LUCERO
8 p.m., the Village. $15 adv., $20 d.o.s.
Lucero’s bringing it all back home. Or home away from home. Two months after the Memphis rockers unveiled their sixth studio release, “1372 Overton Park,” Little Rock gets a taste. The album is the band’s major label debut and, as major label debuts often do, it features a new sound. But only the most intractable fans of the band’s busted-up country-rock will object. Because nothing livens up barroom rock ‘n’ roll like a horn section. Lucero front man (and Little Rock native) Ben Nichols points to Stax as a key influence in the new direction, but to these ears what comes out is much more the Boss, Replacements-style. So cross your fingers that the horn section hasn’t been released from the tour*. Even if they have, a Lucero gig in Little Rock’s always an occasion for a mass audience sing-along. Look for this to be the rare gig that fills the Village to the brim. Two of Little Rock’s pop-rock contenders, Whale Fire and Big Boots, open the show.
*It hasn’t.