LUCERO
9 p.m., White Water Tavern. $20.
It’s becoming an annual tradition. Every year around this time,
Lucero, steadily becoming more and more famous, plays an intimate gig
at White Water. Earlier this fall, the band signed a four-album deal
with Universal/Republic. When the band returns to New York, early next
year, it’ll be for two nights at the near 3,000-capacity Terminal 5.
It’s safe to say that, in the nearly 200 shows the grizzled rockers
average a year, they’ll never play anything else approaching this small
of a venue in 2009. Expect Little Rock native and lead singer Ben
Nichols to go all out. He’ll have scores of friends and likely family
in the audience. And he’ll be armed with new material, too. The band’s
currently working on a follow-up to 2006’s “Rebels, Rogues & Sworn
Brothers.” For fans, or even those simply casually interested, this is
a can’t-miss show, and amazingly, at least at press time, there were
still tickets.