Lucinda Williams has been touring around the country as part of Paul Kelly’s stadium tour, but, as that tour nears its end, she has moved back into her own headline tour, booking a solo show at the Sydney Opera House to cap off her journey around Australia. 

The gorgeous Concert Hall felt like the perfect venue for Williams, who has had a storied career spanning nearly 50 years as one of the foremost country and blues singers of a generation. The fact that Williams is still performing is incredible and a testament to her determination, after she suffered a stroke 5 years ago which significantly impacted her ability to sing and stopped her playing guitar, which she had done for her whole career. Her singing voice is still strong and powerful and so, the show was a treat for those in attendance. 

Williams interspersed songs that traced her journey through music with anecdotes about her life growing up in Louisiana before moving to Los Angeles. Beginning with the song “Blind Pearly Brown” she spoke about a blind preacher street singer who her dad took her to see who sparked her love in music. She then performed a cover of “Freight Train”, which she described as a standard for folk singers of her generation. 

Given her genre of music and choice of songs, it was clear that there was a strong African-American influence on a lot of Williams’ music and it was a little surprising that this was not explicitly mentioned at any point in the show. However, the Delta blues got many mentions with Williams evocatively drawing a picture of New Orleans as she was growing up, helped by projections on the screen behind her. 

The projections themselves told a story and were a wonderful addition to the set, allowing the audiences to put a picture to the stories that Williams was telling. While Williams sometimes expanded on the stories a little too much (as she noted herself many times), the pictures kept the stories focussed as did the band, who were fantastic throughout the set. 

At one point, Williams joked that critics have claimed that her work is all dark and there is perhaps some truth to this, with many of the songs played by Williams focussing on loss in some form. However, her songs also had a lot of heart and sensitivity which informed their performance on the night. “Car Wheels on a Gravel Road” was an audience favourite while “Little Angel, Little Brother” and “Lake Charles” were particularly heartfelt. In fact, much of the songwriting was very much in keeping with the style of Bob Dylan, who Williams named as an influence and covered earlier in the night. 

The set was undoubtedly a long one (at nearly 2 ½ hours) but it did not feel indulgent at all, rather it felt quite generous as Williams was at pains to make sure every part of her story was properly covered. However, this did ultimately mean that the show dragged significantly towards the end, with a tighter set perhaps seeming beneficial as Williams reached the end of her chronological journey through her life. 

After a beautiful performance of “Drunken Angel”, Williams closed the night with the gorgeous ballad “Where the Song Will Find Me” and “Get Right with God”. With some of the best work at the end of the set, my only wish was that some of this beautiful material had been brought to the audience earlier in the set. 

Overall, this was a beautiful tribute by Williams to her career and to those who had influenced her along the way. Williams is as synonymous with the American songbook as anyone, and the beauty of her songwriting really came out throughout the night. While the set was perhaps a little too long and some of the exposition could have been more concise, this was still a wonderful night of great music that was enjoyed by all in attendance. 

Rating: ★★★★

Lucinda Williams – Sydney Opera House – 31 August 2025

Photo credit: Danny Clinch