tag] (since you are not allowed to bring any in) and Alison got us some wine and water. We were set for a relaxing evening of music. Or so we thought.

Lucinda hit the stage looking drunk as a skunk although later on in the night, she said she had not had a drink at all. The two main stage lights were hitting her directly across her pupils and she asked for them to be turned down. Three songs later, she is sweating profusely and no one has turned the lights down, and the wrath of Lucinda started. I am not sure the Botanical Gardens crew has heard the word, “Fuck” uttered so much in one night. First it was the lights, then it was the sound. In fact, Lucinda stated that “the first fucking three songs were ruined and she might as well start over because it fucking sucked.” The audience clapped and tried to make her feel better- had anyone booed, she would have been off the stage in two “fucking” seconds, but alas, we were all very scared of Lucinda, so we all just threw some seriously happy vibes her way.

The sound got a bit better, but one large amp was a problem throughout the night. Regardless, Lucinda, much to her credit, kept singing. As her mood got better, people got drunker because we were all on edge that the would bolt before the show was finished. A particularly drunk group of people a few rows up from us got into a ruckus. In fact, a guy and girl stood up in the middle of a song, and kinda sorta hit each other, then the guy stormed off. This got our attention and we were no longer staring at the stars, but in fact, watching a fight erupt in front of Lucinda. I was hoping that she would jump off the stage, and “beat their fucking asses,” but alas, my dream did not come true. She kept singing, the people got thrown out, and in the end, she finished her set happier than when she walked on, told us all to vote, and said goodbye with three words: “Peace, Love, and Revolution.”

Lucinda rocks.

[tag]Hosea Williams[/tag] is known in Atlanta and around the world as a famous civil rights leader who was unfortunately arrested some 125 times for things like drinking at “whites only” water fountains or sitting in the front of a bus. Today his picture is stamped on a the back of Atlanta Marta bus. I find this a bit sad since his image is now hawking a bail bonding business for those imprisoned at the [tag]Fulton or Dekalb County Jails[/tag] and the tag line is “still setting em free.” I almost hit this bus today trying to get these pictures.