LUCINDA WILLIAMS RETURNS TO ROCK LONDON’S BARBICAN HALL

LIVE REVIEW | LUCINDA WILLIAMS | BARBICAN HALL, LONDON | 3rd February 2026 by Morris Shamah

Lucinda Williams returned to London this month to play Barbican Hall, her first show here in London in nearly three years. Lucinda is touring in support of her new album, WORLD GONE WRONG, her first album of original material since 2023’s STORIES FROM A ROCK AND ROLL HEART, and one of the few Lucinda Williams releases that is, at its core, topical.

Opener Ben de la Cour took the stage solo just after 8pm, and played a perfectly enjoyable 30 minute set of acoustic Americana. Ben’s patient and deliberate delivery rewarded the attentive listener, only picking up tempo with a bit of intensity at the very end of the set. Barbican Hall is a beautiful venue, but it is large, and it is a testament to Ben that he could hold the auditorium’s attention with his measured playing.

Lucinda, having suffered a stroke back in 2020, is still being escorted on to the stage by an assistant and is not playing guitar. This is her third appearance in London since her stroke, and it’s now something that simply may be the future for Lucinda’s shows. Lucinda’s genius is in her soul, though, and her voice has returned smoother and more honest than ever. Her band, tonight consisting of Marc Ford on guitar, David Sutton on bass, and Brady Blade on drums, has also risen to the occasion, filling in the spaces beautifully. They rock and they roll and bring the Nashville/Memphis roots swing with impeccable style and grace. Doug Pettibone was meant to be playing guitar and pedal steel, but was missing the show due to family emergency. It’s hard to imagine where he might fit in, though – the sound is so full and sonically complete as it is.

“Since you’re here tonight, most likely you’re aware of the new album that we just did, called Worlds Gone Wrong… and there’s been kind of a mood lately… but I don’t want to bring everybody down tonight.” said Lucinda early on, by way of introduction. She goes on to play six songs from WORLD GONE WRONG. The set is surprisingly light on tracks from Lucinda’s classic mid-career releases, with no representation from WEST, ESSENCE, BLESSED, or DOWN WHERE THE SPIRIT MEETS THE BONE, focusing instead more on her recent covers records, as well as WORLD WITHOUT TEARS and her breakthrough, CAR WHEELS ON A GRAVEL ROAD. What results is a Lucinda set that’s more rock n’ roll than storyteller, and it’s a great showcase for Marc Ford in particular, who rips guitar solo after excellent guitar solo, really owning the role of lead instrument in what is effectively a power trio, while David Sutton and Brady Blade lay down a clean and consistent rhythm that leaves him space to rip and tear all over the neck.

Lucinda has always been a connective artist, using her stage to shed a little light on the human condition. While she does still give some stories and introductions, her show now is less storyteller than it has been most recently, and is still a wonderful, powerful evening of heartfelt, authentic, genre-defying-so-I-guess-we’ll-call-it-Americana music.

Setlist

1. World Without Tears
2. The World’s Gone Wrong
3. Pineola
4. People Talkin’
5. Drunken Angel
6. Lake Charles
7. Low Life
8. Fruits of My Labor
9. So Much Trouble in the World (Bob Marley cover)
10. Black Tears
11. You Can’t Rule Me (Memphis Minnie cover) (Dedicated to Donald Trump)
12. How Much Did You Get for Your Soul
13. Something’s Gotta Give
14. While My Guitar Gently Weeps (The Beatles cover)
15. Changed the Locks
16. Righteously
17. Rock n’ Roll Heart
18. Hard Time Killing Floor (Skip James cover)
19. Joy
20. Rockin’ in the Free World (Neil Young cover)

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Morris Shamah

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