I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: March 27, 2026] Lucius

My wife and I saw Lucius 10 months ago and we really enjoyed the set (she didn’t really know them and became an instant fan after the show).  When they announced a show in Princeton, I grabbed a ticket immediately.  Even if it was going to be the same show,  I wanted to experience it again.

Bu it turned out that this was an entirely different show–a retrospective of songs and stories.  Just like Taylor Swift, or more in my orbit, just like Guster.  When Guster did their We Have Eras Too tour, they created a narrative, telling stories between the songs and acting out little skits.  Lucius did basically the same thing (with no skits and a bit more melancholy).

The stage was spare but interesting.  There were three sections–a couch, a piano and a microphone and behind the instruments was a series of (I assume) the various costumes that the woman wore over the years on mannequins.

The lights went dark and Holly and Jess began talking.  I assumed it was a recording because there were no lights but I was pretty sure I saw them walk to the piano.  The narration was done as diary entries (we wondered if they were the actual dairies or a cotemporary edited version (not that it matters)).  They told us about how they met (Berklee) and how they got the band name (Jess’ dog was called Lucius–which leaves out why the dog was name Lucius, of course).

They told about how a friend suggested they sing at the same time (their signature sound) and how they wrote an early EP called Songs from Bromley House.  They sang a song called Shenandoah (Not the traditional one) and played piano.  It was spare and lovely.

Then they introduced the two guys who would be playing with them that night.  Guitarist Peter Lalish and bassist Solomon Dorsey (that’s right, no drums).  They sat at a couch and played the Bon Iver song “Skinny Love” and talked about the apartment they were living in in NYC. 

Then they talked about how they played a Tiny Desk Concert (and how many people have told them that’s how they know of them–that’s how I know of them).  And up came a few songs from Wildewoman.  And their voices sounded just as amazing as ever.  I was a little concerned that Dorsey was also singing because I wanted to hear the woman cleanly,  But he simply added a perfect low end to their songs.

And so they moved back and forth between the three stations–a stand up microphone on the far side, the piano in the middle (only used again at the end) and the couch near us.

Between songs they read from their diaries.  Mostly it was band stuff–how they were playing a lot and so.  It was also personal stuff–about their apartments and personal lives.  And they talked about how they were getting more recognition from the right people, like Jeff Tweedy.  They then covered Jesus, Etc and it sounded fantastic.

They played a few songs from the album Good Grief, which I don’t know aside from the awesome song Dusty Trails (I really must give that album a full listen).  They talked about some of the personal issues the had at the time including the departure of founding drummer Dan Molad.

And then the talked about going to Newport Folk Festival and meeting a while bunch of people (as happens).  Including Roger Waters.  Waters was so impressed with them that he asked them to be his backing singers for his Us + Them tour.  I had wondered why it took them so long to put out a new album (the re-makeish album Nudes doesn’t count) and it’s because they were on world tours with Pink Floyd and Roger Waters.  Amazing.  They were heavily featured as well (getting to do the vocal solo of Great Gig in the Sky).  So they did a very cool, stripped down version of Pink Floyd’s Mother.

Then they talked about all of the amazing women they have worked with–Brandy Carlisle, Sheryl Crow (whom they met when she was cleaning up dog poop in her front yard) and many other singers.  They did some tours that sounded pretty debauched.  And they’ve been featured backing singers on a lot of records.

And yet they can still play small venues like McCarter.

My favorite song of theirs is Next to Normal.  I had yet to see them play it live, so I was super excited that they did for this tour.  It was stripped down to be sure and it was fascinating that Solomon sang the high pitched “ooooooh!” but I loved hearing it live and I hope to hear it with a full band the next time around.

There were some genuinely sad moments during the show (talk of divorce and miscarriage) but they were brief and useful in terms of their state of mind as they wrote these songs.  And they overall vibe was one of contentment with where they were and that they were soon looking forward.  They even played a brand new song.

This was a wonderful, intimate show and even though we had seen them not so long ago, it felt entirely different.  I’m so glad we went.

♦ new song (2026)
§ single (2025)
£ Lucius (2025) [no Borderline/Orange Blossoms in 2025]
@ single 2023 [Housewarming recorded at time of Wildewoman, but unreleased]
€ Second Nature (2022)
∞ Nudes (2018)
♣ Good Grief (2016)
∇ Wildewoman (2013)
Γ Songs from the Bromley House