LIVE MUSIC I'VE SEEN

	2026

	Artist	Date	Location	Comment
	Josh Perdue and Friends with Trevor Nealon	1/23/26	Continental Club Gallery	Later on Friday evening (or maybe early Saturday A.M.) after Spafford, I caught guitarist/vocalist Josh Perdue's show at the Continental Club Gallery. As always, he played really fun music with a tight band of talented musicians. On this night they featuring the outstanding keyboard player from Band of Heathens and DeadEye, Trevor Nealon. The band killed it as usual, playing songs from diverse genres including blues, funk, r&b, reggae, and jazz fusion, along with songs by Taj Majal, AC/DC, and Allman Brothers. A bunch of friends were there, and It was a great conclusion to two days of superlative music. Here are my photos from the show.
	Spafford with Zack Morgan and Friends	1/22-23/26	Antone's	These were two outstanding shows by Spafford at Antone's. Spafford is a jam band, originally from Arizona, that is made up of Brian Moss (guitar/vocals), Shon Gordon (bass/vocals), Cory Schechtman (keys/vocals), and Nick Tkachyk (drums/vocals). I've seen Spafford a number of times previously, and always enjoyed them, but they never really blew me away. However, they really seemed to have upped their game in recent years. Their bass player was new to me this year, and their keyboard player has only been with them a couple of years, and they seems to have made a difference. Spafford played long, largely instrumental, improvisational tunes that locked into awesome grooves that would slowly morph into other interesting musical ideas across a wide range of styles. All four players were locked in together, and each contributed to the mix of rock, reggae, funk, house, and electronica that made up their sound. Along with their jammy original tunes, they covered "Ice Cream" by Steve Kimock and "A Union Divine" by Don McCloskey on Thursday, and "Enjoy the Silence" by Depeche Mode, "Anyone" by Demi Lovato , and "Stratus" by Billy Cobham on Friday. The crowd was energized and dancing from start to finish, and I had a fantastic time. Here are Spafford's night 1 setlist, Spafford's night 2 setlist, my Spafford photos, my Zach Morgan and Friends photos, and a link to an audio recording of Zach Morgan and Friends set, from the show.
	Fennario Flats	1/22/26	Howler Bros Hacienda	A really fun pre-party for Spafford at Howler Brother Hacienda, featuring a performance by Fennario Flats. Howler Brothers Hacienda is a new clothing retail store on West Lynn that features some original Grateful Dead-themed gear. Fennario Flats did their usual stellar job of playing acoustic Old and In the Way and Grateful Dead tunes. The venue offered free "mind-altering" drinks, and there was a nice crowd in attendance to warm up for the Spafford show at Antone's later that evening. Here are my photos from the show.
	Eric McFadden & Friends	1/13/26	C-Boys Heart & Soul	An incredible performance by Eric McFadden and Friends at C-Boys Heart & Soul. McFadden is a highly regarded veteran guitarist and vocalist from San Francisco. Through a long career, he has played with many big-name artists, including George Clinton and the P-Funk All-Stars, Eric Burdon and the Animals, Anders Osborne, Les Claypool, and Joe Strummer. His "friends" for this show included Austin all-stars Matt Hubbard on keyboards, harmonica, and trombone, Bobby Perkins on bass, and Russell Lee on drums. McFadden is a tremendous guitar player who mixes elements of rock, funk, blues, punk, psychedelia, surf rock, and gypsy jazz. At this show, he played original songs including several from his recent "Lucky Man" album. He also covered Bob Dylan's "One More Cup of Coffee", Tom Waits' "The Eyeball Kid", and CCR's "Run Through the Jungle". Later in the evening, the band was joined by Austin guitarists Mio Alvarado of The Mean Hearts and Southbound Saints, and Kelly Green of Madam Radar, who both traded some killer licks with McFadden. Overall, the show blew me a way with fantastic musicianship across a wide range of musical genres, and it was great to share the experience with a bunch of my music-loving friends. Here are my photos from the show.
	Spud Boy Allstars	1/10/26	Regal Rooms	Late on the afternoon of this show, I heard that Bob Weir had passed away. I had plans to attend a different live music show that evening, but as soon as I head the news, I knew that I needed to be with my friends in the Austin Grateful Dead community at the Spud Boy Allstars show at Regal Rooms. Although Spud Boy plays the music of the Jerry Garcia band rather than Weir's music, it was the right place to be. The audience was full of longtime jamily friends, and we all talked about our memories of Bobby and how his passing had affected us. The band didn't play any Bobby penned songs that I can recall, but it still felt like there was a special feeling to their playing. One audience member brought a bunch of red roses that ended up all over the stage and throughout the audience, and the crowd seemed to be incredibly into the music. With some words about Bobby and a few photos of him in the band's background videos, it was evident that Spud Boy felt like it was a special night as well. Fare thee well to Bobby, may the music never stop, and know our love will not fade away. Here are my photos from the show.

	2025

	Artist	Date	Location	Comment
	DeadEye	12/27/25	ABGB	My final live music show of 2025, which was quite appropriate, because I probably saw DeadEye play more times than any other band in 2025. As usual, they killed it with a bunch of my favorite Dead tunes, as well as a few deeper cuts. They got the fun going in a hurry, starting off set 1 with "Alabama Getaway", "Jack Straw", and "Dire Wolf", and later in the set the great combo of "China Cat Sunflower > I Know You Rider". Set 2 got even better when they were joined by vocalist Erin "Thunderheart" Stein, who always adds joy and energy to the proceedings. The high energy continued in set 2 with "Scarlet Begonias > Fire On The Mountain" and "Estimated Prophet > St. Stephen > Not Fade Away". After slowing things down with some cool spacey stuff, the second set ended with a super fun version of Chuck Berry's "Around and Around" that had the joint jumping, just as the song's lyrics say. DeadEye ended the evening with a ripping "U.S. Blues", and I can't think of a more appropriate way to put a cap on my 2025 year in music. Here are the setlist and a video of "The Eleven" and my photos from the show.
	Andy Frasco and the U.N. with Katie Toupin	12/20/25	Antone's	An incredibly fun performance by Andy Frasco and the U.N. at Antone's. Andy Frasco & the U.N. are from L.A., and they play a high-energy mix of rock that extends into almost any genre. Their shows are always a crazy party with plenty of crowd participation. At this show, Andy went out into the crowd on multiple occasions, once having the crowd participate in a hora circle dance to Hava Nagila, which later segued into Birdland. The second time that he came out, he initiated a dance contest by audience members, including someone in a unicorn costume and another dressed as Santa Clause. On stage, at various times, Frasco, his sax player, and his bass player each climbed up and performed from on top of his keyboard. Later on Andy grabbed a big bag of popcorn and threw it all around, and as is his custom, he and his bandmates drank from a bottle of Jameson Irish Whiskey throughout the night, before eventually passing it into the audience to be finished off by members of the crowd. Amongst all of this craziness, there was some pretty fine music played, including a cover of David Bowie's "Fame" and Oasis' "Don't Look Back in Anger". Overall, it was a helluva fun musical evening. The opener was Candi Jenkins, the country music persona of Katie Toupin, a singer-songwriter from Kentucky. She is a talented vocalist and had a good band, but the music she performed was a bit too traditional country for me to really get into. Here are the (partial) setlist and my photos from the show.
	Rosie Foster	12/20/25	Armadillo Christmas Bazaar at Palmer Events Center	A fine performance by Ruthie Foster at the Armadillo Christmas Bazaar at Palmer Events Center. In most years I attend two or three shows during the week of the Bazaar, because their lineup always includes many of my favorite bands. However, this was the only show that I attended this year for various reasons. When we arrived, there was a huge crowd around the stage area, one of the largest that I've seen at the Armadillo Bazaar. Fortunately, we could still hear well, and after a bit of shopping, we managed to position ourselves with a better view for the second set. As always, Ruthie put on a great show that captured the crowd. She has one of the most powerful and soulful voices around, and her meaningful original songs touch on emotions ranging from sorrow to joy. Seeing a Ruthie Foster performance always feels a bit like attending a gospel revival, and although she didn't sing any holiday songs per se at this show, it was a perfect way to celebrate the holidays in Austin. Here are my photos from the show.
	B3 Summit with Soul Message Band (featuring Chris Foreman), Adam Scone, D'Vibes, and Red Young	12/19/25	Antone's	An incredible night of organ playing that featured four Hammond B3 masters. Unfortunately I missed Austinite Red Young's opening set, but he did make an appearance later in the evening, so I did not miss him entirely. The first set that I saw was by the Soul Message Band from Chicago. The band features two veteran Chicago musicians, organist Chris Foreman, and drummer, Greg Rockingham, aka "The Rock," who have been musical partners for 38 years. The band also included a talented young alto saxophonist, Greg Jung. They played jazzy style of B3 music, with some soul and Chicago blues mixed in. Next up was Miami-based B3 player, Adam Scone. Scone played with swamp rock band JJ Grey & Mofro for a number of years, but for this show he also played a mix of jazz and swing on the B3. He was backed by two Austinites, guitarist Josh Perdue, whom I've seen play many Friday and Saturday nights at the Continental Club Gallery, and drummer Johnny Radelat, who has been Gary Clark, Jr.'s drummer for over 10 years. I love Perdue's guitar work, and it worked well with Scone's stylish B3 playing. Although I really enjoyed the first two sets, the final set by Denver-based B3 player DeShawn "D’Vibes" Alexander was the one that I loved. D'Vibes began playing music at the age of 3, was his church's organist at the age of 7, and has played with many high-profile artists including The Marcus King Band, Lettuce, Eric Krasno, Robert Randolph, and Kingfish Ingram. D'Vibes played a high-energy, funky style of music, backed by two strong guitar players and Austin powerhouse drummer Nikki Glaspie. They had the crowd dancing from start to finish, and during the latter part of their set were joined by Red Young for the dual B3 action that I had been hoping for all night. The two organ players sounded great together, and It was a fantastic conclusion to an amazing night of B3 wizardry. Here are my photos from the show.
	Home for the Holidays, with Carolyn Wonderland, Shelley King, Kevin Russell (Shinyribs), and Rosie Flores	12/18/25	04 Center	A highly entertaining concert at the 04 Center, their annual Home for the Holidays event. The performers included Carolyn Wonderland, Shelley King, Kevin Russell (Shinyribs), and Rosie Flores, who were backed by a bass player and drummer. The four vocalists took turns singing lead, and in many cases introduced their songs with amusing stories. The evening included few if any traditional holiday songs, but instead each artist sang interesting holiday-themed songs that they or their friends had written. Marcia Ball, who has participated in this event in the past, attended as a member of the audience, and Carolyn and Shelley poignantly sang a few of her holiday songs for her. The performers and the audience all had a great time, and it was definitely a fun way to enjoy the holiday season. Here are my photos from the show.
	Allman Betts Family Revival	12/17/25	ACL Live	An outstanding performance of the Allman Betts Family Revival at ACL Live. This was the fourth version of this show that I've seen, and I've been impressed by every one. As before, Gregg Allman's son Devon and Dickie Betts' son Duane hosted the show. along with their Allman Betts Band, and they were joined a cast of fantastic guest musicians. My favorite performers this year were Eric Johnson on guitar, Robert Randolph on pedal steel guitar, Luther & Cody Dickenson of North Mississippi Allstars on guitar and keyboards, Jimmy Hall of Wet Willie on vocals and harmonica, and Amanda Shires on violin and vocals. Other artists included Erika Wolf (vocals & guitar), Judith Hill (vocals & guitar), Mattie Schell (vocals & guitar), Greg Koch (guitar), and Mathias Lateen (guitar). They played many of he Allman Brothers' best known songs including "Stormy Monday", "Statesboro Blues", "Ain't Wastin' Time No More", "Dreams", "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed", "Trouble No More", "Melissa", "Whipping Post", and "Midnight Rider", along with a few deeper cuts. These shows have always featured impressive sound production given the number of performers, stellar lighting, and interesting psychedelic background images, and this year's was no exception. The Allman Brothers Band has an outstanding catalog of songs, and these shows emphasize that their music has been a major influence on many other musicians. It's always really fun to see them performed so well, and I hope they continue to bring these shows to Austin again in the future. Here are the setlist and my photos from the show.
	James McMurtry	12/16/25	Continental Club	Another show by singer-songwriter James McMurtry, this time an electric show with his full band at the Continental Club. As always, he impressed the audience with his lyrical genius on a mix of old and new songs, and he once again demonstrated that he is no slouch on electric guitar either. As is often the case these days, he was joined by BettySoo for much of his set on acoustic guitar, accordion, and background vocals. Whenever I see James McMurtry, I am reminded how lucky we are to have an artist of his talent play here on a weekly basis in such a small venue. Here are my photos from the show.
	Magoo	12/13-14/25	Mohawk	I was fortunate to see two incredible sold-out after-shows by Magoo following Billy Strings by Magoo at Mohawk's indoor stage. Magoo is an up-and-coming young jamgrass band from Colorado that I first saw perform in July. They really impressed me the first time, and I was even more blown away by these shows. The band has it all as far as I am concerned. They are impressive song-writers, excellent individual and harmony vocalists, and all are outstanding instrumentalists (on acoustic guitar, dobro, mandolin, and upright bass). They also really connect with their audience, which in this case seemed to be half made up of dedicated fans who had been following them on tour. The venue only holds about 150 or so people, and was jam-packed. This band is so talented that I think it is unlikely that I will ever see them play at such a small space again. In addition to their own material, which ranged from foot-stomping traditional bluegrass to long and spacey psychedelic jams. They also did a great job on a wide range of covers, which on the first night included "Midnight on the Highway" (Hot Rize), "Pretty Daughter" (Bad Livers), "In the Jailhouse Now" (Jimmie Rodgers), and "All Apologies" (Nirvana), Night two was equally eclectic, beginning with "My Sweet Blue-Eyed Darlin'" and "Southern Flavor" (Bill Monroe), and later in the night "Turn the Page" (Bob Seger), and finishing up with "The Joker" (Steve Miller Band), and a long and jammy "Black Clouds" (String Cheese Incident). They concluded the night by coming into the audience for an up close and personal unplugged song, which was a great way to end two amazing nights of music. Here are the setlist with audio (for Nugs subscribers) for night 1, the setlist with audio (for Nugs subscribers) for night 2, and my photos from the two shows.
	Billy Strings	12/14/25	ACL Live	Billy's night two show at the ACL Moody Theater featured traditional bluegrass songs by artists such as Doc Watson, the Osborne Brothers, the Stanley Brothers, the Dillards, Larry Sparks, and Flatt & Scruggs. But unlike last year's show here, which consisted of almost entirely covers, Billy played a number of his own compositions that he said fit in with the bluegrass style of the show. Billy told quite a few stories about some of these songs that he had learned from his father while growing up. He also told an interesting story about the first time that he saw Doc Watson play live, and the band then proceeded to play "Way Downtown" and "Shady Grove", which were the first two songs from that show. I had standing floor tickets not far from the stage at this performance, and had a great view. Overall, it was a better experience that at the gigantic Moody Center. Still, both were memorable shows, and I'll look forward to seeing Billy and his bandmates again at any venue they choose to play at in the future. Here are the setlist with audio and video replay (for Nugs subscribers) and my photos from the two shows.
	Billy Strings	12/13/25	Moody Center	On Dec. 13 and 14, I saw two fantastic shows by Billy Strings and his awesome progressive bluegrass band. As they did a year ago in Austin, the band played two entirely different styles of shows at two different venues. As they usually do, the band stood for the first show at the enormous Moody Center. That show featured mainly Billy originals, including several of the band's longest and most effects-heavy songs. At the more intimate ACL Live Moody Theater on night two, the band performed seated in chairs and played mainly traditional bluegrass tunes. The first show, at Moody Center, was one of the jammiest shows that I've seen by the band. The jam songs included an eleven and a half minute "Away From the Mire", a thirteen minute "Gild the Lily", a nine and a half minute "Home", and an epic twenty-three and a half minute "Meet Me at the Creek" that my friend Peter called "the mother of all jams". The show also featured some interesting covers, several of which I had not heard Billy perform before, including "Love or Confusion" (The Jimi Hendrix Experience), "Age" (Jim Croce), "Cold, Cold World" (Blaze Foley), "Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette)" (a Tex Williams song that I know from Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen), "Crossing Muddy Waters" (John Hiatt), and as an encore of "Drifter's Escape" by Bob Dylan. Musically, it was a fantastic show, but I do have a couple of minor gripes. First of all, the sound was quite muddy during the first set, although it did improve during the second set. Secondly, unlike last year, there were no video screens that showed closeups of the musicians playing their instruments. The show did feature some fairly cool lighting, but at a venue this large, it is really hard to visually appreciate the musicians' playing from so far away. Most seats in the venue, including mine just a few rows above the floor, were too far away to see the musicians and their instruments very well. Here are the setlist with audio and video replay (for Nugs subscribers).
	SIPA	12/13/25	Scholz Garten	Later in the afternoon, I saw a second pre-show performance by SIPA, a band from Austin that was new to me, at Scholz Garten. The band was a quartet that describes themselves as playing "psychedelic island grass". They played some interesting original jammy tunes, and a few cool covers. SIPA featured a pedal steel guitar player, which gave them a different and interesting sound compared to most other jam bands.
	Tony Kamel & the Central Texas Bluegrass Mafia featuring Grace Rowlands	12/13/25	imogen + willie	Dec. 13 and 14 were two big days of music for me, with two nighttime shows by Billy Strings and two late-night after-shows by Magoo. Before either of these, I attended two pre-shows on the 13th. The first was an afternoon performance by Tony Kamel and the Central Texas Bluegrass Mafia, with special guest Grace Rowland, in the backyard of South Congress clothing retailer imogene + willie. I've been a big fan of Tony's since his days with Wood & Wire, and his bluegrass quintet included his W&W bandmate, Trevor Smith, along with players on mandolin, fiddle, and stand-up bass. They played some traditional bluegrass tunes and some of Tony's originals, before being joined during a second set by Grace Rowland, the outstanding vocalist from The Deer. The weather was perfect, and it was a nice casual environment for a grassy Billy Strings warm-up show. Here are my photos from the two pre-shows.
	Cody Canada	12/12/25	Saxon Pub	Cody Canada is known for his high-energy country and alt-rock with his bands Cody Canada and the Departed and Cross Canadian Ragweed. On this night, however, he played his original singer-songwriter material, accompanying himself on acoustic guitar and harmonica. He was joined by Peyton Glasco on lead acoustic guitar for much of his set, and he had his friend Drew Cooper come up and sing a couple of songs as well. The event was a fundraiser for Texans for Greater Mental Health, a nonprofit dedicated to expanding safe, evidence-based medical access to psychedelic-assisted therapies for veterans and others. Here are my photos from the show.
	A Night for Rich Brotherton	12/09/25	Paramount Theatre	A very emotional sold-out benefit for and tribute to Rich Brotherton at the Paramount Theatre. Brotherton is a long-time, beloved member of the Austin music community who was recently diagnosed with ALS. As a guitarist, vocalist, producer, songwriter, and mentor, Brotherton has played with and supported many well-known musicians since he moved to Austin in 1985. Many of Brotherton's musical partners came together for this tribute and fund-raising event. Performers included Lyle Lovett, Charley Crockett, Patty Griffin, Loudon Wainwright III, Shawn Colvin, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Bruce Robison, Ed Miller, Mary Gauthier & Jaimee Harris, Warren Hood, Kathy McCarty, Scrappy Jud Newcomb, Andrea Magee, Pat Byrne, Christine Albert, David Halley, Kris McKay, Beaver Nelson, Michael Fracasso, Gwil Owen, and Matt Harlan. Rich performed with many of the guest musicians, as well as with two of his current projects, traditional Irish ensemble Ulla and local Americana group Purgatory Players. The event also included the Brotherton Family Singers, made up of Brotherton’s siblings. The house band was Scrappy Jud Newcomb on guitar, Warren Hood on fiddle and mandolin, Bukka Allen on keyboards and accordion, Marty Muse on pedal steel, Guy Forsyth on harmonica and saw, Bonnie Whitmore and Kris Wade on bass, and drummers Mark Patterson and John Chipman. Many of the performers told touching stories about their musical and personal experiences with Brotherton. The wide range of musical performances demonstrated what a versatile musician he is, and seeing Brotherton play with many of them made it a very special evening. Here are my photos from the show.
	Tommy Emmanuel CGP	12/07/25	Paramount Theatre	An amazing performance by guitar wizard Tommy Emmanuel, CGP, at the Paramount Theatre. Emmanuel was born in Australia and now lives in Nashville. He is recognized as one other world's greatest acoustic guitarists, and is one of five people named "Certified Guitar Player (CGP)" by his idol, Chet Atkins. He showed off a wide range of styles that included plenty of high-speed picking, some slow blues that he dedicated to Stevie Ray Vaughan, a medley of Beatles tune, several highly percussive songs in which he beat and scraped his guitar with a drum brush and his hands, and even a spoken word piece. There are few that can equal Emmanuel as an acoustic guitar player, and I really enjoyed the show. Here are my photos from the show.
	DeadEye	12/05/25	Far Out Lounge	Another stellar performance by DeadEye, this time at at Far Out Lounge. The weather was cold that night, but the band was on fire. From the opening version of Chuck Berry's "Promised Land" to the closing "Brokedown Palace", the band put on a show that kept the fans happy and moving. Highlights included "Cassidy", "Loose Lucy", and "Weather Report Suite>Deal" in the first set, and a second set that included "Playing In The Band>Terrapin Station >Dancin’ In The Streets >Wharf Rat >Dancin’ In The Streets >Goin’ Down The Road Feelin’ Bad >Sugar Magnolia". I've seen many outstanding DeadEye concerts, and this one was as good as they get. Here are the setlist and a video of "Feel Like a Stranger" and my photos from the show.
	Molly Tuttle with Meels and Susto String Band	12/03/25	Antone's	A fantastic performance by Molly Tuttle and her band at Antone's. I've seen Molly play a number of times in recent years with her all-star bluegrass band, Golden Highway. This was the first time that I've seen her with her new band, which is made up of Mair Meyer on mandolin, fiddle, and keyboards, Ellen Angelico on electric and steel guitar, Vanessa McGowan on acoustic and electric bass, and Megan Jane on percussion. Her most recent album, recorded with this band, had more of a pop and rock feel than Molly's previous albums. Although I loved the previous bluegrass band, I enjoyed everything that this band played. The new players were versatile enough to play Molly's older acoustic material really well, and were also able to play electric instruments and drums on her more recent songs. Molly is an outstanding songwriter, has a beautiful voice, and was able to demonstrate her amazing picking skills on six and-twelve string acoustic guitar, electric guitar, and banjo during this show. In addition to her own material, Molly and her band played covers of The Rolling Stones' "She's a Rainbow", a requested solo version of Rancid's "Olympia, WA", and encores of Townes Van Zandt's "White Freight Liner Blues" and Icona Pop's "I Love It". Although I would personally give Molly's Golden Highway a slight edge over her current band, I still loved the show, and I'll try to see Molly, and whichever band she is with, the next chance that I get. There were two opening acts. First up was Meels (Amelia Einhorn), a rising indie-folk/Americana singer-songwriter from California. The second was Sustso Stringband, a bluegrass version of Justin Osborne's Charleston, SC-based Susto band. Both were made up of talented musicians, and were nice openers for the headlining performance. Here are the setlist and my photos from the show.
	Dumpstaphunk	11/28-29/25	Antone's	I once again enjoyed another great Austin annual music tradition, Dumpstaphunk's Phunksgiving, the two-night celebration held at Antone's each year. And as usual, Dumpstaphunk tore it up with some fantastic New Orleans funk and R&B. The band had it's usual lineup, led by Ivan Neville on keyboards vocals and and Tony Hall on bass and vocals. The band also includes Ari Teitel on lead guitar, Ian Neville on rhythm guitar, Alex Wasily on trombone, Ashlin Parker on trumpet, and Deven Trusclair on drums. The one new face was Rebekah Todd, a talented female vocalist from Asheville, NC. Over the two days, the band played many of their original high-energy New Orleans funk tunes, along with some jamming R&B covers including Sly & the Family Stone's "I Cannot Make It" and "Stand", Buddy Miles' "United Nations Stomp", and Tower of Power's "Soul Vaccination". They were also joined on both nights for several songs by percussionist/vocalist Nikki Glaspie, who brought extra energy to the stage, and on Saturday night by Austinite Carlos Sosa of the Grooveline horns on saxophone, who added a third powerful horn to Dumpstaphunk's usual two horn lineup. As always, it was a tremendously fun two nights, and I can't wait to attend again next year. Here are my photos from the shows.
	The 17th Last Waltz Revisited	11/26/25	Sagebrush	The 17th Annual Last Waltz Revisited event took place the night before Thanksgiving at Sagebrush for the second consecutive year. Each year, some of Austin's best musicians gathered to recreate The Band's historic 1976 concert. The event is always hosted by the Austin-based band, The Moondogs. They played the role of The Band by performing their songs and backing a wide array of all-star guest vocalists, with help from the Smokestack Horns. All of the performances were fantastic once again, with some of my favorites being John Beckham as Ronnie Hawkins on "Who Do You Love?", Emily Gimble as Dr. John on "Such a Night", The Watters (Daniel and Jenna) as The Staple Singers on "The Weight", Suzanna Choffel as Joni Mitchell on "Coyote", Carolyn Wonderland as Muddy Waters on "Mannish Boy", and Drew Smith as Van Morrison on "Caravan". Once again, the show ended with all of the night's guests gathering on the stage to perform Bob Dylan's "I Shall Be Released", followed by A. Whitney Brown's recitation of Lawrence Ferlinghetti's "The Lord's Last Prayer". Each year I wonder if the show will get old, having seen it at least four times, and every year I am blown away by the performances, and tell myself that I will have to return again next year. Here are my photos from the show.
	David Byrne	11/25/25	Bass Concert Hall	A mind-blowing performance by David Byrne at Bass Concert Hall as part of his "Who Is The Sky?" tour. I've been fortunate enough to have seen Byrne perform on a number of previous occasions, and this was the best show of his that I've seen. Like his previous American Utopia Tour, the entire band used portable instruments that allowed them to roam freely around the stage in choreographed patterns. But unlike that tour, which featured grey suits with a silver metallic background, this tour featured bright orange jumpsuits, with floor-to-ceiling video screens (and in fact, the floor itself was a video screen). Each song featured brilliant and wildly divergent videos, many of which featured social-conscious messages. The band sounded fantastic, even while walking, running, and jumping around on the stage. Byrne's voice sounded great, and it was clear that everyone on the stage was having a really fun time. This tour also featured more of my favorite Talking Heads songs than his last tour, as well as some good songs from Byrne's recent "Who Is The Sky?" album and previous solo work. Overall, the show was an amazing technological achievement, while at the same time being a joyful experience that featured some of my favorite music being performed as well as it could be performed. Here are the setlist and my photos from the show.
	HeartByrne	11/23/25	Central Machine Works	A killer performance by HeartByrne at Central Machine Works. They did their usual outstanding job of playing the music of David Byrne and Talking Heads. It was a free show that began in the afternoon, which brought out many families with young kids and pet dogs, which made it an extra fun environment. The band's show also featured some well-done video backdrops, which made it a perfect precursor for the show I was to see just two days later. Here are my photos from the show.
	Sue Foley	11/20/25	04 Center	An outstanding night of blues music performed by Sue Foley and her three-piece band at The 04 Center. Sue Foley is a Canadian-born blues guitarist and vocalist who is nicknamed "The Ice Queen". She has lived in Austin for many years after being discovered by Clifford Antone over 30 years ago. At this show she played some of her original blues tunes, and showed off her award-winning electric blues guitar playing skills. She also played a number of acoustic songs from her recent album "One Guitar Woman: A Tribute to the Female Pioneers of Guitar". The stories she told about the songs and the women who inspired her were quite interesting, and she demonstrated that she is an excellent acoustic blues picker as well. Here are my photos from the show.
	Spud Boy Allstars	11/19/25	Far Out Lounge	Another fun night of the music of the Jerry Garcia Band performed by Spud Boy Allstars at The Far Out Lounge. Here are my photos from the show.
	Joe Marcinek Band with GatorsTX and 20 Hounds	11/15/25	Rancho Relaxo	An incredible evening at Rancho Relaxo. The weather was perfect, the vibes were super happy, and the bands were all stellar. Twenty Hounds from Dallas opened with an awesome set of Grateful Dead and Jerry Garcia Band tunes. Next up was the Gators ATX, led by bass player and vocalist Grady Ray. I hadn't seen the band recently, and I was super impressed by the greasy, swampy groves laid down by the band's two newest members on drums and guitar. Veteran Charlie Aboussie played some killer guitar licks and provided fine vocals as well. Joe Marcinek joined them for several songs towards the end of their set, which was a nice surprise. The headliner was the Joe Marcinek Band, featuring world-class guitar player, Joe Marcinek, with Ola Timothy on bass, Cliff Porter on drums, and Randy Wall on keys. Timothy and Porter were both fantastic rhythm players and fine vocalists, and Walls was amazing on keys. They played a fun mix of originals, some soulful covers including a couple of Stevie Wonder songs and some Bob Marley reggae, and a bunch of incredible Dead tunes. What is particularly amazing is that, as I understand it, this was the first time this set of musicians have played together! They had the crowd dancing and having a fantastic time through two solid sets, and it seemed like the band was having a super fun time as well. Wook Wizard closed with a cool solo late night set demonstrating his ability to sing, play multiple instruments, and loop everything together to make some very groovy music. It was a great conclusion to a tremendously fun night for me at Rancho Relaxo. Here are my photos from the event.
	Pigeons Playing Ping Pong with Eddie 9V	11/14/25	Mohawk	A fantastic show at Mohawk by Pigeons Playing Ping Pong (PPPP). PPPP is a funk jam band from Baltimore, and they have been one of my favorite live bands for a number of years. The four piece band is made up of Greg "Scrambled Greg" Ormont (lead vocals, guitar), Jeremy Schon (guitar), Ben Carrey (bass), and Alex "Gator" Petropulos (drums). The band writes and performs fun and funky original tunes, and then extends them with tight and interesting jams. Despite only having guitars as lead instruments, they use multiple effects to make it sound at times like they are playing synthesized keyboards. Greg is one of the most emotive performers that I've seen, and Jeremy is a fantastically innovative guitarist. They are also known for having outstanding light shows, which they did again at this show. I always enjoy their performances, and this one featured more extended psychedelic jams than is usual. They played mainly their original tunes, but a highlight was when they were joined by the opening band's Eddie 9V on a version of the Who's "Eminence Front". The only minor disappointment during the show was that Greg had a problem with his pedal board during the first set, which limited some of the effects that he might have otherwise used. The band still sounded great, the problem was fixed during the set break, and their second set was as good as any of PPPP's that I have heard. The opening act was Eddie 9V (aka Eddie 9 Volt), a singer and guitarist from Atlanta. He and his band played a mix of soulful and hard rocking southern rock. The band's original songs included elements of the Allman Brothers, Little Feat, JJ Cale, and ZZ Top, so there was a nice variety to their sound. I enjoyed their set, and will look forward to seeing them again in the future. Here are the setlist and my photos from the show.
	Sly Curtis	11/13/25	Regal Rooms	An amazing soul and R&B show by Sly Curtis, a 13 piece Austin super-group tribute to the music of Sly and the Family Stone and Curtis Mayfield at the Regal Rooms. The band is led by Hector Ward on vocals and guitar, Pearl Turner on vocals, and Bruce Hughes on bass and vocals. They also have outstanding players on violin, guitar, percussion and keyboards, and a great four-piece horn section. I last saw them in 2022 at Antone's, and I think that might be the last time that they've played together. I had forgotten what an incredibly tight band they are, and how many fantastically danceable songs were written by Stone and Mayfield. Many of my photos show in their backdrop images relating to their multi-year residency at the now defunct One-2-One Bar. Sly Curtis is a dance party like no other, and I hope that they are able to make these shows happen again regularly in the future. Here are my photos from the show.
	The Infamous Stringdusters with Bronwyn Keith-Hynes	11/09/25	Radio/East	An awesome performance by The Infamous Stringdusters with special guest Bronwyn Keith-Hynes at Radio/East. Bronwyn Keith-Hynes kicked things off with a fine set by her five-piece bluegrass band. Bronwyn is an award-winning fiddle player who spent a number of years in Molly Tuttle's all-star band, Golden Highway. That band was recently dissolved, and she then began touring with her own talented group of players. They played a mix of traditional and original bluegrass tunes, along with crowd-pleasing covers of the Grateful Dead's "Loose Lucy" and Fleetwood Mac's "The Chain". The Infamous Stringdusters are a jamgrass band that has been together since 2006. The band is made up of Andy Hall (Dobro), Andy Falco (guitar), Chris Pandolfi (banjo), Jeremy Garrett (fiddle), and Travis Book (standup bass). I've seen them a number of times, and have always been impressed by the instrumental musicianship of all five players, as well as their solo and harmony vocals. On this night, they played some new and old original tunes, some bluegrass standards, and cool covers that included Merle Haggard's "I Think I'll Just Stay Here and Drink", Phish's "Possum", Pink Floyd's "Fearless", and the Grateful Dead's "Jack Straw". They were also joined on three songs by Bronwyn Keith-Hynes for some extra special multi-fiddle jams. Several of my friends said that this was one of the best shows they had seen by the Stringdusters, and I'd have to agree. Here are the Stringdusters' setlist and audio stream or download and my photos from the show.
	Been There 4 with Mix Master Mike (Beastie Boys), Ben Kweller, DeadEye, Grandmaster, Panic Stricken, and TC Superstar	11/08/25	Radio/East	An excellent event called Been There 4 at Radio/East. This was the fourth in a series of annual events that have raised over $3 million to help Austin homelessness nonprofits. This year's non-profits were Sunrise Homeless Navigation Center, The Other Ones Foundation, Caritas of Austin, and Art From the Streets. Musical performances included sets by two of my favorite local tribute bands, DeadEye and Panic Stricken. Both bands put on outstanding sets, and for the first time that I've seen, DeadEye was joined by a guest sax player (on "Birdsong"). Another band that performed was Grandmaster, an Austin band reminiscent of Golden Dawn Arkestra. The bands are similar in that they both have a large number of members, both play intricate danceable music, and they each have a fictitious sci-fi back story. In this case, the story is that Grandmaster is "an intergalactic traveler of time and space who has made a name for himself collecting sacred artifacts across the lands of gods and men." Their music had a funky vibe with elements of Earth, Wind, and Fire, although it was more jazzy and a bit less danceable for me than the world music of Golden Dawn Arkestra. The largest crowd of the night was drawn by Ben Kweller, who plays a mix of power pop and indie rock. His audience included quite a few fans who were obviously familiar with his music. Kweller is good at what he does, but is a bit too pop oriented for my taste. The closing act and headliner was Mix Master Mike, a DJ and producer, who has played and toured extensively with the Beastie Boys. He has won a number of awards in the field of DJing and turntablism, and according to his Wikipedia page, "is considered one of the greatest hip hop DJs of all time". Although hip-hop is not typically my thing, Mix Master Mike blew me away by performing incredible moves and creating scratches and synthesized sounds on turntables unlike anything I've seen or heard. It was an amazing display, and a great ending to a big day of musical fun. Here are my photos from the event.
	My Nextdoor Neighbor and Rippleberry	11/07/25	Inn Cahoots	After the Eggy show, there was a cool aftershow at nearby Inn Cahoots that featured two local jam bands, who both perform original music. First up was Rippleberry, a young 5-piece band that I was seeing for the first time. They played long, psychedelic jammy tunes that reminded me a bit of Eggy. Next up was My Nextdoor Neighbor, a local 4-piece jam band that I have been enjoying for a couple of years. Although also a jam band, My Nextdoor Neighbor's songs feature nice vocal and melodic elements, mixed in with some long psychedelic and funky instrumental jams. I enjoyed both bands, and it was a great way to end to a really fun night of live music.
	Eggy	11/07/25	Scoot Inn	An outstanding concert by Eggy at Scoot Inn. Eggy is a young four-piece jam band from New Haven. I've seen them several times in the last couple of years, and it seems to me that they keep getting better, They play an interesting mix of jammy funk, rock, psych, and jazz. Unlike some other jam bands, they don't rely heavily on blistering solos, which is not to say that they aren't talented instrumentalists. Their music is really about exploring the the interactions between guitar, keyboards, bass, and drums. Their extended jams include innovative musical ideas that don't feel like they are copied from other bands. Vocals are shared by several band members, which also adds to their variety. On this night, their two long sets consisted primarily of original tunes, along with covers of Kacey Musgraves' "Oh, What a World" and Paul McCartney's "Coming Up". I was quite impressed by their performance, and I'll definitely be looking forward to the next chance to see them play live. Here are the setlist and my photos from this show and the aftershow.
	Grooveline Horns featuring Marcus King with D-Madness	11/04/25	Radio/East	I was fortunate enough to be able to see guitar great Marcus King play with the Grooveline Horns at C-Boy's Heart & Soul. He was in town earlier that evening for an Austin City Limits taping at Moody Theater. I was unable to attend the taping, but when the word got out that he would be playing at C-Boy's, I knew that I had to be there. Grooveline Horns is fronted by horn players Carlos Sosa (saxophone), Fernando “Fernie” Castillo (trumpet), and Raul “Ralo” Vallejo (trombone). They are worth seeing on there own, as they always put on a fantastic, high energy show. This was actually the second time that I saw Marcus King join them at C-Boys, the previous time being in February of this year. On that occasion, he mainly stayed towards the back of the band and played rhythm guitar, and only came up to the front to sing and play lead a few times. On this night however, he was front and center throughout the show, and he sang and played killer lead guitar throughout the night. This night was also special because Marcus' father, Marvin King, a well known blues guitarist in South Carolina, joined the band and played guitar with his son and the band on a number of songs. Highlights for the evening included versions of Chicago's "25 or 6 to 4", Robert Johnson's "Crossroad", and Bobby Blue Bland's "Turn On Your Lovelight". Austin drummer and keyboardist D- Madness and his band opened with a fun set of funk, jazz, and hip-hop. Here are my photos from the show.
	Karl Denson's Tiny Universe	11/01/25	Radio/East	A fantastic show by Karl Denson's Tiny Universe at Radio/East. Karl Denson is a funk and jazz saxophonist, flutist and vocalist from California. In addition to playing with his band, Karl Denson's Tiny Universe, he is also a touring band member of the Rolling Stones. His tight band is made up of Ricio Fruge (Trumpet/Vocals), Ricky Giordano (Guitar/ Vocals), Rashon Murph (Keys), Parker McAllister (Bass), Alfred Jordan (Drums), and Danielle Barker (Vocals). Denson and his band always put on a fine show, but some times they lean a bit too much towards the jazz side for me. On this night, however, it was a total funk show, which had the crowd dancing throughout. It was one of the best Tiny Universe shows that I've seen, and I was smiling from beginning to end. The night opened with two Austin bands. First up was Honey Made, a horn-driven soul and R&B band that actually reminded a bit of me of Karl Denson's Tiny Universe. Then came LeTrainump, a pop singer-songwriter who said that he had recently moved from Louisiana to Austin. He spoke a lot about positivity and connection, and his upbeat songs dealt with those concerns. Here are my photos from the show.
	College of Hip Hop Knowledge & Norman Ba$e	10/31/25	Flamingo Cantina
	RADO	10/31/25	Half Step	Halloween fun with my brother at several different live-music venues. Our first stop was at Foolaween at the Far Out Lounge on the 30th. We saw two excellent Austin tribute bands, A Live One, who perform the music of Phish, and The Cream Cheese Accident, who (obviously) perform the music of The String Cheese Incident. The members of both bands wore Halloween costumes, as did many of the attendees, and a couple of pets. Both bands were outstanding, and many of my jamily friends were there, so it was a real good time. On Halloween night, we started out with Half Step and saw RADO, a 4-piece jam band from Denver. The band is made up of Dylan "Barber" Tuthill (guitar & vocals), James "Macho Man" Hatch (keys & vocals), Kevin "Cowgirl" MacKinnon (bass & vocals), and Jeremy "Spaceman" Deitz (drums & beats). They played some cool psychedelic grooves, and funky jams, especially during a fun second set that had many of the crowd members dancing. Towards the end of the second set, they were joined by a keyboard player in a Walrus costume who looked strangely familiar (it was Austin's Zack Morgan, who had played while wearing the same costume in both bands the previous night at Far Out). After the Rado show, Eric and I wandering around 6th Street and vicinity to check out some of the interesting Halloween costumes (we were costumed as well so didn't stand out as tourists). We ended up at a late night Halloween Party and Anniversary Show at Flamingo Cantina, where we stayed around for a couple of hip hop acts, College of Hip Hop Knowledge & Norman Ba$e. Hip hop is not normally my thing, but I really enjoyed both bands, and it was a fun way to finish our Halloween adventures. Here are my photos from the shows.
	Cream Cheese Accident and A Live One	10/30/25	Far Out Lounge
	Mumford & Sons with Sierra Ferrell	10/24/25	Moody Center	A fine show by the British band Mumford and Sons at Moody Center. A lot of my friends consider Mumford and Sons to be uncool, but I actually quite enjoy their Celtic-influenced indie-folk musical style. The band's three founding members, Marcus Mumford (lead vocals, guitar, drums), Ted Dwane (vocals, bass), and Ben Lovett (vocals, keyboards) all performed well, backed by five other musicians that included a three piece horn section. They played the band's best known hits and some newer songs, along with one world premier. The show featured a short acoustic set at a small satellite stage, as well as interesting stage lighting and some pyrotechnic flash pots and fireworks. Marcus Mumford seemed quite sincere when he said that Austin was his favorite place in the U.S. to play, in part because they have headlined the ACL Festival on three occasions. The packed house gave them a warm reception, and it seemed like the band responded with a truly heartfelt show. The opener was Sierra Ferrell, a singer-songwriter born in West Virginia. When I saw her previously at Willie Nelson's Luck Reunion a couple of years ago, I enjoyed her performance, which had a loose, alt-country feel. However, at this show, the style of her music and her band felt more like mainstream country, which was a bit of a disappointment to me. Here are the setlist and my photos from the show.
	Many Artists	10/16-11/11/25	Many places in Austin	During October and early November, my relatives and I saw a bunch of live music shows together including: - Thursday night at Sam's Town Point featuring the Sentimental Family Band, Seth James Band, and Jimmy Dreams and Friends on both Oct. 16 and 23rd - Fun as always Bluegrass Night at Radio Coffee on Oct 20 - A singer-songer showcase at Hole In the Wall on Oct 27 hosted by Jim Campo, featuring Alejandro Rose-Garcia (aka Shakey Graves), along with Ernest Campos and Austin Leos - A fine acoustic set by James McMurtry at the Continental Club Gallery, followed by sets by The Last Jimenez, one of Austin's most under-appreciated guitarists and blues/soul singers, and Louisiana Surf Department, a country rock band that reminded me of New Riders of the Purple Sage and Flying Burrito Brothers, on Oct 29 - A set by incredible accordion player Josh Baca and his band at Green Mesquite on Nov 11. Here are my photos from the shows.
	Rock Bottom String Band, Mostly Dead, Dylan Earl, and Melissa Carper	10/17/25	Pins Mechanical, Still Austin Whiskey, and Sagebrush	A fun night of music at three different locations with my siblings. We started at a venue I had never been to before called Pins Mechanical, which is part of the Still Austin/St. Elmo Brewing complex. The band we saw there was Rock Bottom String Band, who describe themselves as a "weird string band". They were indeed weird, especially their drummer who banged on a crazy home-made contraption made of buckets, pans, and other various pieces of metal. Unfortunately, the sound at the venue was awful, so it was hard to make out fiddle, banjo, guitar, and vocals, so I can't say if I really liked the band or not. Next up was Mostly Dead at Still Austin Whiskey. It was my first time to see this Austin-based Grateful Dead tribute band, and they did a decent job on some of my favorite Dead tunes. We then headed over to Sagebrush for some country music featuring Melissa Carper. Carper is a talented song-writer and bass player who has a unique vocal style that I really enjoy. Her band included Emily Gimble on keyboards, along with outstanding players on fiddle, guitar, and drums. The opener there was a young country singer and guitar player Dylan Earl who was having a record release party. The venue is a hot spot for some of the best country dancers in Austin, and watching the dancers was almost as fun as listening to the bands. Here are my photos from the evening.
	DeadEye	10/03/25	Radio/East	After attending a full day of ACL Fest on Friday, October 3, I headed over to Radio/East to see DeadEye. The evening was billed as an ACL after-show (although I may have been the only ACL attendee in attendance). As a result, the show started a bit later than normal, so I only missed a couple of songs. As usual, it was a fun trip through the Grateful Dead songbook that included "Hell In A Bucket>Shakedown Street", "Help On the Way>Slipknot!", "Terrapin Station >Dark Star", "Sugar Magnolia", and an encore of "Casey Jones". A slew of jamily members were there, and it was a great way to end a long day of music. Here are the setlist and a video of "Shakedown Street" and my photos from the show.
	ACL Festival 2025	10/03/25	Zilker Park	O only attended one day of ACL Festival this year, and that was mainly to see one of my favorite indie-rock bands, Dr. Dog. I really enjoyed their set, as I expected, but didn't see much else that impressed me very much. The sets that I liked the most included long-time Austin western-swing band Asleep at the Wheel; Amble, an Irish folk trio; honestav, a "dopey" hip-hop artist; and Confidence Man, an Australian electro-pop dance band. A couple of bands that I had heard good things about, Panda Bear (weird electronic music); and M.J. Lenderman (indie-Americana) were underwhelming. Two other big-name acts were rock band Cage the Elephant and the night's closer, Irish singer/songwriter Hozier. Both weren't bad, but I didn't feel inclined to penetrate the gigantic crowds that they attracted, so I listened from a distance. Here are my write-up and top photos and my complete photoset from the festival.
	Dr. Dog with Sun June	10/02/25	Stubb's BBQ	A fantastic show by Dr. Dog at Stubb's BBQ. Dr. Dog is a Philadelphia-based rock band who have been one of my favorite bands since I first saw them at the Parish in April, 2009. They have never been a widely-known band, but they have a deeply devoted following. I last saw them play at Stubb's in November, 2021. At the time, they said that although they would not be breaking up, that would be their final tour. Since then, they have played occasional shows in Philadelphia and a few other shows at festivals and major venues such as Red Rocks. I was skeptical that I would ever see them live again, but I was excited to hear earlier this year that they would play at this year's ACL Festival. I was even more excited when they announced this ACL Nights official show at Stubb's. As always, this show was attended by dedicated Dr. Dog fans, many who knew all or most of the band's songs, and who sang along enthusiastically to many of them. The band sounded as good as ever, with founders Toby Leaman (bass) and Scott McMicken (lead guitar) alternating on most lead vocals. Long time members Frank McElroy (rhythm guitar), Zach Miller (keyboard), Eric Slick (drums) all provided harmony vocals, and Miller and Slick each were given a chance to come out in front to sing lead on a song. The band has expanded since I last saw them, adding a Nashville-based percussionist/multi-instrumentalist, Dom Billett, and three young female Asheville-based vocalists, Alyse Baca, Dulci Ellenberger, and Becca Nicholson, who also added some percussion and acoustic backing guitar. At this show, Dr. Dog played for over two hours, which included 24 songs in their main set and a four song encore. The setlist included crowd favorites from throughout the band's career. The band's songs mixed Beatle-esque harmonies, interesting psychedelic interludes, and high-energy moments that had the crowd jumping up and down, while Leaman and McMicken bounced around the stage. I believe that Dr. Dog is a band that needs to be seen live to be appreciated, and I wish I had tried harder to convince more friends to attend this show. With Dr. Dog's limited touring plans, it may be a while before I am able to see them again, but if the chance comes up, I will jump at it, and will try harder to bring some friends along. The show was opened by Sun June, an indie-pop band from Austin. Led by vocalist and keyboard player Laura Colwell, they performed what they call "regret pop," which features despairing lyrics, spacey vocals, and minimalist instrumental arrangements. They weren't too bad, but I think we were all anxious for the main show to begin. Here are the setlist and my photos from the show.
	I'm With Her - Sarah Jarosz, Aoife O'Donovan, and Sara Watkins with Jon Muq	09/27/25	Paramount Theater	an excellent performance by I'm With Her at the Paramount Theatre. I'm With Her is an Americana, folk, and bluegrass supergroup made up of Sarah Jarosz, Aoife O'Donovan, and Sara Watkins, who are all well know artists in their own right. They released their award winning first album "See You Around" in 2018, and they release a second outstanding album, "Wild and Clear and Blue" earlier this year. All three are excellent vocalists, and their two- and three-part harmonies were beautiful. Jarosz is an amazing instrumentalists, switching between mandolin, octave mandolin, guitar, and banjo, while Sara Watkins is one of the best fiddle players around, O'Donovan played some nice acoustic guitar as well. This concert mainly consisted of songs from their two albums. They also performed a beautiful cover of Joni Mitchell's "Carey", in which each singer took a lead verse to show off their ability to beautifully hit the high notes in Mitchell's song. They closed with a sweet cover of John Hiatt's "Crossing Muddy Waters". The opener for the show was Jon Muq, an Austin-based singer-songwriter. Muq played an acoustic guitar adorned with large eyeballs, and was accompanied by a guest keyboard player for much of the set. He told interesting and stories about his journey from his native Uganda and as a recent immigrant in the U.S., and displayed a nice voice while performing his story-telling original songs. Here are the setlist and my photos from the show.
	Flounders Without Eyes with Three Cool Cats	09/26/25	Green Mesquite BBQ	Another outstanding performance by Flounders Without Eyes at Green Mesquite BBQ. Flounders Without Eyes is a long time Austin Jam band led by brother and sister Joe and Jenny Mier. Jenny, provides most of the lead vocals, has an incredible voice. Joe plays bass and sang lead on a few songs. The band also included a lead guitarist/vocalist, a drummer, and keyboard player Cole whose birthday was being celebrating on this evening. For most of the evening, they played original jamming tunes, and then towards the end of the evening two awesome versions of songs performed by the Grateful Dead, "Sugaree" and "Turn on Your Lovelight" for a great conclusion to a fun evening. The opener was a trio, 3 Cool Cats, who played some bluesy jams to get things started. Here are my photos from the show.
	Leon Bridges with Charley Crockett - The Crooner and the Cowboy with Dave Alvin & Jimmie Dale Gilmore	09/23/25	Moody Center	This show was part of Leon Bridges' and Charley Crockett's "The Crooner and the Cowboy" tour. I have seen them each before, Bridges at New Orleans Jazz Fest and at last year's ACL Festival, and Crockett at Luck Reunion. I was impressed with them both, because they are excellent songwriters with outstanding singing voices, and each has their own original style. Bridges has a true crooner's voice, and he plays a blend of soul and R&B. Crockett has a style he calls "Gulf and Western" that blends country, blues, soul, and Cajun R&B. In each previous case, they pretty much just played their music backed by tight bands with limited theatrics. At this show, however, it seemed to me that in order to justify playing before a nearly sold-out crowd of 10,000 people (and associated high ticket prices), everything including sound, lights, and movement around the stage were overdone, to the point that I found them a distraction from the music. Not to say that they and their bands did not perform well, because they did. But I think that in the future, I'll stick to seeing them and similar performers at smaller venues. Crockett did close with one very jammy song that featured him playing an electronic sitar, which was pretty cool. Another highlight for me was when Crockett joined Bridges for his first encore on Sam Cooke's "A Change Is Gonna Come", which was performed with limited fanfare, as I wished had been done throughout the evening. The openers for the show were Dave Alvin & Jimmie Dale Gilmore, and sadly, I also found their performance less than I had hoped for. I have seen them both play many times, separately and together and they are two of my favorite musical performers. Unfortunately, for this tour it was just the two of them playing acoustic guitar, along with Chris Miller, a member of their touring band, the Guilty Ones, on a third guitar. But what they were lacking their fantastic rhythm section of Austinites Brad Fordham on bass and Lisa Pankratz on drums. Without their rhythmic backing, even their classic songs, "Dallas" by Gilmore, and "Fourth of July" and "Marie, Marie" by Alvin, were swallowed up by the giant arena. I suppose I could understand why the promoters might not of wanted to add two more musicians and their set-up for the entire tour, but it seems to me that they could have at least let them play in their own home town. Here are my photos from the show.
	S.G. Goodman with John Calvin Abney	09/20/25	Antone's	An excellent performance by S.G. Goodman at Antone's. She is a folk and country singer-songwriter from Hickman, Kentucky. I first saw her in 2023 touring behind her award-winning album "Teeth Marks", and she is now touring in support of her excellent new album "Planting by the Signs". Goodman has a unique warbling voice that suits her musical style well. Her songs often deal with social issues and other dark subjects, and she is one of the best wordsmiths that I've head in a while. She played acoustic guitar, backed by a four piece band that included lead guitar, keyboards, bass, and drums. Her set was a bit slower tempo than the last time I saw her, but her dry sense of humor kept things entertaining between songs. She finished the evening with what she said would be a Texas song, which surprisingly turned out to be a hard-rocking version of the Butthole Surfers' "Pepper". The opener was Goodman's keyboard player, John Calvin Abney, who sang some folky original songs accompanying himself on acoustic guitar. His songs were highly personal, and he introduced each with a funny self-deprecating story. He finished his set with an electric song backed by the other members of Goodman's band. Here are my photos from the show.
	Vapors of Morphine with The Living Pins	09/19/25	Continental Club	An awesome show by Vapors of Morphine. Vapors of Morphine plays the music of Morphine, an alternative rock band that was active in the 1990's. The band is led by Morphine's original baritone sax player Dana Colley. Jeremy Lyons provides most of the lead vocals and plays a two-string bass, ala Morphine's founder, vocalist, and songwriter Mark Sandman. Tom Arey completes the trio on drums. The band did a great job in replicating the unique Morphine sound on songs such as "Scratch", "Mary Won't You Call My Name?", "Souvenir", "Thursday", and "Honey White". They were joined by Austinite Monique Ortiz (who was in a previous band with Colley called A.K.A.C.O.D.), who provided lead vocals on "Wishing Well". They also played some newer original songs on which Lyons played lead guitar. Following Vapors of Morphine was a fun and interesting set by Living Pins, an Austin psych-rock band formed in the 1990's. The band included Carrie Clark (Sixteen Deluxe) on lead vocals and guitar, Pam Peltz (Ursa Major) on lead guitar and harmony vocals, Kristy McInnis on drums, and Bobby Daniel on bass. They played some Blondie-style New Wave sounding tunes, as well as some heavy psychedelic songs featuring Peltz's guitar using what I believe was an EBow sustain device to create some cool distorted tones. For the second straight year, the show was curated by The Electric Lounge, who had their logo on the stage above the Continental Club sign. I was really impressed both by both events, and hopefully there will be more of these shows in the future. Here are my photos from the show.
	Bender Jamboree	09/10-13/25	Westgate Las Vegas	I had a blast at Bender Jamboree at the Westgate in Las Vegas last week. The first thing to highlight was the music. The headlining bands in the main venue were all fantastic. Led by three nights of String Cheese Incident, they and all of the other bands including Railroad Earth, moe., Daniel Donato's Cosmic Country, Leftover Salmon, Karl Denson's Tiny Universe, Eggy, Sierra Hull, and The Wood Brothers all stepped it up and played some of the best sets of music that I've ever heard. The bands who played at smaller stages were also uniformly great, led by two of my favorite new jamgrass bands, Fireside Collective and Sicard Hollow. Other highlights at smaller stages included Dogs in a Pile, Karina Rykman, Scott Pemberton O Theory, Andy Falco & Travis Book (of Infamous Stringdusters) Play Jerry Garcia, The Last Revel, Katie Skene, The Motet, Stanley Jordan Plays Dead, Jon Stickley Trio, Planck, DJ Logic, along with guitarist Joe Marcinek, who joined a number of other bands and also played a set on the Casino Stage. The next thing that made the festival so great was the attendees who were some of the nicest and most music-loving people that I've met. The staff from the hotel and Bender were also uniformly friendly and helpful. The food for Ballers at the new catered dining room was a big step up from last year. Finally, the sound at every stage was impeccable, and the stage crews did an outstanding job of keeping all of the musical acts running smoothly and on time. This was my second Bender Jamboree, and although I said that the 2024 Jamboree was my favorite musical experience of all time, I think 2025 topped it. Sadly, it looks like there will not be a 2026 Jamboree, but hopefully they will return in 2027, and if it is at all possible, I will be there. Here are my day 1 review and photos, day 2 review and photos, day 3 review and photos, day 4 review and photos, and my complete photo set from the festival.
	DeadEye	09/06/25	ABGB	Another special performance by Austin's premier Grateful Dead tribute band, DeadEye, at Austin Beer Garden Brewery. This show was a celebration of the band's 15th anniversary, and both the band and their audience made sure that it was an especially high-energy show. I arrived part way into the first set, but got there in time for a rocking version of Chuck Berry's "Promised Land". The second set included fun covers such as The Meters' "Hey Pocky Way" and Buddy Holly's "Not Fade Away". The band also did a great job on Dead classics like "The Wheel", "The Other One", and "Uncle John's Band". They finished with sing-along encores of "Ripple" and "Playin' In The Band". The Austin Grateful Dead Jamily realizes that we are very fortunate to have a band as good as DeadEye based in our city, and I think that I am not alone in wishing for many more anniversary shows in future years. Here are the setlist and a video of "They Love Each Other" and my photos from the show.
	Cream Cheese Accident with A Live One	09/05/25	Radio/East	A couple of outstanding performances at Radio/East by two of Austin's best tribute bands. First up was A Live One, a Phish tribute band. I am not actually much of a Phish fan, but I really enjoy this band's take on the music, mainly because I love the musicians in the band. The band includes Josh Pearson on guitar and vocals, Andy Harn on bass and vocals, and Zack Morgan on keyboards and vocals. I enjoyed the set, and even though I was not familiar with most of their songs, I admired the interplay between the band's members and their ability to bring Phish's music to life. Then came Cream Cheese Accident, (obviously) a String Cheese Incident tribute band. I am much more of a String Cheese fan, in fact, I am looking forward to seeing them perform six sets at Bender Jamboree in Las Vegas later this week. This Austin tribute band is also made up of great musicians, including Eddie Robbins on acoustic guitar and vocals, Keither Perkins on electric guitar, Mile Altgelt on bass and vocals, Zack Morgan on keyboards and vocals, and Enzo Loechel on drums and vocals. They did a fantastic job of showing the wide range of musical styles of String Cheese, as well as emulating their four unique-sounding lead vocalists. The set included fun covers such as Rusty Wier's "Don't It Make You Wanna Dance" and Peter Gabriel's "Sledgehammer", along with String Cheese classics like "Rosie" and "Let's Go Outside". Here are my photos from the show.
	The Dead South	08/29/25	ACL Live	A really fun performance by The Dead South at ACL Live. The Dead South is a four-piece band from Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. They play a unique mix of old-timey string-band, folk, and bluegrass, and dress in black and white outfits with suspenders and wide brim hats. The band is made up of Nate Hilts (vocals, guitar, mandolin), Scott Pringle (guitar, mandolin, vocals), Danny Kenyon (cello, vocals) and Colton "Crawdaddy" Crawford (banjo and kick drum). Their all-original songs mainly have dark lyrics about cheating, murder, and death, and they play with an aggressive, hard-edged style. This is the third time I've seen them, and I've enjoyed each show, although they did use the same old western town backdrop, and largely the same setlist as they did a year ago. Hopefully they'll change things up a bit next time they come through. The opening act was Oklahoman Parker Millsap. He sang and played guitar and harmonica, backed by keyboards, drums, and bass. His original tunes included a mix of rock, blues, and and country. He wasn't bad, but it didn't feel like the his performance was a great match for the high-energy performance by The Dead South that was to follow. Here are the setlist and my photos from the show.
	Trainwreck Express	08/28/25	C-Boy's Heart & Soul	The second show at C-Boy's was by Trainwreck Express, an all-star Austin band that includes Matt Hubbard on keyboards, vocals, trombone, and train whistle, Scrappy Jud Newcomb and Andrew Trube on guitar and vocals, and Bobby Perkins on bass. Their normal drummer Russell Lee, was unavailable due to a family emergency, so a quite capable substitute took his place. The band sounded great on some new original material that had funk, blues, and soul elements, while also at times getting into Pink Floyd-ish psychedelics and Frank Zappa-ish weirdness. They also did a great job on covers including some J.J. Cale, "Johnny Too Bad", and "I Got Loaded". Unfortunately, only a small crowd was present for this relatively late night set. Hopefully, they will continue to play together and more people will come out to hear this outstanding band in the future. Here are my photos from the show.
	Scott H. Biram	08/28/25	C-Boy's Heart & Soul	Scott H. Biram, who calls himself "The Dirty Old One Man Band", was the first of two excellent performances at C-Boy's Heart & Soul. Biram plays guitar, harmonica, and percussion, and uses a good deal of fuzz effects on his vocals and instruments to give his music an unmistakable grungy sound. He is also quite the entertainer, making many profane and humorous comments between songs. Biram mixed some original storytelling songs with old blues, folk, and country covers, including some Bo Diddley songs such as "Who Do You Love". This was the last show of a two-month residency, and Biram played to a packed house. It was a a fun show that made me wish I had seen some of the previous shows during the past couple of months, and I'll definitely try to see him again soon. Here are my photos from the show.
	Flyjack	08/23/25	Continental Club	A killer night of funk, rock, and soul by Flyjack at the Continental Club. Flyjack is a stalwart Austin funk band led by guitarist Buck McKinney, along with long-time bass player Brad Bradburn, who both share in providing the band's vocals. The band also includes the outstanding Zack Morgan on keys, three fine horn players, and two strong percussionists. On Saturday, they mainly played their original high-energy funk tunes, and also added in covers of songs by The Meters and Jimi Hendrix. There was also a fun segment in which hip-hop vocalist David Shabani added some rap to the mix on several songs. Flyjack always puts on a fantastic show that has the crowd dancing, and this night was no exception. Here are my photos from the show.
	Spud Boy Allstars	08/21/25	Regal Rooms	Another great night of the music of the Jerry Garcia Band performed by Spud Boy Allstars at the Regal Rooms in South Austin. My highlights included a first set closing "Harder They Come", a first time performance (for me) of Van Morrison's "And It Stoned Me", a sweet version of the Beatles' "Dear Prudence", and a jamming version of "Sugaree". The band always seems to choose one song to play that highlights their two female vocalists, Jenna Watters and Erin Thunderheart Stein, and at this show, it was Garcia Band rarity "I’ll Be With Thee" by gospel singer and composer Dorothy Love Coates. They encored with my favorite Garcia Band song, "Sisters and Brothers". The Regal Room is a nice-sized venue with excellent sound, and it drew a fun crowd of jamily regulars, so it was a real good time. Here are the setlist with some photos and my photos from the show.
	Gillian Welch & Dave Rawlings	08/19/25	Paramount Theatre	A highly enjoyable concert by Gillian Welch and Dave Rawlings at the Paramount Theatre. Welch and Rawlings are an acoustic music duo from Nashville, whose music includes elements of Appalachian, bluegrass, country and Americana. They both have outstanding singing voices, and they harmonize beautifully together. Rawlings is an excellent acoustic guitar player as well. Their show last week feature a mix of their original songs, with some interesting covers. Highlights for me included "The Monkey and the Engineer", written by Jesse Fuller and notably performed by the Grateful Dead; "To Be Young (Is to Be Sad, Is to Be High)", a Ryan Adams cover co-written by Rawlings; and "China Doll" by the Grateful Dead. They performed two full sets, plus two encores, finishing with "I'll Fly Away" (which was sung by Welch and Allison Krauss in the "O Brother Where Art Thou movie") and Jefferson Airplane's "White Rabbit". They had asked that no pictures or videos be taken during the show, so I have no indoor photos from the performance, so here is my outdoor photo, and the setlist from the show.
	Beats Antique with Random Rab	08/16/25	Radio/East	A fantastic performance by Beats Antique at Radio/East. Beats Antique is a band formed in 2007 who play an original fusion of world and electronic music. Their shows are truly performance art as they supplement their mix of Middle Eastern, afro-beat, and funky electronic music with exotically costumed dancers who perform a blend of Middle Eastern belly dance, Indian dance, and other dance forms throughout the show. The band is led by founders Zoe Jakes and Tommy "Sidecar" Cappel. Jakes is the lead dancer, who performed with the lower portion of her face covered by a veil. Two other dancers came out as well, and at various times they performed solo, in pairs, and as a trio (until the very end when they were joined by two additional dancers). The captivating dancers used a variety of costumes, scarves, drums, and other props to make each song's dance unique. Cappel played a mix of interesting beats on percussion, and he also ran electronic backing tracks that added horns and electronic sounds to the mix. The primary melodic elements came from the band's newest member, Miles Jay, who joined the band in the past few years, replacing founding member David Satori. Jay played a number of unusual stringed instruments including a portable bowed bass that he built himself, a Lotar from Morocco (a picked instruments), a Lyra from Crete (played with a small bow), and a Masenko from Ethiopia (played with an arched bow). The mix of different instruments provided a wide range of musical flavors to the various tunes. The combination of unusual instrumental sounds, interesting rhythms, and vibrant dancing made this a fascinating show that I will not soon forget. The opener for the show was Random Rab, an electronic music artist from Colorado, who played an interesting mix of world, ambient, psychedelic, and dance music to get the sold-out crowd ready for Beats Antique. Here are my photos from the show.
	North Mississippi Allstars	08/14/25	Antone's	An outstanding performance by North Mississippi Allstars at Antone's. North Mississippi Allstars are a blues and southern rock band, led by brothers Luther Dickinson (guitar and vocals) and Cody Dickinson (drums, electric washboard, guitar and vocals). Their current band also included Joey Williams and Rayfield "RayRay" Holloman, who traded off on bass, second guitar, and drums. The Allstars have a unique style that mixes Allman Brothers-like southern rock with soulful Mississippi Delta blues. Luther is a fantastic guitarist who coaxes all kinds of unique sounds out of his instruments. The band mixed things up by having Joey Williams take some turns on vocals, and Cody came out from behind the drum kit a couple of times. The first time he made some wild sounds through his heavily synthesized electric washboard, and the second time he showed that he is also no slouch on electric guitar. The band was also joined by guitar player Gordie Johnson of Big Sugar on a couple of songs for some nice guitar duets with Luther. Overall, it was fun night of jamming blues rock, and although I missed their second show that occurred the following night, I'll plan to see the Allstars the next time they are in town. Here are my photos from the show.
	Bob Schneider, Antone's 50th Allstars, and BLAKCHYL	08/5/25	Zilker Park	A wonderful night of music at Blues on the Green at Zilker Park. The evening was a tribute to Antone's 50th Anniversary featuring three acts: Antone's 50th Allstars, BLAKCHYL, and Bob Schneider. First up were the Antone's All-Stars. The backing Antone's house band had many of the same stellar blues players I had seen a few weeks ago at Antone's actual 50th Anniversary show, which included guitarists Derek O'Brien and Eve Monsees, bassist Scott Nelson, keyboard player Nick Connolly, drummers Brannen Temple and Jay Moeller, and the Antone's Horns. The night started off with several vocalists know for performing at Antone's including Soul Man Sam and Lindsay Beaver, who was accompanied by guitarist Jake Andrews. Next came the first of three vocal headliners, Ruthie Foster. Foster's set was probably my favorite portion of the night. It featured her rich, soulful voice on some of her original songs and some classic blues and soul, backed by the house band. The Peterson Brothers were up next. The house band left the stage while brothers Glenn on guitar and Alex on bass, backed only by a drummer and keyboard player came on for their set. They were all smiles as they played their original mix of blues, soul and funk. The last headliner for the Antone's portion of the evening was ace guitar player Sue Foley. Known as "The Ice Queen" because of her Canadian heritage, Foley played her trademark pink paisley-finished Telecaster on some original and classic blues. A highlight for me was her trading killer guitar licks with Antone's veteran Derek O'Brien. The set ended with everyone coming back on stage for a version Bobby "Blue" Bland's "Further On Up the Road", sung by Soul Man Sam. The set was made up of great performances throughout, and with talent and energy like this, Antone's should have many more historic years ahead of it. Next up was hip-hop artist Blakchyl, aka Te'aunna Moore. I am not usually a fan of rap music, especially when they are backed by pre-recorded tracks without any live instruments. However, I was pleasantly surprised by this band, which included guitar, cello, keys, saxophone, bass, and drums, along with two female backup vocalists. The closing act was Austin's Bob Schneider, whom the announcer said had played more sold-out shows at Antone's than any other artist. These shows included his many years with The Ugly Americans and The Scabs, as well as his solo shows. His band included Bruce Hughes (bass), Kevin McKinney (guitar), Oliver Steck (keyboards, accordion, trumpet), Danny Levin (violin), and a drummer (?). The band tore it up on songs in a wide range of styles, including rock, rap, country, and Americana. The set included many of his best known songs such as "40 Dogs (Like Romeo and Juliet)", "Big Blue Sea", "Metal and Steel", and his usual sing-along closer of "Tarantula". Schneider is a consummate entertainer who really knows how to work a crowd. I've seen Schneider play many times, and this was one of the best full band shows that I can recall. It was a perfect way to cap off this memorable Blues on the Green tribute to Antone's 50 Year Anniversary. Here are my photos from the show.
	DeadEye with Fennario Flats & Spud Boy Allstars	08/1-2/25	Antone's	This was the 15th annual Jerryfest at Antone's, which is always one of my favorite events of the year. The event is hosted by DeadEye, Austin's premier Grateful Dead tribute band. Jerryfest is always an awesome time, and this year's was no exception. The event celebrates the music of Jerry Garcia during the "days between" Garcia's August 1 birthday and the August 9 anniversary of his death. DeadEye and its sister bands, all led by guitarist Joe Faulhaber, do a great job in presenting the full range of Garcia's music. Friday night started off with Fennario Flats exploring the acoustic and bluegrass side of Garcia's music. They played a number of Old and In the Way songs, some Dead songs, and even a Jerry Garcia Band song. Then came the first of two sets by DeadEye. Set one shot out of the gates with a stellar version of "Help on the Way>Slipknot>Franklin's Tower", which brought things instantly to a level that often isn't reached until set two. Another first set highlight was vocalist Graham Wilkinson joining the band to sing Pigpen's lead on "Hard to Handle". The first set ended with a killer version of "Morning Dew", leaving the audience to wonder what the band could do to top that set. The second set maintained the high energy level, starting off with "Touch of Grey" into "Dear Mr. Fantasy". The set also included "Truckin'" and a heavy "Dark Star", and the evening closed with a high energy encore of "Shakedown Street". All of the band's usual members played their asses off, including bassist Lee Braverman and rhythm guitarist Keither Perkins, and they were joined once again by the beautiful guest vocals of Erin Stein on a number of tunes. On Saturday, unfortunately, due to another commitment, I had to miss the opening set by Spud Boy Allstars, who always do a fine job playing the music of the Jerry Garcia Band. But I did arrive in time to see almost all of Deadeye's first set. The band was joined again by Erin Stein, and as they have done in recent years, they were also joined by second drummer Keith Laudieri, who provided some additional rhythmic complexity. The first set of night two ended with the fiery combo of "Scarlet Begonias>Fire On the Mountain" and a rocking "One More Saturday Night". Set two continued the momentum, starting off with great versions of "Sugar Magnolia" and "Sugaree". The set also included "St. Stephen" and "Playin' in the Band". After Shadd Scott and Laudieri teamed up for a killer "Drums", we were pleasantly surprised when the band was joined by their second keyboard player, Rex Simmons, for "Space". He stayed for the remainder of the night, trading off with fellow keyboard player, Trevor Nealon on piano and organ. The set continued with "Wharf Rat", and went into a fun version of "Goin' Down the Road Feelin' Bad", and the reappearance of "Sunshine Daydream" to end set two. The band wrapped up another fantastic night with an encore of "U.S. Blues" and an emotional closing sing-along on "Brokedown Palace". As always, the crowd was full of friends from the Austin Jamily, even though some members of our crew had made their way out to California to see the Dead's 60th Anniversary show by Dead & Company at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. Still, there were plenty of old friends, and many new ones, who had memorable time in Austin, and I think that just about all of us will be ready to do it again next year. Here are the Night One setlist with a video of "Help On The Way", the Night Two setlist with a video of "Sugaree", and my photos from the shows.
	Chris Isaac	07/27/25	Paramount Theatre	My wife and I have been fans of Isaak's for many years, and have seen him perform live a number of times. He always puts on a memorable show, thanks to his incredible voice, his excellent songs, his fine band, and maybe more than anything else, his great sense of humor. Isaak jokes about himself, his band, the audience, and anything else, and he has the crowd in stitches throughout the show. Isaak's band includes longtime bassist Rowland Salley, along with Chris Powell on drums, JD Simo on guitar, and Michael Webb on keyboards and accordion. The show included Chris Isaak staples like "Somebody's Crying", "Wicked Game", "San Francisco Days", and "Baby Did a Bad Bad Thing". They also did a killer job on covers such as Roy Orbison's "Pretty Woman", Elvis's "Can't Help Falling in Love", and James Brown's "I'll Go Crazy". Isaak is a great entertainer, which he demonstrated by going out into the audience (once all the way up to the balcony) on two occasions, donning his crazy mirrored suit late in the show, and having audience members come up on stage to dance during one of his songs. It was a fun night of music, and I highly recommend Chris Isaak and his band to anyone who might be interested. Here are my photos from the show.
	The Abyssinians with HR and Lion Heights	07/25/25	Radio/East	I first began attending reggae shows in the 80's and 90's at Liberty Lunch, Mercado Caribe, and Flamingo Cantina. I saw local reggae bands including Pressure, The Lotions, and The Killer Bees, as well as major touring acts like The Wailers (unfortunately not with Bob Marley), Burning Spear, Toots and the Maytals, Steel Pulse, Black Uhuru, and Jimmy Cliff. I also became familiar with a number of less well-known roots reggae acts like Culture, Israel Vibration, the Itals, Judy Mowatt, and Lucky Dube, many of which put on performances that were as good as the bigger names. Unfortunately, in recent years, many of these bands have ceased touring, and Austin shows by these bands are few and far between. Imagine my surprise when just about a month ago, not one, but two of my favorite early roots reggae bands announced shows in Austin, and amazingly, the two shows were at different venues on the same night! The shows were this past Friday, and the bands were The Abyssinians and The Meditations. Both of these were very influential early reggae bands that I was fortunate to have seen in the late 1990's at Liberty Lunch and/or Flamingo Cantina. Fortunately, one band was playing an outdoor show at Radio/East, where shows usually end by around 11pm, and the other was at Flamingo Cantina, where the headliners usually start around midnight. As a result, I was pretty sure that I could see all or most of both band's performances. I did realize that given how many years these bands have been in existence (over 50-55 years each) that it was likely that the bands would include few if any original members. But I suspected that as long as the bands were composed of veteran Jamaican reggae musicians, that they would both play fantastic music (and I turned out to be correct). The first show featured the The Abyssinians, a band formed in 1968 by vocalists Bernard Collins and brothers Donald and Lynford Manning. Two bands opened for the Abyssinians, the first being Austin's Lion Heights, who performed as a trio, led by Dane Foltin (bass/vocals) and Jeremy Carlson (keyboards/vocalist). They played a nice set or original reggae.The trio then provided backing for the next act, with the addition of a guitarist/vocalist. That set featured H.R. (standing for "Human Rights", originally Paul Hudson), who was the lead singer for Bad Brains, an early hardcore punk and reggae band formed in 1976. In his early days, H.R.'s presence on stage was described as "like James Brown gone berserk, with a hyperkinetic repertoire of spins, dives, back-flips, splits, and skanks", and he is also credited with coining the term "moshing". Sadly, he has faced some medical challenges in recent years, and he now performs seated in a chair, with a quiet vocal delivery. Nice vocals were also provided by the guitar player, who also provided some sweet guitar licks. It was a good set of reggae, and a nice warm-up for The Abyssinians. After the two opening acts, The Abyssinians came on to the Radio/East stage. The band included one original member, 84 year-old singer Donald Manning, and featured three other vocalists: a lead vocalist who appeared to be in his forties or fifties, and two younger singers. They all produced wonderful close harmonies, and they were backed by a solid band that included two keyboards, guitar, bass, and drums. The current version of The Abyssinians had the flavor of the original band, with heavy reggae bass lines, horn-mimicking keyboards, and plenty of spiritual Rasta vibes and messages. The band's sound was hypnotic, and the decent sized crowd loved the performance. I made it from the first show at Eadio/East to Flamingo Cantina just in time to see the start of the set by The Meditations (although I did miss two opening acts there). The Meditations were formed in 1974 by by Ansel Cridland, Danny Clarke, and Winston Watson. As a vocal trio, they provided backing vocals for Bob Marley, Gregory Isaacs, Jimmy Cliff, and Lee "Scratch" Perry, as well as creating many well-regarded roots reggae albums of their own. At the Flamingo show, the band featured 74 year-old founding member Ansel Cridland on guitar and vocals, along with vocalist Daddy Lion Chandell, backed by keyboards, guitar, bass, and drums. Much as I remembered, The Meditations played original, high-energy reggae tunes that featured rootsy melodies, conscious lyrics, nice vocal harmonies, and outstanding backing riddims. If I had to choose, I think I slightly preferred The Meditations show, but The Abyssinians were great too. It was an amazing night of reggae, and I hope that these or other Jamaican roots reggae bands play in Austin again before too long. Here are my photos from the shows.
The Meditations	07/25/25	Flamingo Cantina
The Fabulous Thunderbirds featuring Kim Wilson with Billy Flynn and Oscar Wilson	07/18/25	Antone's	Another excellent show at Antone's as part of their 50th Anniversary Celebration, this time with The Fabulous Thunderbirds, featuring Kim Wilson. The T-Birds go back to Antone's earliest days on 6th Street, having served as Antone's house band, and backing many of the Chicago blues legends who played at the club in those early years. I've been a fan of the T-Birds almost that long, and since they are no longer based in Austin, this was a special opportunity for me to see them at this anniversary show. The Thunderbirds have changed line-ups quite a bit over the years, with the one constant being lead vocalist and harmonica player Kim Wilson. The band now includes Austinite Johnny Moeller (guitar), as well as Bob Welsh (piano/guitar), Rudy Albin (drums), and Steve Kirsty (bass). The T-Birds started out by playing many of their best known songs, including "Wrap it Up", "Tuff Enuff", "She's Tuff", and "Scratch My Back". They were then joined by Chicago guitarist Billy Flynn, who played some fiery leads on several songs including B.B. King's "Sweet Little Angel". They were then joined by another veteran Chicago bluesman, vocalist Oscar Wilson, who brought a lot of style and swagger on blues classics such as Elmore James' "Shake Your Moneymaker" and Muddy Waters' "Mannish Boy." Austin's Willie Pipkin joined the band for the last few songs, and they closed the night out with an encore of Jimmy Rogers' "You're The One". Throughout the night, Kim Wilson proved that he is still one of the best blues harmonica players around. He and his band, along with their special guests, sounded great while paying tribute to 50 years of Antone's, with an outstanding night of blues music. Here are my photos from the show.
The Point and Cilantro Boombox	07/17/25	Long Center	Another fantastic evening of music at the Long Center's weekly Drop-in on their outdoor lawn. First up was Austin's Cilantro Boombox. They are a band led by bassist Felix Pacheco and saxophonist Joe Woullard, and also included Christopher "Zumbi" Richards (trombone, vocals) and Micah Shalom (trumpet, vocals), along with a sax/flute player and percussionist. Cilantro Boombox played a high-energy mix of Latin music, funk, and jazz, that had a large part of the crowd dancing throughout their set. Then came The Point, who have become one of my favorite Austin bands over the past year. The band is a trio made up of guitarist Jack Montesinos, keyboard player Joe Roddy, and drummer Nico Leophonte. Their music is a fun and original blend of reggae, Afro-beat, middle-eastern, psych, and jazz-funk. They recently returned from their first European tour, and on this night were in top form, as evidenced by a large number of dancers and enthusiastic crowd response. This was the largest crowd that I've seen The Point play in front of, and it was great to see this talented young band be discovered by a larger audience. Here are my photos from the show.
C.J. Chenier & the Red Hot Louisiana Band and Antone's 50th Anniversary Allstars with John Primer & the Real Deal Blues Band	07/15/25	Antone's	I was very fortunate to have been able to attend this incredible, historic show at Antone's. The occasion was the 50th anniversary of the club, which opened 50 years ago on this day, on July 15, 1975. To celebrate the occasion, the headlining act was C.J. Chenier & the Red Hot Louisiana Band. C.J. is the son of the legendary King of Zydeco, Clifton Chenier, who played on the club's opening night in 1975. The celebration also included performances by Antone’s 50th Anniversary Allstars, and Chicago's John Primer & the Real Deal Blues Band. The opening set by the 50th Anniversary Allstar Band, which included a number of people who have played at Antone's since it's earliest days, including guitarist Derek O’Brien, piano player and vocalist Marcia Ball, drummer Rodney Craig, and bassists Sarah Brown and Glenn Fukunaga. Other players who are a bit newer but have still played at Antone's for many years included included guitar players Eve Monsees, Johnny Moeller, and Mike Keller, bassist Scott Nelson, drummer Jay Moeller, and vocalists Soul Man Sam and Lindsay Beaver. The band sounded great on a wide range of classic blues, highlighted by a final three songs sung by the great Marcia Ball. Next up was C.J. Chenier and his fine band. C.J. is an outstanding vocalist and accordion player, and his Red Hot Louisiana Band has outstanding players on guitar, bass, drums, and rubboard. They played a fun set of high-energy zydeco tunes, along with a cool version of Bob Marley and the Wailers's "Everything's Gonna Be Alright." The final set of the evening was by John Primer & the Real Deal Blues Band. John Primer is a veteran Chicago blues guitarist, who spent time in the bands of Muddy Waters, Junior Wells, Willie Dixon, and Magic Slim. He and his band sounded great on a set of classic blues including several Muddy Waters' songs. The evening came to a fantastic conclusion when Austin guitarist (and Antone's co-owner) Gary Clark, Jr. came on stage and joined Primer and his band for three jamming blues songs, including a closing "Got My Mojo Working". Antone's was packed for the 50th Anniversary celebration, and I am really glad that I was able to attend this memorable event. Here are an article with videos aboout Antone's 50th Anniversary, and my photos from the show.
Magoo with The Owens Brothers	07/10/25	Sagebrush	a fantastic performance by a new band to me called Magoo at Sagebrush this past Thursday. Magoo is an up-and-coming young jamgrass band from Colorado, and this show was part of their first Texas tour. The band is made up of Erik Hill (guitar & vocals), Dylan Flynn (dobro & vocals), Courtlyn Bills (mandolin & vocals) and Denton Turner (upright bass). The band's members were all impressive instrumentalists, and their singing included three lead vocalists, along with nice vocal harmonies. Magoo played interesting original jammy bluegrass songs, along with some outstanding covers that included "I Know You Rider", "How Mountain Girls Can Love", and String Cheese Incident's "Texas". The band really connected with the audience, particularly when they came down into the crowd for several unplugged encores. They closed with an energetic version of a song made popular by Billy Strings, "Old Slew Foot". Magoo really impressed me, and I expect that they will be playing before much larger crowds in the not too distant future. The opener was The Owens Brothers, an Austin-based band that plays bluegrass with a bit of country and rock. The band is led by brothers Stuart Owens (guitar and vocals) and Cameron Owens (fiddle and vocals), and also includes longtime Austin bass player Dominic Fisher. I first heard them at this year's Old Settlers Music Fest, and I have enjoyed their sets both times that I have seen them. Here are audio and setlist, and my photos from the show.
Drive-By Truckers & Deer Tick with Thelma & the Sleaze	06/01/25	Stubb's BBQ	I attended a tremendous performance by Drive-By Truckers as part of their "Charm & Decadence Tour" at Stubb's BBQ. Drive-By Truckers is a southern rock band from Athens, Georgia. The band is led by its two founding members, Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley who both play lead guitar and alternate on lead vocals. They sounded as good as ever on this night, and played many of their best known songs, including "Hell No, I Ain't Happy", "Let There Be Rock", "Marry Me", and "Grand Canyon". They also made a clearly political statement by playing a rocking version of Bruce Springsteen's "Adam Raised a Cain". There were two opening bands. First up was Thelma & the Sleaze, a three-piece self-proclaimed "lesbian band" from Nashville. They played wild, hard-core southern rock, with plenty of sexual and political references, and were a lot of fun. The second band to play was Deer Tick, a four-piece alternative rock band from Providence, Rhode Island. They played rocking, mostly original songs featuring twin lead guitars, with three of the members taking turns on lead vocals. The best moment was when the band's leader John McCauley came out in front of the stage, and held his guitar out to let a young teen-aged fan (who happened to be an acquaintance of the friends I was with), and gave him a pick and let him strum it while McCauley played during one of the band's songs. I enjoyed all three bands, and Drive-By Truckers remain one of my favorite live bands. Here are Drive-By Truckers setlist, Deer Tick's setlist, a review with photos, and my photos from the show.
Stash and My Nextdoor Neighbor	05/31/25	Inn Cahoots	Later on Saturday, May 31, I attended a show featuring my favorite Austin jam bands, My Nextdoor Neighbor and Stash, at Inn Cahoots. First up was My Nextdoor Neighbor, who played some of their melodic original jam tunes. They closed with a fun cover of Tom Petty's "Runnin' Down a Dream". Stash is mainly a Phish tribute band, and on this night their set included impressive versions of two songs covered by Phish, Allen Toussaint's "Sneakin' Sally Through the Alley", and Pink Floyd's "Comfortably Numb". Here are my photos from the show.
Panoramic Voices and Maru Haru	05/31/25	Downtown Austin Public Library	This was an amazing performance of "To the Strongest" by Panoramic Voices and Maru Haru. Panoramic Voices is an adventurous Austin choral group that strives to create “music without borders”, and my wife Diane happens to be a member. Maru Haru is an Austin-based band "known for sharing vulnerable songs in an orchestral-indie rock style". The show was described as a Pride celebration that explored Asian American and queer identity through new compositions by Maru Haru's lead vocalist and songwiter, James Tabata. The program included also included some new songs written by Panoramic Voices members, as well as some traditional songs. The touching subject matter, combined with the powerful harmonies of the large Panoramic Voices choral group (including a couple of songs with their Youth Choir), along with Maru Haru’s full band, (with strings, keyboard, and percussion) made it an an emotionally fulfilling musical experience. Here are my photos from the show.
Rex Simmons Band with Waterflyy and Fi-lytes	05/30/25	Flamingo Cantina	Later on Friday the 30th, I saw a great show with three interesting bands at Flamingo Cantina. The headliner was the Rex Simmons Band. It was the debut performance of this new band that is led by keyboard player, vocalist, and songwriter Rex Simmons. The band also includes Jimmie Dreams (guitar and vocals), Dmadness (bass), and Connie Beats (drums), who are all stellar musicians. They played mainly original funk rock tunes that at times reminded me of Steely Dan. They closed with guest Jess Ross joining the band to provide lead vocals on Stevie Wonder's "Sir Duke". I really enjoyed the Rex Simmons Band's music, and look forward to their future performances. The first of two opening bands was Waterflyy, an electronic duo made up of Rex Simmons and Meg Sita, who call their style Synthwave. Both played keyboards and added vocals, with Rex playing an analog synthesizer that generated some unique sounds. I enjoyed their original 70's New Wave flavored dance music. The second band to play was Austin funk band The Fi-Lytes. The band led by two talented vocalists, Kells and Xtina Rios, who sang well individually and in harmony. Their set featured a danceable mix of funk, soul, and hip-hop. Here are my photos from the show.
Flounders Without Eyes	05/30/25	Green Mesquite BBQ	A fun early performance by Flounders Without Eyes at Green Mesquite BBQ. Flounders Without Eyes were formed in 1993 and are one of Austin's longest tenured jam bands. At this show they played a mix of originals, Grateful Dead tunes, and other jammy covers. They closed with a medley of "Iko Iko", "I Know You Rider", and "Not Fade Away" that the large crowd really enjoyed. Green Mesquite is a long standing Austin mainstay that has really stepped up their music bookings recently under the new management of Rick Garcia, and it's great to see well-attended shows like this one. Here are my photos from the show.
Superfonicos with The Animeros	05/29/25	Long Center	This was the second concert of this summer's Drop-In series at the Long Center. This week's headliner was Superfonicos, an Austin-based band who play Colombian Funk, or as they like to call it, Caríbe Soul. Their sound based on the Indigenous and African roots of the band's Colombian heritage. There music is highly danceable, and it was a fun set. The opening band was the Animeros, a quartet from Austin, who also play a danceable mix of Latin rock. They describe themselves as a cumbia/chicha/Latin band, but I felt like there sound included elements of surf rock, which I thought was pretty cool. Here are my photos from the show.
SQWERV	05/25/25	Half Step	SQWERV is a four-piece Indie-Jam Band from Denver who blend elements of classic rock, psychedelic music, funk, and jam fusion. They played mainly original jammy tunes, and a nice cover of the Beatles', "I Am the Walrus". It was my first time to see them, I enjoyed the show, and was especially impressed by the playing of their keyboard player. It was my first time to see this band, and I will definitely see them again if I have the opportunity. Here are my photos from the show.
Inner Mounting Flame with Stop Motion Orchestra	05/23/25	Regal Rooms	an outstanding show by The Inner Mounting Flame at Regal Rooms. The Inner Mounting Flame pays tribute to the music of John McLaughlin and The Mahavishnu Orchestra, a jazz fusion band formed in the early 1970's. The band is made up of Keith Laudieri (Drums), Chris Rossbach (Guitars), Phil Davidson (Violin), Lee Braverman (Bass), and Rex Simmons (Keys). All of the band members were impressive, and it was an excellent performance of some very complex, yet interesting music. The opening act, Stop Motion Orchestra was quite entertaining as well. They are a progressive rock quintet from Austin that included sax, violin, and bassoon (the first time I can recall seeing a bassoon in a non-classical setting). Their music reminded me of some of Frank Zappas's jazzier work, and I really enjoyed their set. Here are my photos from the show.
Brownout	05/22/25	Long Center	This was the first show in the Long Center's outdoor summer concert series, the Drop-In, which is held on the lawn outside of the main venue. This show featured Brownout, an Austin-based Latin-funk band. The band was originally formed as a side project of the members of Grupo Fantasma, and they always put on a great, funky show. At the Drop-in, they were killing it as usual, but unfortunately some lightning appeared in the distance, and the venue was forced to stop the show after only one hour of the planned two hour set. That was unfortunate, but I was still glad to have seen Brownout play for a while. Here are my photos from the show.
Spud Boy Allstars	05/17/25	Rancho Relaxo (Dale, TX)	A very special night of music at Rancho Relaxo featuring Spud Boy All-Stars. Spud Boy All-Stars play the music of the Jerry Garcia Band, and they feature some of Austin's best musicians. The evening was part of the last weekend of music curated by the venue's long-time organizer, and it happened to be his birthday week as well. Spud Boy sounded great on many well-known Jerry Garcia Band songs. They also played a few lesser known gems, including a first time performance of "I'll Be With Thee", which gave the band's two female vocalists, Jenna Watters and Erin Thunderheart Stein, a chance to really shine. After Spud Boy finished, there was a late-night set by Wook Wizard (Mark Dennison), who played some nice covers and a few originals, assisted by a guest percussionist and on a few songs by Jenna and Erin. Every event at Rancho is special, and this one was particularly memorable. Here are my photos from the show.
HeartByrne	05/16/25	Radio / East	On Friday, May 16, my family and I went to Radio/East, where we enjoyed a fantastic show by HeartByrne, playing the music of Talking Heads. This was a particularly special day, because it happened to be David Byrne's birthday. Darin Murphy does a great job on David Byrne's lead vocals and rhythm guitar, and Erin Thunder Heart Stein provides excellent backing vocals and endless energy. Josh Pearson on guitar and Dustin Bozarth on keyboards played their usual impressive jammy leads, and the rhythm section of Evan Bozarth (bass), Casey Byars (drums), and Grego Loboz (percussion) provided killer multi-layered beats. A large crowd was in attendance, and I think that everyone there felt like they had witnessed another night of great music played by an awesome band. Here are my photos from the show.
Sentimental Family Band, Seth James, and Jimmie Dreams & Friends	05/15/25	Sam's Town Point	On Thursday the 12th, my out-of-town guests and I went to Sam's Town Point to see three bands: The Sentimental Family Band, Seth James, and Jimmie Dreams & Friends. The Sentimental Family Band played two-stepping country covers mixed with originals. Seth James has a large band with two horns, keyboards, and a female backup vocalist. They played a blend of country, rock, and R&B that sounded a lot like Delbert McClinton (in fact, they covered a couple of his songs during their set). Jimmie Dreams and Friends was up next. I've been a fan of Jimmie Dreams for a while, and he and his band played their usual mix of New Orleans R&B, country, blues, rock, and funk. All three bands were impressive, and they reminded me once again of the breadth of musical talent playing in Austin every night. Here are my photos from the show.
Theo Lawrence	05/14/25	Sagebrush	After the show ended on Wednesday at the Far Out Lounge, my guests and I headed up the road to The Sagebrush, where I caught the end of a set by Theo Lawrence. Theo Lawrence is a country crooner, originally from France, with a beautiful voice. He played original Texas-style country music, and he had some fine backing musicians. The dance floor was full of some of the best two-stepping dancers that I have seen. The Sagebrush is a classic country dance-hall, and the Theo Lawrence show was a nice stop for my out-of-town guests. Here are my photos from the show.
Henry Invisisble	05/14/25	Far Out Lounge	On Wednesday the 11th, my guests and I attended the weekly residency of Henry Invisible at Far Out Lounge. Henry Invisible (Henry Roland) is an amazing multi-instrumentalist who live-loops and layers vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards, and percussion to create original, high-energy dance music. He had the whole crowd in a conga line at one point, and later played in a space alien costume. Henry is a unique talent, and his shows are fun and highly recommended. Here are my photos from the show.
The Mellows	05/12/25	Continental Club	My second stop on Monday night was at the Continental Club for The Mellows. The Mellows, originally from Southern California, are led by brothers Colton and Zane Turner. They played a mix of Everly Brothers-sounding roots rock and rockabilly, along with some two-stepping country music. There were a number of swing dancers on the floor, and it was a nice way to close out the night. Here are my photos from the show.
Lonelyland	05/12/25	Saxon Pub	Lonelyland is a weekly residency is led by Bob Schneider, and he is always backed by a talented band. For this week, band members included Bruce Hughes on bass; amazing multi-instrumentalist Danny Levin on keyboards, violin, and cello; Kevin McKinney on guitar; and a drummer (Kyle Townsend?). They played a mix of music that included rap, country, funk, Cajun, and rock. As always, Schneider joked around with the audience and his band members throughout the show, and it was a highly entertaining evening. Here are my photos from the show.
The War & Treaty	05/10/25	Antone's	An impressive, energetic show at Antone's featuring The War and Treaty. The War and Treaty is a band led by husband and wife duo Michael Trotter Jr. and Tanya Trotter. Both Michael and Tanya are large people (although not quite as large as they used to be based on their Ozempic commercials) with equally large voices and personalities. Michael plays keyboards, and he and Tanya are backed by a talented band that includes two guitarists, a mandolin/banjo player, a second keyboardist, a bassist, and drummer. They played a blend of slow ballads, funky and dynamic R&B, and soulful gospel and country. Michael and Tanya sing everything with passion, and their voices mesh beautifully. Throughout the show, they demonstrated their love of one another, and they constantly preached love to the audience. They both went out to the audience during their set and hugged many of the patrons, and the audience showed their love to the band in return. It was a great night of music at Antone's, and as more people learn about this band, I expect to see the War and Treaty playing larger venues in the future. Here are my photos from the show.
Tedeschi Trucks Band with Buddy Guy	05/08/25	Moody Amphitheater	My first show after returning from Jazz Fest was the Tedeschi-Trucks Band with special guest Buddy Guy at Moody Amphitheater on Thursday, May 8. First up was Buddy Guy. Buddy is an all-time blues guitar legend, and at 88, he is still an outstanding guitar player and entertainer. He and his band played some classic blues covers, and some of Buddy's originals in a nice opening set. Then came the headliners, Tedeschi-Trucks band, led by wife and husband Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks. Susan is a fantastic blues vocalist and a talented guitar player, while Derek is one of the my favorite slide guitar players ever. They front a large band that includes bass, keyboards, three horns, two drummers, and several back-up vocalists. They played some of their originals blues rock songs and some cool covers, including "Let the Good Times Roll", "Angel From Montgomery", "Sugaree", and "Beck's Bolero". It was a fine night of music, and my only slight disappointment is that I would have liked to have seen Buddy Guy jam with Tedeschi-Trucks on a song or two. Here are the setlist and my photos from the show.
Papa Mali's Birthday Bash: Papa Mali, Wally Ingram and Guests present the music of David Lindley	05/4/25	Chickie Wah Wah New Orleans	My final show of Jazz Fest Week 2025 in New Orleans was Papa Mali's Birthday Bash at Chickie Wah Wah on Sunday night. The show was Papa Mali's third annual tribute to David Lindley, and was co-hosted by Lindley's long-time friend and percussionist, Wally Ingram. I have been a fan of Papa Mali going back to his days in Austin in the 1980's when he played with the reggae band, The Killer Bees. I've been a fan of David Lindley, who was a master of the slide guitar and almost any other stringed instrument, for just about as long. To pay tribute, Papa Mali recruited a number of slide guitar experts, along with players of other interesting stringed instruments, to recreate many of Lindley's best known songs. The house band for the night was made up of Papa Mali (guitar and vocals), Casandra Faulconer (bass), and Wally Ingram (drums and percussion). Guest performers included Liza Oxnard (vocals), Dave Easley (lap steel), Ben Peeler of The Wallflowers (lap steel), Jacob Tanner (lap steel), Mahmoud Chouki (Cigarbox oud), Ed Williams of the Revivalists (slide steel guitar), Rurik Nunan (fiddle), Alvin Youngblood Hart (slide guitar), Kota Kato (lap steel, bouzouki), Lorenzo Piccone (bouzouki, lap steel), and Christine Perri (vocals). The set included a number of songs from Lindley's days playing slide guitar in Jackson Browne's band, including "Redneck Friend", "These Days", "For a Dancer", and "Running on Empty". There were also songs that Lindley played with his band El Rayo X, including "Spodie", "Quarter of a Man", "Brother John", and "Tiki Torches at Twilight". And, since Lindley was a big fan of Warren Zevon, they played his song, "Monkey Wash, Donkey Rinse", which was given a hilarious introduction by Papa Mali and Wally Ingram. They also a few other miscellaneous covers that Lindley played frequently, including Bonnie Raitt's "Leave Home Girl", J.J. Cale's "Cocaine", and a traditional version of "Minglewood Blues". It was a fantastic last night of Jazz Fest show, and a great way to end my week at Jazz Fest. Here are YouTube videos of the evening , posted by Krysia Lamore (http://www.youtube.com/@krysialmr), and my photos from the show.
Fiyapowa! featuring members of Galactic and Dumpstaphunk	05/3/25	Tipitina's, New Orleans	Late on Saturday night (technically Sunday morning) of Jazz Fest, I saw a fantastic show at Tipitina's billed as Fiyapowa!. The show featured members of Dumpstaphunk (Ivan Neville (keys), Tony Hall (bass), Ian Neville (guitar), Ari Teitel (guitar), Deven Trusclair (drums), Alex Wasily (trombone), Ashlin Parker (trumpet)) and Galactic (Stanton Moore (drums) and Rob Mercurio (bass)), along with Brad Walker on saxophone. The combined players sounded great on their first few songs, and the night's excitement rose to another level with the surprise appearance of Grammy-winning blues guitar wizard, Christone "Kingfish" Ingram. Kingfish joined the band for killer versions of The Temptations' "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone" and Buddy Miles' "Them Changes". It was particularly cool to see Kingfish trade off licks with Dumpstaphunk's young guitar player Ari Teitel. After Kingfish left, the band finished with jammy versions of Neil Young's "Down by the River", The Meters' "Doodle Loop", and The Allman Brothers Band's "Dreams". Seeing an amazing show like this at Tipitina's is what Jazz Fest week is all about. Here are the setlist and my photos from the show.
Joe Russo's Almost Dead	05/2-3/25	Fillmore New Orleans	On Friday and Saturday nights of Jazz Fest weekend, my friends and I attended two nights of Joe Russo's Almost Dead at The Fillmore in New Orleans. When I look at the setlists for the two nights, they both looked like they should have been great shows. Perhaps it was just me, but somehow Friday night's show seemed to lack energy, while Saturday's show was absolute fire. Friday did include a number of Dead favorites including "Loser", "Cassidy", "Help on the Way > Slipknot", "Cumberland Blues", "Jack Straw", and "Sugaree", and some cool covers, including "I Second That Emotion", "Maggie's Farm", and "Pigs (Three Different Ones)". But somehow, Saturday's mix of Dead songs that included "Women Are Smarter", "Deal", "Bertha", "Estimated Prophet", "The Music Never Stopped", "St. Stephen", and "Fire On The Mountain" seemed tighter and more passionate. And their cover of ZZ Top's "Waiting For The Bus > Jesus Just Left Chicago" blew me away. Saturday night closed with "One More Saturday Night", which can sometimes seem like an afterthought, but on this night was one of the best versions that I've ever heard. It may also have been the happy people around me dancing and blowing bubbles, or maybe it was really a special evening of music, but whatever the reason, the fantastic Saturday night performance made me glad that I attended these shows. Here are the Day 1 audio, download, and setlist, the Day 2 audio, download, and setlist, and my photos from the shows.
A Dream We Dreamed: Phil Lesh Tribute	05/1/25	Joy Theater, New Orleans	On Thursday night of Jazz Fest week, I attended A Dream We Dreamed: A New Orleans Tribute to Phil Lesh, at the Joy Theater. The show featured an all-star lineup that included Vinnie Amico (moe. drums), Duane Betts (Allman-Betts guitar), Nicki Bluhm (Phil Lesh and Friends vocals), Rob Derhak (moe. bass), Jennifer Hartswick (Trey Anastasio Band vocals), Tony Hall (Dumpstaphunk bass), Eric Krasno (Phil Lesh & Friends guitar), Ross James (Phil Lesh & Terrapin Family Band guitar), Jay Lane (Ratdog, Further, Dead & Co drums), Aaron Magner (Disco Biscuits keyboards), Ivan Neville (Dumpstaphunk keyboards), George Porter Jr. (The Meters bass), Karina Rykman (Marco Benevento bass), and Al Schneir (moe. guitar). They played many of the songs that Phil played with the Dead and during his solo projects including "Scarlet/Fire", "The Music Never Stopped", "Shakedown Street", "They Love Each Other", and "Eyes of the World". I especially liked the closing sequence of "Sugaree", "Cassidy", and "Deal". The night ended with a group sing-along of "Brokedown Palace". Throughout the evening, photos of Phil were projected on the walls, and a number of Phil stories were told by the performers, which made it a very special night. Here are a review with photos, videos, and setlist and my photos from the show.
New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival	05/1-4/25	New Orleans Fairgrounds Race Course	I attended all four days of New Orleans Jazz Fest this year, and had a fantastic time. Here is a summary of each day and a link to my photos: - Day 1 (Thursday): The weather was nice and the fairgrounds were not too crowded. My personal favorites were John "Papa" Gros who was joined by his long-time Papa Gros Funk guitar player, June Yamagishi; Dragon Smoke; and Anders Osborne, who welcomed guitar wizard Eric McFadden for most of his set. There was plenty of other good music including blues, zydeco, gospel, jazz, and funk, an appearance by Carlos Santana, and of course great food and overall atmosphere. Here are my day 1 photos. - Day 2 (Friday): Day Two was a bit more crowded than Thursday, but not too bad. Many of my highlights of the day came at the Congo Square Stage, including performances by two world music groups, Wesli of Haiti/Canada and BIM (Benin International Musical). My favorite set there was by Terrence Simien and the Zydeco Experience. Terrence played some great zydeco and New Orleans R&B tunes, backed by his fine band which included his daughter Marcella on rubboard and backup vocals. Terrence is an awesome vocalist, and he entertained the crowd by throwing out Mardi Gras beads throughout his set. Also at Congo Square were Big Sam's Funky Nation and a jamming reggae set by The Wailers featuring Julian Marley. Other favorites during the day included The Deslondes, Marc Broussard, the Tanglers Bluegrass Band, and 007 25th Reunion (a New Orleans rocksteady band). I was also able to see a bit of the Gospel Soul of Irma Thomas at the Gospel Tent, although it was too packed to get very close. I also enjoyed a bunch of fun Cajun and zydeco music at the Fais Do-Do Stage including BeauSoleil avec Michael Doucet. The stage closed with a big celebration of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Clifton Chenier. The stars who participated included C.J. Chenier (Clifton's son), Marcia Ball, Curley Taylor, Roddie Romero, and David Hidalgo and Steve Berlin of Los Lobos. I ended the fun day at the Gentilly Stage with the last few songs by Joan Jett and The Blackhearts, who closed things out with a rocking version of "Bad Reputation". Here are my day 2 photos. - Day 3 (Saturday): Day 3 was the hottest and most crowded. I think that crowd size was in large part due to the main Festival Stage closer being Pearl Jam. As a result, I didn't get around quite as much, and I was not able to get close to the main stage for photos. Still, it was a fun time with plenty of good music. Some of my highlights included The Joe Krown Trio +1 featuring Papa Mali, Samantha Fish, Dumpstaphunk, New Orleans Klezmer AllStars, and Margo Price. I'm not a big Pearl Jam fan, but I did catch the end of their set. Their fans seemed to love their performances of their original songs, but my highlights were their two closing cover songs, The Who's "Baba O'Riley (Teenage Wasteland)" and Neil Young's "Rockin' in the Free World". On our way back to our car, we saw a local band called Beach Face playing in front of their house on what they called the "D'Abadie Stage", which was a fun way to end the afternoon. Here are my day 3 photos. - Day 4 (Sunday): On Day 4, The Fairgrounds were pretty crowded, but it was not quite as bad as it was on Saturday. To avoid the worst of the crush, I skipped the large Festival Stage for the final two acts, Lenny Kravitz and Trombone Shorty. I'm sure they were both excellent, but there was plenty of other great bands to see. My biggest challenge on Sunday was overlap between artists whom I really wanted to see, including three great New Orleans Funk bands: Zigaboo Modeliste's Funk Review, Galactic featuring Jelly Joseph, and George Porter, Jr. and Runnin' Partners. I did manage to catch a good portion of each of their sets, and loved every minute of it. My other highlight of the day was The Radiators at the Gentilly Stage. Although I had seen their evening show earlier in the week, I wasn't going to miss another chance to see one of my all-time favorite bands. As usual, I also caught a bunch of Louisiana Zydeco and Cajun acts, including Zachary Richard, Bonsoir Catin, Geno Delafose & French Rockin' Boogie, Jordan Thibodeaux et Les Rodailleurs. During the final time slot of the day, I split my time between bands at three stages. The first was My Morning Jacket, who opened with Fats Domino's "Walking To New Orleans," and then played a bunch of their unique original tunes. Next up was Christone "Kingfish" Ingram, who played some fantastic blues and thrilled the crowd by playing in the the audience towards the end of his set. My final stop was at the Fais Do-Do Stage for Marty Stuart and his Fabulous Superlatives. Dressed as always in their colorful rhinestone-studded suits, they played songs that mixed bluegrass, country, and surf-rock. They closed their set with their aptly named psychedelic song, "Space", during which Stuart played an electric sitar. The set was fittingly eclectic, and it was a perfect way to end this year's Jazz Fest. Here are my day 4 photos.
The Radiators	04/30/25	Civic Theater, New Orleans	My late night show on Wednesday of Jazz Fest week, after Daze Between, was The Radiators at The Civic Theater. The Radiators are a funky swamp-rock band from New Orleans, and they have been one of my favorite bands since I first discovered them in the 1980's. The band was formed in 1978, and amazingly still includes all five original members: Ed Volker (keyboards, vocals), Dave Malone (guitar, vocals), Camile Baudoin (guitar), Reggie Scanlan (bass guitar), and Frank Bua (drums). The band stopped touring in 2011, and now only performs at once-a-year reunion shows in January at Tipitina's, and intermittent appearances at Jazz Fest. As a result, it's been many years since I have seen the full band play together, so I was really looking forward to this show. Fortunately, the band sounds as great as ever, and they played a number of my favorite original songs including "Wild & Free", "Let the Red Wine Flow", and "#2 Pencil". As always, they also played a fun mix of eclectic covers including The Rolling Stone's "Country Honk" and "Let it Bleed", Bonnie Dobson's song (often covered by the Grateful Dead) "Morning Dew", and Creedence's "Green River". They closed with a couple of classic blues songs, "Key to the Highway" and "Got My Mojo Workin' ". There show was attended by a large crowd of dedicated Radiator's fans (a.k.a. Fishheads), and I was really glad to have been able to attend. Here are the setlist, videos, and my photos from the show.
Dragon Smoke	04/29/25	Tipitinas, New Orleans	After leaving the Daze Between show on Tuesday of Jazz Fest, I headed over to Tipitina's for a funky late night show featuring Dragon Smoke. Dragon Smoke is an all-star New Orleans band that only plays a few shows a year. The band is made up of keyboardist Ivan Neville of Dumpstaphunk, drummer Stanton Moore & bassist Rob Mercurio of Galactic, and Louisiana blues guitarist Eric Lindell. They played a wide range of funky New Orleans tunes as well as cool covers of "Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out", "The Joker", "Free Fallin". Towards the end of the evening, they were joined by Dumpstaphunk's Tony Hall on "Sitting in Limbo" and "Hard to Handle". Here are the setlist and my photos from the show.
Daze Between New Orleans	04/29-30/25	Mahalia Jackson Theater, New Orleans	Daze Between was a two night event at the Mahalia Jackson Theater in New Orleans. The first night featured moe. and Umphree's McGee. Up first was moe., one of my favorite jam bands. They were joined on a number of songs by the Dumpstaphunk Horns of Ashlin Parker on trumpet, Brad Walker on tenor saxophoone, Alex Wasily on trombone. In addition to some great original songs, they played some excellent covers including Little Feat's "Spanish Moon", The Band's "Ophelia", and Bobby Blue Bland's "Turn on Your Love Light". Up next was Umphree's McGee, whom I had seen two night's earlier in Austin. I caught their first set, in which they were joined by saxophonist Jeff Coffin (Dave Matthews Band) and trumpeter/vocalist Jennifer Hartswick (Trey Anastasio Band) on a number of their jammy original songs. Their first set ended with "Electric Avenue to Hell", a cool mashup of Eddy Grant's "Electric Avenue" and AC/DC's "Highway to Hell", featuring Jennifer on vocals. Unfortunately, I couldn't stay for their second set, which featured drummer Jason Bonham for a Led Zeppelin tribute, because I had plans to attend another show later that night. Here are a review with photos, audio, video, and setlists and my photos from Day 1. The second day of Daze Between at the Mahalia Jackson Theater opened with The Headhunters, a jazz fusion band originally led by Herbie Hancock. The band was led by two original members, Mike Clark (drums) and Bill Summers (percussion), and also included killer guitar player Eric Krasno and four of New Orleans' best musicians, Donald Harrison on saxophone, Kyle Roussel on keyboards,Chris Severinon bass, and Weedie Braimah on djembe (African drums). They played a super tight jazzy set that was quite impressive. Next up was GeoLeo, featuring George Porter Jr. (bass and vocals) and Leo Nocentelli (guitar and vocals) of The Meters, with Ivan Neville of Dumpstaphunk (keys and vocals) and Stanton Moore of Galactic (drums). It's been many years since I've seen George and Leo playing together, and along with Ivan and Stanton, they played some of the best versions of songs from The Meters' catalog that I can recall. The final show of the evening was an Allman Brothers Band tribute, which was billed as the The Allman-Betts New Orleans Family Revival. The show featured the Allman-Betts Band, which is led by Duane Betts (son of Dickie Betts) and Devon Allman (son of Gregg Allman), along with Berry Duane Oakley (son of Berry Oakley). The Allman-Betts Band started off with some of their original songs, and then were joined by a slew of talented players on Allman Brothers' classics. The guests included Anders Osborne (guitar and vocals), G. Love (harmonica and vocals), George Porter Jr. (bass and vocals), Ivan Neville (keys and vocals), Eric Krasno (guitar), Jennifer Hartswick (vocals), Sierra Green (vocals), Shaun Berry Oakley (Berry Duane's son, on bass), and The Dirty Dozen Brass Band Horns. The were many highlights, but the best moment for me was Eric Krasno's awesome lead guitar on a fantastic version of "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed". Here are a review with photos and videos, the GeoLeo setlist, the Allman Family Revival audio, download, and setlist, and my photos from Day 2.
Mike & the BurnAlls	04/27/25	C-Boy's Heart & Soul	A fun after-show at C-Boy's featuring Mike & the BurnAlls. They are an Austin band led by drummer Mike Bernal who play a mix of rock and roll, Americana, funk, and rhythm and blues. They played a bunch of fun covers including Little Feat's "Spanish Moon" and ZZ Top's "Thunderbird". It was my first time to see them, and I came away thinking that this is another talented but unheralded Austin band that more people should see. Here are my photos from the show.
Umphrey's McGee	04/27/25	Stubb's	An outstanding show by Umphree's McGee at Stubb's. Umphree's McGee is a jam band from Indiana who mix up all kind of musical styles. Some of their shows are a bit too heavy on the metal side for me, but this one wasn't like that. They mainly played original tunes, but did throw in a fun version of Tenacious D's "Kielbasa", with vocals provide by crazy TikTok comedian Andy Arthur Smith. They also closed with a surprisingly authentic version of Willie Nelson's "Whiskey River". Umphree's always has one of the best light shows in the business, so that along with some great jams made it a highly entertaining evening of music for me. Stream and see the setlist here Here are audio and setlist, and my photos from the show.
Old Settlers Music Festival	04/26/25	Tilman, TX	This year, I was only able to attend one day of Old Settlers Music Festival. If I could have, I would have loved to have attended all four days, because the lineup was stellar each day. In any case, I had a great time hanging out with friends and listening to a bunch of excellent music. My favorite was Yonder Mountain String Band, who are one of the best jamgrass bands around. Another favorite was the closer, The Devil Makes Three, who mix old-time traditional music with bluegrass and Americana. My top new discovery was the Owens Brothers, a young bluegrass band from Austin. Other bands that I saw included Shred Lasso (bluegrass with a humorous Ted Lasso flavor), Jack Barksdale (a 17 year-old singer/songwriter), Tom O'Brien Band (a bluegrass veteran whose band included Sam Grisman, son of bluegrass legend David Grisman, on bass), and Heartless Bastards (an Austin rock band who were much jammier than I remember). The venue has new owners and has downsized a bit with smaller stages surrounded by trees adjacent to the camping areas. I enjoyed the new setup, and with any luck will be able to attend more days next year. Here are my photos from the festival.
My Nextdoor Neighbor	04/19/25	ABGB	After attending the Green Acres Hopfest during the day, I made it over to the ABGB (Austin Beer Garden Brewing Co.) for My Nextdoor Neighbor's album release party. The event celebrated the release of the band's debut album, "Everyone’s Dumb". My Nextdoor Neighbor is one of Austin's best local jam bands who play primarily original music. The band is a quartet that includes John Leipheimer (guitar, vocals), Paul Loiodice (guitar, keys, vocals), Jenn Boyer (bass, vocals), and Joe Ponder (drums, vocals). As always, they played interesting original tunes with long, highly musical jams, and outstanding musicianship. A good time was had by all in attendance, and I encourage everyone to check out their new album and to support original jam music in Austin. Here are my photos from the show.
	04/19/25	Jester King Brewery	The Green Acres Hopfest and Springtime Art Market was a fun outdoor event that featured four outstanding Austin bands at Jester King Brewery, which is located between Austin and Dripping Springs. Three of them were tribute bands, the first being Mostly Dead Music, a Grateful Dead tribute band. It was my first time to see Mostly Dead, and I was told that they had a somewhat new lineup. The band included four members of Stash (the second band to play). This included Earl Jones on keyboards, Isaac Garcia on drums, and guitar and bass players who were new to me. In Mostly Dead, the quartet was supplemented by a second guitar player, a second drummer, and a female vocalist/keyboard player. I was quite impressed by their jamming covers of a number of my favorite Grateful Dead songs. The second band to play was Stash, a Phish cover band. I have to admit that I am not a big Phish fan, so I was not familiar with many of the songs that they played. But I thought they sounded great, with impressive lead guitar and keyboards, and solid players on drums and bass. All of the band members contributed to the vocals. In fact, I actually enjoyed them more than some Phish recordings that I've heard, but that's just me. Next up was Spud Boy Allstars, a Jerry Garcia Band tribute. They are one of my favorite Austin bands, and their members include great players from other excellent Austin bands including DeadEye, HeartByrne, and the Watters. As usual, they did a fantastic job playing Jerry Garcia Band favorites, with outstanding guitar and lead vocals by Joe Faulhaber, fine keyboards by Trever Nealon, sweet back-up vocals by Jenna Watters and Erin Stein, and solid rhythms by Bobby Perkins on bass and Keith Laudieri on drums. The last set that I saw was Jimmie Dreams and Friends, another band that I love and have seen perform several times in the last few months. They are a trio led by Jimmie Dreams on guitar and vocals, Bobby Perkins on bass, and Robb Kidd on drums Although not a tribute band like the others, they did a great job covering a wide range of blues, soul, and funk tunes, including a number of songs by New Orleans legends The Meters and Allen Toussaint. In keeping with the jam band theme of the day, they even performed a Grateful Dead song, "Friend of the Devil". There was one band that I was not familiar with called The Dead Canyon Family Reunion who were scheduled to play later, but unfortunately I had to leave to attend another show. Overall, it was a great event, with outstanding music, excellent beer, a good food selection, and a large number of interesting art booths. There were some logistical hiccups including major delays with food delivery and long beer lines, but I am glad that I was able to attend. If they have a similar musical lineup next year, I'd love to come back. Here are my photos from the show.
Gator Gar	04/15/25	Continental Club Gallery	A high quality performance by Gator Gar at the Continental Club Gallery. Gator Gar is a trio made up of Jan Flemming (B3 organ), Willie Pipkin (electric guitar), and Jason Corbiere (drums). They played a mix of jazz, soul, blues, and funk, including killer versions of Willie Dixon's "Spoonful" and Booker T. & the M.G.'s' "Green Onions". All three players are really talented on their instruments. It was a fine night of music, but sadly there were just a handful of people in attendance. With so much good music going on in Austin on any given night, it is understandable, but this band deserves to be heard by more people, so hopefully that will be the case at future shows. Here are my photos from the show.
The Gourds	04/13/25	Sam's Town Point	I was fortunate enough to be able to attend a memorable sold-out reunion show by The Gourds at Sam's Town Point. The Gourds are an Austin-based alt country band who were active from 1994 until 2013. They had a unique sound that blended elements of country, bluegrass, rock, and gospel in a way that didn't sound like any other band. The Gourds had an extremely dedicated fan base that loved their their high-energy live performances, quirky songs, and unique musical style. Last December, the band announced a "One Night Only!" show on Saturday, April 12, and tickets sold out almost immediately. Shortly thereafter, they added a second show for the following afternoon, and I was able to jump in and acquire a ticket. These shows were their first full-band reunion since their "hiatus" in 2013, and their rabid fans traveled from around the nation to attend. The band is lead by Kevin Russell (electric and acoustic guitar, mandolin) and Jimmy Smith (bass), who alternated on lead vocals. Claude Bernard (accordion, keyboards, acoustic guitar) and Max Johnston (acoustic guitar, banjo, fiddle, mandolin) provided many of the instrumental solos, contributed back-up vocals, and each had a chance to sing lead on at least one song. Keith Langford is the band's drummer. The band played two long sets that lasted 3 1/2 hours, with a 30 minute break. The sets included many of their most popular songs, and crowd members sang along enthusiastically on just about every one. Of course, they closed with the crowd's favorite, their cover of Snoop Dog's "Gin and Juice". The band seemed to have a great time, as did the entire crowd, and I think that everyone hopes another reunion show happens in far fewer than 12 years. Here are Apr. 12 video, Apr. 13 audio, download, and setlist, and my photos from the show.
Eminence Ensemble	04/12/25	Rancho Moonrise	An outstanding night of music at the "Cosmic Dip Full Moon Party" at Rancho Moonrise, featuring the band Eminence Ensemble. Rancho Moonrise (not to be confused with Rancho Relaxo in Dale, TX) is a new venue just outside of Bastrop. It is a ranch-like setting that offers glamping in small cabins and Safari tents. They also have a swimming pool, food, drink, tarot, yoga, and other activities. The music took place under a small band shell outside of the pool, and the sound and lighting were quite good. The crowd was a comfortable size of maybe 100 people, with the majority of the attendees being members of the Austin Jamily who had seen Eminence play at Rancho Relaxo a number of times in recent years. Hanging out with many of my friends in a cool environment under a bright full moon made it a really fun evening. Hopefully, this venue will be booking other interesting bands in the future. The afternoon started with a nice poolside set by Austin's Mark Dennison, who performs under the name of Wook Wizard. He sang and played electric guitar, backed by some electronic loops and pre-recorded tracks. He sounded great, and it was a nice and relaxing way to kick off the day. Eminence Ensemble is a progressive jam band from Colorado that is made up of Nick Baum (vocals, percussion), Dylan Gleit (guitar, vocals) & Justin Neely (guitar, vocals), Wil Snyder (keyboard, synth), Zac Flynn (bass), and Tanner Bardin (drums). In previous shows that I've seen, they did a great job in performing covers across a wide range of genres, but for this show they mainly played original material. Their original sound blends elements of jam, rock, funk, electronica, and soul. They did play a few fun covers, including The Kinks' "Sunny Afternoon", the Bee Gees' "Stayin' Alive", and The Police's "Walking on the Moon". Their conga player Baum is a strong singer who provided most of the lead vocals, assisted by guitarists Gleit and Neely. Both Gleit and Neely are excellent guitar players who traded off on some killer lead licks. Snyder added some cool keyboard solos as well, and Flynn and Bardin provided solid rhythms on bass and drums. Eminence is a really outstanding band, whose music is original, joyful, and eclectic. As I mentioned to several people on Saturday, I don't understand why this band is not headlining shows in much larger venues. They deserve that level of success, and I hope that it happens for them in the not too distant future. Here are my photos from the show.
DakhaBrakha	04/11/25	Hogg Auditorium	A very cool show by the band DakhaBrakha at Hogg Auditorium at UT tonight. Dakhabrakha is a four-piece band from Kyiv, Ukraine. They blend traditional Ukrainian folk music with experimental and world-music influenced sounds to create what they call Ukranian "ethno soul". They did amazing things both vocally and instrumentally, and also had incredibly inventive original animated videos accompanying the music. There were many Ukrainians in the audience, and there was great deal of support for the Ukrainian cause, including the auctioning off of two original paintings by the band's artist for over $2000 each. I didn't take any photos or videos, but the following links can give you a feel for what the experience was like: "Vynnaya Ya" at Alambari, Palace of Sports, Kyiv and "Carpathian Rap".
Sturgill Simpson	04/07/25	Stubb's BBQ	A fantastic performance by Sturgill Simpson at Stubb's BBQ. The show was part of his "Who The Fuck Is Johnny Blue Skies?" tour, and was a surprise pop-up show after a scheduled slot in Georgetown the day before. I was lucky to be able to attend, thanks to friends who heard about a pre-sale for the show before it quickly sold out. Sturgill put on an impressive night of music, playing 38 songs over three-and-a-half-hours without taking a single break (no set breaks, water/bathroom breaks, or even an encore break). The show covered the entirety of Simpson's career, beginning with "You Can Have the Crown", a song off of his debut album that he hadn't played in over ten years. The set also included a number of songs from his most recent album from 2024, "Passage du Desir", which was recorded under his new stage name of Johnny Blue Skies. A cool selection of covers filled out the set, including The Allman Brothers Band’s “Midnight Rider,” Procol Harum’s “A Whiter Shade of Pale,” Neil Diamond’s “Red Red Wine,” The Doors’ “L.A. Woman,” William Bell’s “You Don’t Miss Your Water,” Moore & Napier’s “Long White Line,” Lefty Frizzell’s “I Never Go Around Mirrors,” and Prince’s “Purple Rain.” A couple of other interesting covers included Eddie Murphy’s 1985 synth bop “Party All the Time” and Texas troubadour Steve Fromholtz's "I'd Have to be Crazy". The songs covered an amazingly wide range of styles, from classic rock to country ballads to heavy metal to long psychedelic jams. His excellent band included guitarist Laur Joamets, Kevin Black on bass, Miles Miller on drums, and keyboardist/saxaphonist Robbie Crowell. Joamets was the instrumental star on guitar, playing killer leads across a wide range of genres throughout the show. Keyboardist Crowell also played some surprisingly good saxophone solos in addition to his solid keyboard playing. Ultimately, it was Sturgill's unmistakable voice, often compared to Waylon Jennings', along with his willingness to perform such a wide range of material, that made this a highly memorable night. Here are the setlist and my photos from the show.
Antibalas with DJ Chorizo Funk	04/06/25	Sahara Lounge	A fantastic performance by Antibalas at Sahara Lounge. Antibalas is an afrobeat band from Brooklyn founded in 1998. Their main inspiration was Fela Kuti, and they do a great job of playing similar, but original, horn-driven, rhythmic afrobeat music. I first saw Antibalas (then billed as the Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra) at ACL Festival in 2004. I have been a big fan ever since, but it has been quite a while since they have played in Austin. The band's founder, Martin Perna, is the only original member, but they continue to have some of the best players around. The band currently includes 4 horns, 3 percussionists, 2 guitars, keyboards, and bass. I was particularly impressed by the tight horn section, and the keyboard player also performed some really cool solos. The band was joined on a few songs by Austin-based tenor sax player Joseph Woullard, who was a member of the band from 2015–2018. The show was fire from start to finish, and I hope that Antibalas is able to play again in Austin before very long. Here are my photos from the show.
DeadEye	03/29/25	Antone's	A week ago on Saturday I enjoyed another killer evening of Grateful Dead music by DeadEye, at Antone's . Although the date of the concert was March 29, the setlist seemed to have a bit of an April Fools feel to me, because many songs were played out of their normal set placements in a Dead concert. For example: - The opening song was "Scarlet Begonias". According to one source, the Dead only opened with "Scarlet Begonias" one time, on 4/15/88,at Rosemont Horizon. In fact, it was only played in the first set eight times by the Dead. - "Scarlet Begonias" segued into "Hell in a Bucket", instead of the traditional "Fire on the Mountain". This was only played twice in this sequence, on 3/22/85 at Hampton and on 6/21/89 at Mountain View. However, "Hell in a Bucket" into "Scarlet" was played at least five time in the 80's and '90s. - "Morning Dew" as a first set closer. I couldn't find any statistics on this, but "Morning Dew" was mainly a second set song in later years of the Dead, often following "Drums". However, in earlier days, prior to 1974, they did play it in various spots in the first set. - "Dancing in the Street" as a second set opener. "Dancing in the Street" was usually played in the first set, often as a set one opener or closer. - "One More Saturday Night > "Shakedown Street" ending the second set. "One More Saturday Night" was usually a played as a set two closer or as an encore. It was not common for it to be followed by another song in those slots, while "Shakedown Street" was more often played in the first set or early in the second set. - "China Cat Sunflower" > "I Know You Rider" as an encore. This often-played pair was only used once as an encore, on 4/30/88 at Frost Amphitheater, when they finished with "China>Rider>Saturday Night" In addition to these set-placement oddities, the night offered up some rarely-played songs, including "Built to Last", "Lost Sailor > Saint of Circumstance", and "The Eleven". Of course, there were many other Dead favorites played, including "Tennessee Jed", "Bird Song", "I Need A Miracle", "Terrapin Station", and "The Other One". In any case, despite the somewhat unusual setlist, everything they played sounded great, and it was another fantastic performance by DeadEye. Here are the setlist and a video of "Ship of Fools" and my photos from the show.
Seth James and Jimmie Dreams & Friends	03/27/25	Sam's Town Point	A great night of local Austin music at Sam's Town Point. First up first was Seth James. I had seen him before, but not with a full band. When I arrived, the dance floor was packed, in part from an earlier 2-Step Class, in part from a surprise preceding show that included guests Jim Lauderdale and Brennan Leigh, and in part because James' music is really fun to dance to. Seth James has a big band that included two horns, keyboards, a female backup vocalist, and bass and drums. The music was a blend of country, rock, and R&B. Seth James is also an excellent guitar player and singer. At one point, I commented to a friend that he sounded a lot like Delbert McClinton, and shortly thereafter, the band played a Delbert McClinton song. During their set, they played a nice mix of covers and originals, and I am glad that a finally was able to see this band. Jimmie Dreams and Friends was up next. I've seen Jimmie Dreams a number of times recently, and he and his band always put on an entertaining show. The band on this night was made up of Jimmie on guitar and vocals, Treavor Nealon on keyboards, D-Madness on bass and vocals, and Robb Kidd on drums. They played Jimmie 's usual fun, funky mix that included some New Orleans songs by The Meters and Alan Toussaint, some country, some blues, and a whole lot of funky R&B. Both bands were really fun, and since this is a weekly residency, I encourage everyone to come see this Thursday-night show at Sam's if they have the chance. Here are my photos from the show.
Bill Murray & His Blood Brothers	03/25/25	Paramount Theatre	A surprisingly good show by Bill Murray and His Blood Brothers at the Paramount Theatre. Going in, I had no idea of what to expect, since I had never seen Bill Murray perform as a singer in a rock band. As it turned out, he is a pretty good vocalist, and it helped that he was backed by an all-star band of rock and blues veterans. I learned after the show that officially, the "Blood Brothers" are the band's two lead guitar players, Mike Zito and Albert Castiglia, who are both highly regarded in blues circles. The rest of the band was quite good also, and consisted keyboardist Lewis Stephens (from the Freddie King band), saxophonist Jimmy Carpenter, harmonica player Chris Barnes, bassist Scot Sutherland, and drummers Matthew Johnson and Ryan Hangen. I wondered initially if Murray would treat this whole thing as a joke, but in fact he was completely serious throughout the show. He rarely cracked a smile, stood still as he sang, and left most of the talking and introductions to others in the band. He sang lead on about a third of the songs. He shared lead vocals with four others in the band, resulting in a nice variety of styles that fit each particular song. When not singing lead, Murray spent most of his time on the back row, playing conga and other percussion. Each of the band members were given a chance to shine on their instruments, and I was especially impressed by Zito and Castiglia's guitar solos, and Carpenter's sax playing. The band's setlist consisted mainly of well known blues and rock songs. These included: "Boom, Boom Out Goes the Lights" (Little Walter), "Tired of Waiting for You" (The Kinks), "I Got Loaded" (Los Lobos, originally Lil’ Bob & the Lollipops), "Slow Down" (Larry Williams), "Little Red Corvette" (Prince), "Shotgun" (Junior Walker & The Allstars), "Tell The Truth" (Derek and the Dominos), "In the Midnight Hour" (Wilson Pickett), and "Like a Rolling Stone" (Bob Dylan). One song that Mike Zito played especially for Austin was Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble's "Pride and Joy". The encore was Stephen Still's "Love the One You're With". Overall, it was a quite enjoyable rock concert. Although there was no joking around during Murray and His Blood Brothers' set, there was plenty of humor by Dave Hill who opened the show. Hill is both a musician and comedian, and he was pretty hilarious as he mixed jokes such as Austin-specific pick-up lines with shredding guitar playing on his Gibson Flying V guitar. After joking around on his own for a while, he brought up a drummer and bass player, who backed him up while he made snarky comments about them. Some of his humor was a bit juvenile, but it was a fun way to start off the evening. Here are the setlist and my photos from the show.
Jo Alice and Josh Perdue	03/22/25	Continental Club Gallery	After Jonathan Richman a week ago Saturday, my friends and I headed over to the Continental Club Gallery to catch some more music. The first act we saw was Jo Alice, a solo singer-songwriter who was born in Portugal to an English mother and French father. She lives in Austin now, and this was my first time to see her perform. I only saw her last few songs, which included JJ Cale's "Magnolia", Tiny Tim's "Tiptoe Through the Tulips", and a beautiful song that she sang in French. She has an impressively pretty voice, and I expect that she will be quite successful in the future. Next, I saw a another fine performance by Josh Perdue. I always enjoy his music, and he and his tight three-piece band band played a couple of great sets that blended blues, rock, funk, and jazz. It was a fun way to wrap up another amazing night of music in South Austin. Here are my photos from the show.
Jonathan Richman with Tommy Larkins	03/22/25	Continental Club	An outstanding performance by Jonathan Richman with Tommy Larkin at the Continental Club. Jonathan Richman first became know in the early 1970's with his band, The Modern Lovers. They are regarded by many as a pre-cursor of the punk era, and their song "Roadrunner" has been called the first punk rock song by a number of critics. Beginning in the late 1980's, Richman has performed mainly as a solo artist, and since the 1990's has toured with Tommy Larkin as his drummer. They gained a bit more fame with their appearance in the 1998 film "There's Something About Mary", in which they acted as a two-man Greek chorus. Richman has a unique performing style, in which he strums his acoustic guitar both softly and frantically, breaks into humorous side anecdotes in the middle of songs, and dances around while holding his guitar at any moment. His lyrics are always clever and story-telling, touching on diverse subjects such as famous painters (Vermeer and Picasso), biblical characters (David & Goliath), his personal dating experiences, and cold pizza. At this show, he performed just two songs that I was familiar with. He took his one song that dates back to The Modern Lovers, "Pablo Picasso (was never called an Asshole)", and added a bunch of new lyrics that made it more interesting than the original. The other was "I was Dancing in a Lesbian Bar", which turned into a sing-along with the audience. Tommy Larkin uses a small drum kit, and after playing with Richman for so many years, knows just the right beats to add each song. Richman is also a surprisingly good guitar player who finger-picks a nylon-string classical-style acoustic guitar. It was great to see Richman and Larkin again in a small venue like The Continental Club, and I hope that they comes back again soon. Here are my photos from the show.
Trombone Shorty with Tank & the Bangas	03/20/25	ACL Live	A fantastic performance by Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue with Tank and the Bangas at ACL Live. Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews has been regarded as one of New Orleans' best trumpet and trombone players since he was a child, having been invited on stage at the New Orleans Jazz Fest at the age of four. In recent years, he and his band Orleans Avenue have been one of the city's most popular bands, having held the main stage's closing spot on the final Sunday of Jazz Fest for a number of years. The band's music blends New Orleans jazz, R&B, rock, funk, and hip hop, and they always put on a tight, high energy show. The Orleans Avenue band members included a female vocalist, two guitars, baritone and tenor sax, bass, and drums, and all of the band's players are outstanding musicians. Andrews showed off his amazing trombone and trumpet playing abilities, and he is a strong singer as well. He allowed plenty of time for his band members to show off too, including some searing guitar solos by Pete Murano and flashy horn playing by Dan Oestreicher on baritone sax and BK Jackson on tenor sax. Memorable songs from their set included The Meters' "Aint No Use", "On the Way Down" (written by Allen Toussaint and made famous by Little Feat) and a nice mashup of "When the Saints Go Marching in" and Solomon Burke's "Everybody Needs Somebody to Love". The encore, which included Parliament's "Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof off the Sucker)" and James Brown's "Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine", brought the evening to an energetic close. It was my first time to see the opener, Tank and the Bangas, and I was quite impressed. Tank and the Bangas is another New Orleans-based genre-blending band, and they are led by vocalist Tarriona "Tank" Ball. She has a big voice and and even bigger stage presence. Her captivating vocals ranged from spoken word to poetic rap to belting Broadway to childlike squeals at various times during her performance. She began the show wearing a large, sparkling gold cape, which she eventually tossed aside to show off a glittery pink top and brightly colored cowboy boots. Her song intros included a good deal of spoken exposition, which made them seem highly personal. In addition to her original songs, her set also included a nice version of Journey's "Don't Stop Believing". Here are my photos from the show.
Annual Yard Dog Party	03/14/25	ABGB	My final stop on Friday of SxSW was at the Yard Dog Party at the ABGB (The Austin Beer Garden Brewing Company). I've been attending this event for many years going back to the early 2000's when it was the Bloodshot Records party behind the original Yard Dog Art Gallery on South Congress. It is always a blast, and it's been a highlight of SxSW for me almost every year. The first band I saw at this year's party was Tommy Stinson, a former member of The Replacements, whom I had seen a just few hours earlier at SoCo Stomp. This time, he was backed by a different band, Austin's English Teeth, which included Kevin Hoetger (bass) and Kevin McKinney (guitar). Stinson started off with some mellow tunes, but by the set's end, the band played some hard rocking Stinson solo tunes along with some Replacements songs. Next up was Steve Wynn, also backed by English Teeth. Steve Wynn was the leader of alternative rock band Dream Syndicate, which was active first in the 1980's. He then went on to a successful solo career before reforming Dream Syndicate in 2012. Unlike Stinson, who has played in Austin with English Teeth quite a bit in recent years, Wynn had only had one rehearsal with the band. Still, they sounded like a band that had been together for a while, and put on a great set of rocking music that I really enjoyed. Then came Jon Langford & the Far Forlorn, which is a band fronted by the Waco Brothers' lead singer Jon Langford. The band included Austin musicians including Bill Anderson on mandolin and Tamineh Gueramy on fiddle, along with bass and drums. Langford and band played a crazy, high-energy set, and it was a great warm up for the bands to come. Austin's Wild Seeds, who have been playing in Austin since 1984 were up next. The band, which is led by vocalist/guitar player Michael Hall and guitarist Randy Franklin, played another fun set of punk-ish music. The highlight of the night as always was the closing set by The Waco Brothers, a band whose country/punk style has been called "Cash meets Clash". The band included founding members Langford and Dean Schlabowske on guitar and Tracey Dear on mandolin. All three share lead and backup vocals, and they always put on a fun and rowdy show. Unfortunately, on this night, the band lacked their regular bass player Alan Doughty and violinist Jean Cook, who are a big part of the band's dynamic stage presence. As a result, even though the band played their usual set of original and interesting covers, the show was a bit less fun for me than than in previous years. Still, with their wild encore featuring "I Fought the Law" and "White Lightning", and Bill Anderson joining them on vocals and weirdness, even a slightly off night for this band was more fun than most shows that you could attend. Here are my photos from the show.
SoCo Stomp 2025	03/14/25	C-Boys Heart & Soul	On Friday afternoon of SxSW, I was back at the SoCo Stomp at C-Boys Heart & Soul. The first band of the day was a cool one called The Courettes. They are a 2-piece rock band featuring a female guitar player from Brazil and male drummer from Denmark. They both provide vocals, and their sound has been described as "the perfect blend between garage rock, 60s Girl Group, Wall of Sound, surf music and doo wop. Like The Ronettes meet The Ramones at a wild party". They had a lot of style and really connected with the crowd. Next up on the indoor stage was Phil Hollie, a folk-rock singer from Fort Worth. He played guitar and harmonica and was backed by a three piece band. His music has a throwback feel with elements of rockabilly and 50's Everly Brothers style rock-and-roll. On the outdoor stage, the next band was The Rumble, is a Grammy-nominated Mardi Gras Indian group from New Orleans. They are fronted by Chief Joseph Boudreaux Jr. of the Golden Eagles tribe. The band includes two horn players, keyboards, guitar, bass, and percussion. Their music is all original, but is heavily influence by the Meters, Neville Brother, and traditional Mardi Gras Indian bands. Their front man, Chief Joseph Boudreaux Jr.dressed in a full Mardi Gras Indian beaded outfit, and provided strong vocals to go along with the band's funky New Orleans grooves. Back inside, I just saw a bit of Tommy Stinson's set. Stinson is a former member of The Replacements, and he played some original tunes reminiscent of early Elvis Costello with a punkish attitude. He was backed by a young band whose name I didn't catch. I joined the set partway through, and Stinson left the stage after a couple of songs. The remaining band members stayed on and played some hard core punkish songs of their own. John Doe and his Folk Trio was the next band on the outdoor stage. John Doe, a former member of the band X, has lived in Austin for several years, and he and his folk trio have been regulars at SoCo Stomp in past years. His trio includes Kevin Smith on stand-up bass and Conrad Choucroun on drums. They played a strong high-energy set that included some John Doe alt-country originals, and a cool cover of Fred Neil's "Everybody's Talkin". The set's energy was raised up another notch when they were joined on stage by the Austin-based husband and wife duo of Brad Fordham on guitar and Lisa Pankratz on drums. Doe said that this was the debut performance of his "Folk Quintet". They rocked out on several songs including Woodie Guthrie's "Do Re Mi". The larger band sounded great, and made this one of my favorite sets of the day. The last act that I saw at the Stomp on Friday was Nether Hour, on the outdoor stage. They are a young four-piece band from Austin that I had seen once before a few months earlier. At their previous show, their sound reminded me of classic rock bands such as the Allman Brothers, Black Crowes, and Doobie Brothers. But at this show, their music seemed much funkier and original to me. The band was also pretty wild during their performance, making non-pc jokes, passing joints around, and asking for tequila shots to be brought up to the stage. It was a fun ending to Friday's Stomp, but I had another show to go to so, didn't stay for the final indoor act. Here are my photos from the show.
Luck Reunion	03/13/25	Spicewood, TX	On Thursday of SxSW, I was fortunate enough to attend, for the fourth year in a row, the Luck Reunion at Willie Nelson's Luck Ranch in Spicewood, TX. This was the hottest and windiest Luck day that I have attended, with a high temperature in the 90's and a howling wind throughout the day. Still, the stellar line up and great atmosphere made up for the non-ideal weather. As is their habit, the festival's organizers messed with peoples' expectations when scheduling acts at the various stages in the venue. This year they did that by scheduling four huge acts simultaneously late in the day. This included the previously announced Charlie Crockett in one of Luck's smallest venues, the Chapel (which hold around 40 people), and Taj Mahal in the medium sized Revival Tent, plus unannounced Lucinda Williams at the medium sized Barn Stage, and Arcade Fire in the small Saloon (which holds around 200 people). I spent most of that time slot enjoying Taj Mahal's set, which was great, but I also managed to make it over to see the last couple of songs by Lucinda, who at that point had been joined by Steve Earle and Margo Price. I should add that I did not try to squeeze into the surprise performance at the Barn Stage by Jessica Simpson, whom I later read was giving her first live performances in 15 years. Some of my highlights for the day included: - A tribute to Kris Kristofferson, hosted by Chaparelle, a Texas-based band, led by Zella Day and Jesse Woods. A host of musicians joined Chaparelle to perform Kristofferson's best known songs. The performers included Hayes Carll, Briscoe, Charlie Sexton, The Deslondes, Margo Price, Lucas Nelson, Esther Rose & Katie James, and Grace Bowers - Taj Mahal, who at 82 years old, sounded as good as ever. He played many of his best known songs, including "Fishin' Blues", "Corinna", "Cakewalk Into Town", and "Sweeter than a Honeybee". He played dobro, ukulele, and banjo, and was backed by a band that included Hawaiian lap steel, bass, and drums. - Grace Bowers, who was my favorite discovery of the day. She is a phenomenal 18-year old electric guitar player. I first saw her when she joined Chaparelle during the Kristofferson tribute, and immediately after with her own band. During her set, she absolutely shredded on lead guitar. She and her band played high-energy versions of Prince's "Kiss", James Brown's "Sex Machine", Parliament's "Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof off the Sucker)", and some Jimi Hendrix, as well as some original tunes. Her incredible band included a soulful female vocalist, and killer players on keyboards, drums, bass, and second guitar. Plus, she was joined by Margo Price, who performed Willie Nelson's "Shotgun Willie" with the band. It seemed like a bit of an odd choice given the rest of the set's more hard rocking material, but it was was still a lot of fun. - Preservation Hall Jazz Band, who turned the Revival Tent into a raucous New Orleans jazz and R&B dance party, playing songs including "Iko Iko", "Go to the Mardi Gras ", and "When the Saints Go Marching In". Other acts I saw during the day included: - Wonder Women of Country, a band fronted by a trio of outstanding country Americana singers, Kelly Willis, Brennen Leigh and Melissa Carper. - Marlon Funaki, a 22-year old from California who played some interesting jazzy psychedelic grooves with his band. - Grace Rowland (of the Deer) who played a nice acoustic set in one of the venue's smaller spaces, the Jack Daniel's Stage. She accompanies herself on acoustic guitar and electric piano, while playing her original songs and a beautiful cover of Joni Mitchell's "Woodstock". - The BMI Songwriter's Circle, which consisted of three very talented young singer-songwriters. I had never heard of any of them before, but based on their performances, I suspect that they will become well known in the future. The three musicians were Coleman Jennings, who told great stories before and during his songs, JD Clayton, who as well as having impressive country ballads was one of the best whistlers I've ever heard, and Valley James, who described herself as a "sad bitch", and who has a beautiful voice and performed heartfelt personal songs. - Tommy Newport, who played indie rock featuring a nice falsetto voice. - Aly & AJ, a band led by two sisters from California who released their first album as young teenagers in 2005. They began as a youth pop act, but have matured into a rocking indie band, with nice harmonies and some solid guitar-driven songs. - Julien Baker & TORRES, a couple of queer female country singer-songwriters, who performed personal songs that dealt with their some of their struggles, challenges, and victories. - Waxahatchee, who were the unannounced special guest that played on the main stage just before Willie and family. This slot is usually filled by a big-name band, and Waxahatchee is becoming that, having won the 2025 Grammy for Best Americana Album.They are an indie music band that is led by singer-songwriter Katie Crutchfield, The band sounded good and had pleasant-enough songs, but they didn't really wow me. As always, the night ended with a performance by Willie Nelson & Family. Willie was in good voice, and he played many of his best known songs, including "Stay All Night", "I Never Cared for You", "Bloody Mary Morning","Mamas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys", "Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground", and "On the Road Again". As he always does, Willie had his sons take the lead on a few songs, in this case Lucas on "Flooding Down in Texas" and "Just Outside of Austin", and Micah on "(If I Die When I'm High) Halfway to Heaven". I left a little bit before their set ended, but felt like I had experienced a full day of outstanding music. Here are a review, Willie's setlist, and my photos from the event.
SoCo Stomp 2025 with	03/12/25	C-Boys Heart & Soul	On Wednesday of SxSW, I attended day one of the third annual SoCo Stomp at C-Boy's Heart & Soul. The event has been one of my favorites over the past few years, and it always features bands that I really enjoy, on indoor and outdoor stages. Most of the bands are local, but they always bring in a few interesting out-of-town bands during the five day event. The first band on Wednesday is a long time favorite of mine, Greyhounds, who play a cool style of swampy, funky music. They were joined partway through their set by Samuel Greyhorse, a local Native American vocalist. He sang a fun song about his mule that he rides around Austin, which happened to be in the venue not far from the stage. Next up on the indoor stage was Mother Neff, an Austin-based band that I really like who play melodic, interesting jam music. I first discovered them two years ago at this event, and I have been following them since then. Their set included some new material as well as some form their excellent album of a few years ago. Then on the outdoor stage was longtime Austin country and Americana singer Kelly Willis. She played a number of her well-know songs from her career, as well as some newer material. Back on the indoor stage was Carolina Hale, a young Austin-based singer and guitarist whom I had not seen before. I was impressed with her original bluesy songs and electric guitar playing skills. Her band included, David Jimenez, a.k.a. The Last Jimenez, who is one of Austin's best guitarists, as a second guitar player. Next on the outdoor stage was Tomar & the FC's. Their lead singer, Tomar Williams, is one of Austin's best soul and R&B performers. He played many of his own soulful tunes, and as always really connected with the audience. He was joined on one song by his young son, who was a bit nervous, but who was very cute when he sang with the band. On the indoor stage, I saw a really entertaining out-of-town band, The Jaws of Brooklyn, who despite their name, are actually from Seattle. The band plays 60's garage rock and soul, and they feature by three female vocalists wearing coordinated outfits and go-go-boots. I really enjoyed their 60's girl-group harmonies and coordinated dance moves, and they were my favorite discovery of the day. The Peterson Brothers were next on the outdoor stage. The band is led by brothers Glenn on vocals and lead guitar and Alex on bass. They play a mix of soul, funk, and blues. They are both excellent instrumentalists, and they always show their enjoyment while performing by smiling throughout their set. They played a number of their own songs, plus a funky cover of "Take Me to the River". Next up indoors was Bonnie Whitmore, an Austin-based singer and bass-player, who played a variety of rocking and soulful original tunes. The final act of the day for me was Money Chicha, a latin-psych and cumbia band that is an offshoot of Groupo Fantasma and Brownout. They are another of my favorite Austin bands, and they played their usual funky, danceable set of Latin-based music. It was a great way to end an excellent first day of the Soco Stomp. Here are my photos from the show.
Ray Benson Birthday Bash with Asleep at the Wheel, Steve Earle, Jimmie Vaughan, Hayes and the Heathens, and Rochelle and the Sidewinders	03/11/25	GSD&M Courtyard	Later on Tuesday evening of SxSW, I was fortunate enough to be able to attend Ray Benson's Annual Birthday Bash at the GSD&M Courtyard, thanks to my good friend Elizabeth. The event always features Ray Benson and Asleep at the Wheel with a slew of announced and surprise guests. The first band to play on this night was Rochelle and the Sidewinders, a blues rock band from Austin. Their charismatic lead singer Rochelle Creone did a great job belting out blues and soul originals, along with a fun cover of "Proud Mary". Next up was Hayes and the Heathens, which is made up of singer-songwriter Hayes Carll and Austin rock band, Band of Heathens. They recently released an album that they had recorded together, and they performed a number of songs from that album. It was my first time to hear them play together, and I thought their styles blended nicely. Then it was time for the evening's host, Ray Benson and his band Asleep at the Wheel, They sounded great as usual, and played many of their classic western swing songs such as "Miles and Miles of Texas", "Route 66", and "Big Balls in Cowtown". In addition to Ray's classic deep voice and excellent electric guitar playing, the band now features Ian Stewart, who played some fantastic fiddle and provided background and lead vocals on a number of songs. Then, a string of unannounced guests joined Asleep at the Wheel, beginning with country singers Jake Worthington and Willi Carlisle. Hayes Carll the came on, and he joined Ray and his band on Willie Nelson's "Stay All Night" and Townes Van Zandt's "Pancho and Lefty". Next up were members of Band of Heathens, who played "Is Anybody Going to San Antone" as a tribute to Doug Sahm, and the Rolling Stone's "Sweet Virginia". Then, Asleep at the Wheel was joined by Austin blues legend Jimmie Vaughan, who played "I Ain't Never" and "Stormy Monday" with the band. The last special guests were Steve Earle and Restless Kelly's Cody Braun. Earle and the band played some of his classic songs, including rocking versions of "Guitar Town" and "Copperhead Road". Braun took the lead on "The Only Daddy That'll Walk the Line". Asleep at the Wheel then finished up with two more western favorites, "Happy Trails" and "We're the Texas Playboys", and we all left knowing that we had enjoyed a special night of music. Here are my photos from the event.
VooDudes ATX	03/11/25	McCrimmon Law Firm Office	My first stop on Tuesday of SxSW 2025 was at a private party that I attend almost every year. The music was provided by the VooDudes ATX, a cover band originally from Shreveport. They play songs by many of my favorite bands, including the Neville Brothers, the Meters, the SubDudes, Little Feat, The Band, Los Lobos, and the Rolling Stones. Unfortunately, I had to leave before their second set, in which they are always joined by long-time Austin guitar player and singer Van Wilks. Once again, many of my old friends were in attendance, so this is always a great way to kick off SxSW music week. Here are my photos from the event.
South by South Grass with Fennario Flats, Sylvan River Band, and Eddie Collins and CTBA Old Timers	03/08/25	Hotel Vegas	The second annual South by South Grass event at Radio/East. The event featured a variety of bluegrass acts, but my main interest in attending was to see Fennario Flats, a band that does great acoustic bluegrass-flavored covers of the Grateful Dead and Old and in the Way. Fennario Flats began their set with a cool version of one of the Dead's most psychedelic songs, "Dark Star", which may have perplexed some bluegrass traditionalists in the audience. Next, they played a couple of more bluegrass-flavored songs as performed by Old and in the Way, "The Hobo Song", and the Rolling Stone's "Wild Horses". They then moved on to play some Grateful Dead classics, "Jack Straw" and "Eyes of the World". Their 45 minute set was awesome, but ended way too soon for me. Before Fennario Flats, I saw a younger act, the Sylvan River Band, which featured Beth Chrisman on fiddle. Following Fennario Flats was a band made of local Austin bluegrass veterans, Eddie Collins and CTBA (Central Texas Bluegrass Association) Old Timers. Both bands played solid, but unremarkable traditional bluegrass. Sadly, I had to leave at that point due to another commitment, and I'm sure that I missed some outstanding bluegrass later in the day. Here are my photos from the show.
Hotel Vegas 14th Anniversary Party with Die Spitz, Urban Heat, Annabelle Chairlegs, Haha Laughing, Gus Baldwin & The Sketch, and Andrew Cashen & The Disciples of Creation	03/06/25	Hotel Vegas	The 14th Anniversary Party of Hotel Vegas featured a variety of bands, all from Austin, whose styles ranged from alternative to punk. Although these are not normally my favorite styles of music, I had a great time. There were several mosh pits, and probably more crowd surfing than I have seen at one show in my life. The first band that I saw was Andrew Cashen & the Disciples of Creation, an alternative band with a touch of R&B. They closed with a version of "Let the Sun Shine In" that featured two female back-up singers and really got the crowd dancing. Next up was Gus Baldwin & the Sketch, a young and feisty punk quartet, who stirred up the first small mosh pit of the evening. Then came Annabelle Chairlegs, the only band that I had seen previously and the one that drew me to the show. The three-piece psych rock band is led by charismatic Lindsey Mackin, who possesses a strong, sometimes gnarly voice. They played a nice set of jangly, hard-edged rock. The fourth band was Urban Heat, who were possibly the most well-known band of the night. They are described as a post-punk band, and are led by their bombastic frontman, Jonathan Horstmann. Horstmann has a powerful voice and physical stage presence, and he riled up the crowd with his larger than life persona. The band's music seemed like a throwback to 80's rock, with two supporting players on beats, bass, and synths. They played an impressive set, but I do think that I would have preferred their sound if they had a real drummer. The next act was HaHa Laughing, an experimental rap duo made up of Jay Dilick and Aby Oviedo. They played a high energy-set that really set off the mosh pit, with many crowd surfers jumping into the crowd. The two performers ran about the stage while rapping to a range of rowdy samples and beats. The final act of the night was Die Spitz, a young, all-female 4-piece punk band. They thrashed and screamed and played hard-core noise rock. The crowd loved it, with continuous moshing and crowd surfing from start to finish. It was quite a spectacle, and although I would not go to see these bands on a regular basis, I am glad that I attended this birthday celebration at Hotel Vegas. Here are my photos from the show.
Mardi Gras Allstars with D-Madness & Grooveline Horns	03/04/25	C-Boys Heart & Soul	A fantastic Mardi Gras performance at C-Boys Heart & Soul by an all-star band headlined by the Watters and Jimmy Dreams. The full band included Jimmie Dreams (guitar, vocals), Jenna Watters (vocals), Daniel Watters (guitar, vocals), Trevor Nealon (keyboards), Bobby Perkins (bass), John Spiece (drums, percussion), Mike Gonzales (percussion), Paul Deemer (trumpet), and Paulo Santos (sax, clarinet). The band played some fun songs that were not necessarily Mardi Gras related, such as "Man Smart (Woman Smarter)" and "Something You Got", and a bunch of Allen Toussaint songs including "Sneakin' Sally Through the Alley", "Play Something Sweet (Brickyard Blues)", and "Yes We Can". There was also a surprise appearance by Nikki Glaspie, who sang a duet with Jenna Watters on one song, and then sat down and killed it on drums for several tunes, including awesome versions of The Meters' "It Ain't No Use" and "Fire on the Bayou". The band sounded fantastic throughout their set, Mardi Gras beads were handed out, and many in the crowd were appropriately costumed, so it was a sweet taste of New Orleans Mardi Gras in Austin. After the special Mardi Gras performance, D-Madness put on a fun set of funk, jazz, and hip-hop, and the Grooveline Horns followed with another amazing set of horn-driven funk, soul, and hip-hop to end an awesome night of music at C-Boys. Here are my photos from the show.
Brownout with The Point	03/01/25	Radio/East	a fantastic performance by Brownout at Radio/East. Brownout is an Latin-funk band from Austin that was formed as a side project by members of the Grammy-award-winning band Grupo Fantasma. Brownout members included Beto Martinez (guitar), Alex Marrero (percussion and vocals), Peter Stopschinski (keyboards), Greg Gonzalez (bass), John Speice IV (drums), Matthew "Sweet Lou" Holmes (congas), Gilbert Elorreaga (trumpet ), Mark "Speedy" Gonzales (trombone), and Dan Bechdolt (tenor saxophone). The band played some incredibly tight and funky original songs, and they also added some cool covers of Black Sabbath from their Brown Sabbath days, as well as a slow groove cover of a Public Enemy song. Martinez provided some great guitar solos, and Stopschinski (who also happens to be one of Austin's leading classical music composers) played some fine keyboards. The band's horn section and rhythm players were great as well. Marrero is an incredibly soulful vocalist too, so it was one of the best funk shows that I have seen in a while. The opening band was The Point, a young Austin trio whom have become one of my favorite new Austin bands during the past year. They played their usual creative and original blend of funk, colored with a variety of international flavors including Eastern European, Middle-Eastern, and Afrobeat, with a touch of psych rock thrown in. The outstanding sound system at Radio/East had them sounding especially good on this night, and having Brownout guitarist Beto Martinez join them on one of their final songs was icing on the cake. Here are my photos from the show.
Kathleen Edwards with Ken Yates	02/27/25	04 Center	An outstanding concert by Kathleen Edwards at the 04 Center. Kathleen is a singer-songwriter from Canada, whom I've been following since she first became well-known in the early 2000's. She played mostly original material from throughout her career, including some of her best known songs, "Back to Me", "Asking for Flowers", and "In State". She has a beautiful voice and is a talented acoustic guitar player as well. She was accompanied during most of the show by Gord Tough, who played some nice licks on electric guitar. In addition to her original songs, she played a couple of songs from an upcoming covers album, including Paul Westerberg's "Only Lie Worth Telling" and an encore of Tom Petty's "Crawling Back to You." Kathleen always makes some funny comments and tells interesting stories between songs. During this show, she said that she considers Austin one of her favorite places to play, and the audience's enthusiastic response explained why. The opener was Ken Yates, who has been co-writing and touring with Kathleen for a while. He played some nice original songs in his opening set, and also joined Kathleen and Gord for a few songs towards the end of their set. Here are the setlist and my photos from the show.
Flyjack	02/26/25	C-Boys	A great show by Flyjack, an Austin-based funk, rock, and soul band, at C-Boys Heart & Soul. Flyjack has been one of my favorite funk bands in Austin for many years, and they've been playing a Wednesday residency at C-Boys for a while. Unfortunately, I haven't attended many of these shows, and when I heard that this might be the last installment of their residency for a while, I had to be there. Flyjack is led by Buck McKinney, who plays excellent lead guitar and also supplies most of the lead vocals. Long-time band member Brad Bradburn plays heavy-duty bass, and he sings harmony and lead vocals on a number of songs. The band always features a strong four-piece horn section, a fine keyboard player, and solid players on drums and congas. Thy also had a cool guest hip-hop vocalist on several songs. The band was on fire this night and they played mostly original energetic funk and soul songs that had the dance floor hopping throughout the evening. Here are my photos from the show.
Shovels & Rope with James Felice	02/23/25	Antone's	I was fortunate to be able to see this fantastic performance by Shovels & Rope at Antone's. Several months ago, Antone's announced a Saturday show, and because of the band's popularity, it sold out almost instantly. I am a big fan of the band, and was quite disappointed. But then, just a week ago, they added this Sunday show. I was able to quickly grab a ticket, and I am glad that I did. Shovels & Rope is a husband and wife duo from Charleston, South Carolina. The band's two members, Michael Trent and Cary Ann Hearst, each sing, and play guitar, keyboards, drums, and percussion, switching back and forth between instruments throughout their shows. During most songs, one plays guitar, while the other plays drums, percussion and keyboards. They both share in lead and harmony vocals, and their voices mesh together beautifully. Their songs are a blend of folk, rock, and country, and many are sung and played with a fiery energy that at times almost enters punk rock territory. At this show, they played all original tunes, including fan favorites "Love Song From A Dog", "Boxcar", "O' Be Joyful", "C'mon Utah!", and "Birmingham". Throughout the evening, their tight bond as a couple shone through, which enabled them to really connect with the audience. It was an outstanding show that I will not soon forget. The opener was James Felice, a singer and songwriter from New York who plays piano and accordion. He sang some personal original songs, and was pretty humorous in between songs. He also joined Shovels & Rope to play piano on their encore, "St. Anne's Parade". Here are the setlist and my photos from the show.
Daniel Donato's Cosmic Country	02/21/25	Scoot Inn	A fantastic performance by Daniel Donato's Cosmic Country at the Historic Scoot Inn. Daniel Donato is a guitarist, singer, and songwriter from Nashville. He and his Cosmic Country band play an improvisational mix of country, rock, and psychedelic music. The band is made up of Donato (lead guitar, vocals), Nathan "Sugarleg" Aronowitz (keyboards, guitar, vocals), Will "Mustang" McGee (bass, vocals), and Will "Bronco" Clark (drums, vocals). I have seen this band a few times previously, and they seem to keep getting better. This show included two full sets of music, and I was thoroughly impressed. The band began the show with some twangy, country covers, including "Drivin' Nails in My Coffin" (Ernest Tubb), "Sittin' On Top Of World" (traditional, best known by Howlin' Wolf and Cream), "The Gold Rush" (Tony Rice), and "Big Ball in Cowtown" (traditional, best known by Bob Wills). From that point on the bulk of the show as made up of the band's original songs, and the music became more cosmic and psychedelic as the show progressed. The second set was just amazing, with a series of very spacey, jammy songs with just a hint of country, including one that sounded closer to EDM (electronic dance music) than country. Donato has a cool guitar style, and Aronowitz provided some nice solos on keyboards, and he also played some mean lead guitar on a couple of songs. Although Donato is the primary vocalist, each of the other band members sang lead on at least one song, and they all provided backing vocals throughout the performance. The band closed with an encore of a somewhat obscure Willie Nelson song, "Devil in a Sleepin' Bag" from Willie's 1973 album, Shotgun Willie. This was the best Cosmic Country show that I've seen, and I look forward to seeing Donato and his fine band again soon. Here are the setlist and my photos from the show.
Leo Nocentelli's Mardi Gras Mambo with Willie Green Project	02/15/25	Antone's	A great evening of New Orleans funk headlined by Leo Nocentelli at Antone's. Nocentelli is best known as a founding member and lead guitarist of the legendary funk band, the Meters. His band at this show included his brother Angello Nocenteilli (bass), Keiko Komaki (keyboards), Jamal Batiste (drums), and a conga player whose name I didn't catch. Nocentelli is an outstanding guitar player, and he did his usual killer job on Meters' standards including "Fire on the Bayou", "Cissy Strut", "People Say", and "Hey Pocky A-Way". To keep things interesting, he told the crowd that he would play "Cissy Strut" first in its usual 8/8 time signature, and then in 10/8 and 11/8, which was quite impressive. He also slowed things down in the middle of the concert and played a couple of acoustic singer/songwriter ballads that he had written for an unreleased album called "Another Side" in the early 1970's. The band finished with an encore of another Meter's tune, "You've Got to Change (You've Got to Reform)". I've been a huge fan of The Meters since the 1980's, so it's always a treat to see Nocentelli perform, and this show was no exception. The show was opened by the Willie Green III band, a young modern jazz quartet from New Orleans. They are skilled musicians who played some nice original improvisational jazz, but I found them to be a bit mellow as an opener for the funky show that followed. Here are the setlist and my photos from the show.
HeartByrne	02/14/25	Regal Rooms	An awesome Valentine's Day performance by HeartByrne at the Regal Rooms. I am a huge HeartByrne fan, but due to various conflicts, I had missed their last few shows, so I was really looking forward to this one. As always, they did a great job performing the music of Talking Heads and David Byrne. They played all of their biggest hits, and a few songs that are not as well known. Darin Murphy and Erin Thunderheart Stein did a fine job on vocals, while Josh Pearson and Dustin Bozarth jammed on lead guitar and keyboards. The rhythm section of Evan Bozarth on bass, Grego Loboz on percussion, and Casey Byars on drums kept the groove going with solid beats. What impresses me most about HeartByrne is their ability to interpret the music with long extended jams that explore the music in new ways, and this night was no exception. The night was billed as a Pajama Party, and about half of the enthusiastic crowd dressed up for the occasion. It was my first time to see a show like this at the Regal Rooms, and I was pleased with the venue. There was plenty of room to dance, the lighting and sound were good, and the video screen behind the band added some magical visuals throughout the show. It was a great night of music, and I can't wait to see the band again soon. Here are my photos from the show.
Grooveline Horns with Marcus King with D Madness	02/11/25	C-Boys Heart & Soul	I was fortunate enough to be able to see a fantastic performance by Grooveline Horns with special guest Marcus King at C-Boys Heart & Soul. Grooveline Horns are an Austin-based horn trio who have backed major artists including Jason Mraz, Kelly Clarkson and Zac Brown Band. Marcus King is a young blues and southern rock guitarist and vocalist from South Carolina. He is an emerging star who can fill up large venues, so being able to see him perform in a small club like C-Boys was a rare treat. The core members of Grooveline Horns are Carlos Sosa (saxophone), Fernando "Fernie" Castillo (trumpet), and Raul "Ralo" Vallejo (trombone). They play a mix of funk, R&B, soul, and hip-hop, and on this night their band included Matt Muehling (guitar), Justin Hights(drums), John Deas (keyboards), Mike Gonzales (drums), Nick Lewis (bass), Curtis Lee (vocals), and Traygod Tha MC (hip-hop MC). Marcus King spent a good amount of the evening standing at the back playing guitar accompaniments while the horns and vocalists took the lead. However, he did come up front to sing and play some impressive lead guitar on a number of occasions throughout the evening. A highlight for me was when he played a traditional slow blues song, "Rock Me All Night Long". Some other highlights of the evening were a high energy version of Chicago's "25 or 6 to 4", and James Brown's "Get Up, I Feel Like Being A Sex Machine". It was awesome being able to see Marcus King play with this band, but Grooveline Horns were outstanding on their own, and I highly recommend that people go see them when they have the chance. Percussionist, keyboardist, and guitar player D-Madness and his band opened the evening with some funk, soul, and hip-hop of their own, which was a nice start to the evening. Here are my photos from the show.
Josh Perdue	02/08 & 15/25	Continental Club Gallery
Dogs in a Pile	02/08/25	Scoot Inn	An amazing performance by Dogs in a Pile, a young 5-piece jam band from Asbury Park, NJ., at The Historic Scoot Inn. The band is made up of Brian Murray (vocals, guitar), Jimmy Law (vocals, guitar), Jeremy Kaplan (vocals, keyboards), Sam Lucid (vocals, bass), and Joey Babick (drums). I had seen Dogs in a Pile for times in the last couple of years, and have always thought they were really good, but this show brought things to an even higher level. What made the show so special for me was the band's ability to play songs in a wide range of genres, and sounding fantastic in each. Their original songs on this night included rock, country, funk, and psychedelic tunes. The band seamlessly transitioned from one style to another, and Murray and Law on guitar and Kaplan on keyboards played impressive instrumental solos throughout the show. The fact that they have three talented and distinctive lead vocalists helps to bring variety to their sound as well. In addition to their interesting originals, the band performed well done covers of "Mr. Charlie" (Grateful Dead), "Dancing in the Street" (Martha Reeves and the Vandellas), and "Dixie Chicken" (Little Feat). After having seen this great show, I rank Dogs in a Pile near the top of my list of favorite jam bands, and I can't wait to see them again soon. The show was opened by a young Austin band whom I had not heard before called Nether Hour. They played original country-influenced rock, and their songs reminded me at times of the Allman Brothers, the Black Crowes, and the Doobie Brothers. I enjoyed their set, and I'll be looking forward to seeing how they develop in the future. Here are the setlist and stream/download and my photos from the show.
Spud Boy Allstars	02/07/25	ABGB	Another great night of Jerry Garcia Band music by Spud Boy Allstars at ABGB. The band had their usual line-up of Joe Faulhaber (guitar/vocals), Trevor Nealon (keyboards/vocals), Jenna Watters and Erin Thunder Heart Stein (vocals), Bobby Perkins (bass) and Keith Laudieri (drums). They played a number of Garcia favorites like "They Love Each Other", "Run for the Roses", Mission in the Rain", and "Cats Under the Stars", and some less frequently played covers including Los Lobos' "Evangeline", Alan Toussaint's "Get Out My Life Woman", and Norton Buffalo's "Ain't No Bread in the Breadbox". As usual, many jamily members were there, and we all had a real good time. Here are my photos from the show.
Barfield, the Tyrant and Da'Homies	02/06/25	Continental Club and Continental Club Gallery	After Yonder Mountain last Thursday, I caught portions of two after-shows with friends, one by Barfield, the Tyrant, at the Continental Club, and the other by Da' Homies at the Continental Club Gallery. Mike Barfield, aka "Barfield, the Tyrant" is a dynamic front man whose band plays high Texas energy funk that he describes as "James Brown meets Johnny Cash fronting a very Texan version of the Clash". His band featured two outstanding guitarists, Johnny Moeller and Willie Pipkin, and their music always has the dance floor hopping. Da' Homies play a blend of funk, hip-hop, jazz, and soul, and they are another band that is fun to dance to. I often wish I had more time to see local bands, and these two are prime examples of bands that I'd like to see more often. Here are my photos from the shows.
Yonder Mountain String Band	02/06/25	Paramount Theatre	An outstanding performance by Yonder Mountain String Band at the Paramount Theatre. Yonder Mountain is a progressive bluegrass (aka jamgrass) band from Colorado who play a blend of bluegrass, rock, alternative, psychedelic, and improvisational music. The band is made up of Ben Kaufmann (bass, vocals), Dave Johnston (banjo, vocals), Adam Aijala (guitar, vocals), Nick Piccininni (mandolin, fiddle,vocals), and Coleman Smith (fiddle). At this show, they played a number of tunes from their most recent album, Get Yourself Outside, and some older material. A highlight for me was a cool cover of the Grateful Dead's "Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo". As always, the band played interesting, extended jams that ranged from traditional bluegrass to heavily psychedelic. They are all excellent instrumentalists, and there were a number of impressive solos on fiddle, mandolin, banjo, and acoustic guitar. My only slight disappointment with the evening was that just about everyone at the Paramount remained seated throughout most of the performance (I prefer standing up and moving around during this kind of music), and the fact that they played for less than an hour and a half (I would have loved to have seen a longer show). The band finished the show by coming to the front of the stage and inviting the audience to move closer for a couple of completely unplugged songs. The audience complied well, and the band sounded great in the quiet theater. They closed with a version of the traditional tune, "Don't Let Your Deal Go Down", first recorded by Charlie Poole and the North Carolina Ramblers in 1925. It was a nice conclusion to a fun evening of music. Here are my photos from the show.
Terry Allen & the Panhandle Mystery Band	02/01/25	Paramount Theatre	A tremendous performance by Terry Allen & The Panhandle Mystery Band at the Paramount Theatre. Terry Allen, the acclaimed West Texas composer/keyboardist/singer, hosts this event every year at the Paramount, and this year's show was entitled, "Greatest Missed Hits II". This meant that the show included a number of Terry's lesser known songs, so it was a bit different than in previous years. What was not different was his all-star band, which is made up of Charlie Sexton (electric guitar), Lloyd Maines (acoustic/slide guitar), Richard Bowden (fiddle/mandolin), Brian Standerfer (cello), Glen Fukunaga (bass), drummer Davis McLarty (drums), and his sons Bukka (accordion/keyboards) and Bale (percussion). During the first set, each song was preceded by a reading by Terry and his wife Jo Harvey Allen. Each story told of a humorous or interesting incident from their family's history, and each one related in some way to the song that was about to be played. Songs they played in set one included "The Lubbuck Tornado (I Don't Know)" and "The Wolfman of Del Rio", and they closed the set with one of Terry's best known songs, "Amarillo Highway". The second set began with Bukka Allen at center stage on keyboards, with Terry, Jo Harvey, and Bale Allen behind them with microphones. The family sang several nice songs from an upcoming family album. They were then joined by two of their grandchildren, Calder and Sled Allen, and singer-songwriter Dan Milewski for a few more tunes. Then they (finally) brought out vocalist Shannon McNally, whom Terry introduces as their "resident songbird". She added some lovely vocals to the remainder of the second set, which included "Death of the Last Stripper", "What of Alicia", and "New Delhi Freight Train". Everyone joined them on stage for their encores,"Sailin' On Through" and "Give Me Flowers (While I'm Living)". As suggested by the theme, there were a number of songs during the evening that I didn't recognize, but it really didn't matter, because with Terry Allen and his stellar band, every song is worth listening to. Here are the setlist and my photos from the show.
Too Many Zooz & Moon Hooch with Honeycomb	01/30/25	Mohawk	A dynamic show by two horn-based bands, Moon Hooch and Too Many Zooz, at Mohawk. Both bands began their careers busking in New York City subways and other locations around the city, and both bands play with unique styles that push the boundaries of traditional brass band music. The evening started with a set by DJ and electronic artist, Honeycomb. (originally Gable Johnson III). He played some interesting electronic loops, and later supplemented his sound with some electric guitar and unusual vocalizations. Then came Moon Hooch, which consists of saxophonists Wenzl McGowen and Michael Wilbur, and drummer Cyzon Griffin. I really enjoyed their high-energy horn music, which they call "Nu Jazz". They played bass-heavy, synthesized rhythms behind their sax and percussion, which gave their music an EDM vibe. McGowen on tenor sax and Wilbur on baritone sax occasionally played some odd riffs that had the feel of avant-garde jazz. Also, Michael Wilbur's deep tones on the baritone and bass sax reminded me of the band Morphine's sound. Their heavy beats and infectious, almost punkish music energized the crowd, which approached becoming a mosh pit near the front of the stage at times. Up next was Too Many Zooz, which is made up of Leo Pellegrino (baritone saxophone), Matt "Doe" Muirhead (trumpet), and David "King of Sludge" Parks (drums). Their music had a somewhat jazzier style that they call "brass house", which mixes jazz and funk with some world music elements, They played some fun and danceable tunes, which reminded me at times of New Orleans brass band and klezmer music. However, they had a tough act to follow after Moon Hooch, and even though they were really good, they didn't quite live up to the previous act's raucous energy. The evening ended with Moon Hooch joining Too Many Zooz on stage, for what they have been calling Moon Zooz on this tour. With all four horns and two drummers on stage, the energy picked back up to the previous set's level, and they jammed together on several tunes to close out a really fun night. The lighting on stage for this show was quite dim, so it was difficult to take well focused photos. So I decided to do a bit of post-processing with a crystallizing filter to try to cover up the noise in the original photos. You can see them here.
Hail to the Queen: A Toni Price Tribute	01/28/25	Continental Club	An awesome tribute to the recently departed and dearly missed Toni Price, the Queen of Hippie Hour, at her Tuesday night home for many years, the Continental Club. A large number of Toni's musical friends gathered to celebrate her memory and her music. The gathering featured many stories honoring her life, and the performance of many of her most well-known songs. Artists who played with Toni at Hippie Hour over the years who participated included Scrappy Jud Newcomb, Rich Brotherton, Warren Hood, Marshall Hood, Willie Pipkin, and Matt Giles. Special guests included Gwil Owen, Shelley King, Carolyn Wonderland, David Grissom, Bill Carter, Kathy Murray, Bill Jones, Steve Doerr, and Robb Kidd. The evening began with an acoustic set, and after a break, the musicians came back with a rocking electric set. A highlight for me was the participation of Gwil Owen, who wrote the majority of Toni's best loved songs. He lives in Nashville, so most of us had never seen him in person. He sang a number of his songs that Toni had performed, and told some great stories, including how his songwriting partnership with Toni began. He said that he first saw Toni in a small club in Nashville, and she was singing only cover songs. He introduced himself to her after the show, and said that he was a songwriter and asked if she would like to look at his songs. She said yes, and a day later after looking at them, told them that she had picked ten songs, and that she was going to form a band with him to play his music. And the rest, as they say, is history. The Continental's owner Steve Wertheimer said some nice words at several points during the evening. At the set break, he introduced members of Toni's family including her two daughters, and her granddaughter. The granddaughter read the cutest ever speech about her relationship with Toni. All of the performers did a great job in recreating Toni's songs. It was a memorable and meaningful night for the performers, staff, family, and audience members who attended. Diane and I feel a special connection with Toni, because she and her band, which included Champ Hood, Scrappy Jud Newcomb, and Casper Rawls, played at our wedding at Laguna Gloria in Austin in 1995. So it was extra special for me to see this amazing tribute. Here are my photos from the show.
Carrie Rodriguez	01/25/25	McCullough Theater	An incredible sold-out world-premier multi-media stage production at the UT McCollough Theater. The show, entitled "Postcards From the Border", told the story of how Oscar Casares, a novelist and UT creative writing professor from the Rio Grande Valley, wanted to share his experience growing up on the border with his 10-year-old daughter. To enable this to happen, Casares and photographer Joel Salcido traveled the length of the Rio Grande, from El Paso to Brownsville, to reveal his roots, and to capture stories of the people that they met along the way. The story is told through postcards to his daughter read by Casares, based on images taken by Salcido. The show also featured videos taken during the journey, which included interviews with some of the subjects of the photographs and of members of Casares' family whom they encountered during their trip. Each of the postcard readings was followed by a bilingual song, written specifically for this production by Austin-born singer-songwriter-violinist Carrie Rodriguez. The songs were performed by Rodriguez and an all-star band, which included David Pulkingham (Patty Griffin, Alejandro Escovedo) on guitar, David Jimenez (The Last Jiminez) on guitar, Alex Marrero (Brownout and Groupo Fantasma) on drums, Greg Gonzales (Grupo Fantasma) on bass, and Sergio Mendoza (Orkestra Mendoza) on keyboards. The songs complemented the stories and photos beautifully, with wonderful guitar playing by Pulkingham and Jiminez, and lovely singing and violin playing by Rodriguez, with backing vocals by the other band members. The stories revealed that the border is much more diverse and complex than is normally portrayed. The overall production was beautifully done and emotionally moving, and it seemed especially poignant given the current political situation. I left with the feeling that I had some new perspectives on the border, and I hope that this show can be seen by many more people. There is a plan to take the stage production to Texas border cities and then, hopefully, nationwide. The songs from the show are expected to be released as an album in early 2025, so at least people should be able to hear the outstanding music in the not too distant future. Because this was a theatrical performance, I only took one photo, before the shsow began, which you can see here.
Lee Fields and Monophonics with Benny Trokan	01/24/25	Mohawk	An outstanding evening of R&B and soul, featuring Monophonics and Lee Fields & the Expressions. Both bands featured charismatic front men with strong voices and tons of stage presence. They each were back by tight bands which included keyboards, guitar, bass, drums, and horns. The opener was Benny Trokan, who has been the bass player for Spoon since 2019. He is also an independent soul and pop artist for Daptone Records. During his set, he played 12-string guitar and sang his original songs. He was backed by bass and guitar players who provided Beatle-esque harmony vocals on many of his tunes. Trokan's soft, vulnerable voice and twangy twelve-string guitar-playing reminded me of the sound of Roger McGuinn and The Byrds. Next up was Monophonics. a band from the San Francisco Bay area, who are fronted by keyboardist and vocalist Kelly Finnigan. He has a rich raspy voice, and he intermixed his fiery vocals with solid organ playing, while encouraging the audience to get involved throughout the show. The band's music was heavily soul-based, with elements of funk and psych rock. The other band members delivered some killer horn and guitar solos, and it was a fun, high-energy performance. Then came Lee Fields, a veteran soul singer who has been called "Little JB" for his vocal and physical resemblance to James Brown. He began his career in 1969, and his songs have been featured in TV shows, movies, video games, and commercials. Fields is a dynamic performer with a strong, soulful voice and flashy dance moves, who constantly engages with his audience. His music was horn-driven classic soul and R&B, and he had the crowd dancing and participating in call-and-response singing throughout the set. For a finale, Kelly Finnigan and the horn players and guitarist from Monophonic joined Fields and the Expressions to perform the Bobby Hebb soul classic, "Sunny". With Fields and Finnigan trading off on lead vocals, and all four horn players blasting away, it was a great conclusion to the evening. Here are my photos from the show.
Spafford	01/23/25	Antone's	A cool show by jam band Spafford at Antone's. Spafford is originally from Arizona, and is made up of Brian Moss (guitar/vocals), Jordan Fairless (bass/vocals), Cory Schechtman (keys/vocals), and Nick Tkachyk (drums/vocals). Spafford plays long sets that consist of largely instrumental, improvisational tunes that flow from one song to the next without interruption. They are all good musicians, but to be honest, I found their first set on this night to be a bit too noodley for my taste. However, the second set rocked, and I particularly liked their version of Stealers Wheel's "Stuck in the Middle With You", which segued into one of their psychedelic originals, before flowing back into a "Stuck in the Middle" reprise. They encored with a fun version of Scissor Sisters' "Take Your Mama", which the crowd really loved, and was a fun ending to the evening. Here are the setlist and my photos from the show.
Trainwreck Express	01/17/25	Continental Club	Andrew Trube and Anthony Farrell of the Greyhounds sat in with JJ Grey and Mofro at their show at ACL Live on Friday night. After their appearance, JJ mentioned that the Greyhounds would be playing at the Continental Club later that night. I would have loved to see the Greyhounds perform a set of their own that night, but when I checked the Continental's listings, it said that the band playing at midnight was Trainwreck Express. I had never heard of that band, but with some encouragement from a number of friends, I decided to head over to the Continental to see what was happening. My hope was that the Greyhounds would play, and that maybe JJ, Andy Frasco, or members of either of their bands might sit in. When I got to the club around midnight, I saw a band setting up, and it included several familiar faces: Andrew Trube, guitarist Scrappy Jud Newcomb, and keyboard player Matt Hubbard. They were joined by Greyhounds drummer Russell Lee, and Uncle Lucius bassist Drew Scherger. When the show began, they introduced themselves as Trainwreck Express. The music soon got rolling, and they they tore it with an eclectic blend of swamp rock, garage rock, and R&B. Trube and Scrappy traded off on lead guitar, and Matt played some killer keyboards, along with a bit of trombone. Samuel Grey Horse, a well-known Austin horseman and musician (who recently lost his home to a fire: https://gofund.me/b3b33d44 ), came out and sang a couple of songs. Towards the end of the night, a sax player whose name I didn't catch joined the band on some high-energy closing tunes. As it turned out, no one from JJ's or Andy's bands came out to play. For that matter neither did Anthony Farrell, although Andy and some of his bandmates and Anthony were spotted in the back room during the show. In any case, it turned out to be a super fun after-show, and I hope that this was not a one-off event, and that the Trainwreck Express performs again in the not too distant future. Here are my photos from the show.
JJ Grey and Mofro with Andy Frasco Duo	01/17/25	ACL Live	A fantastic performance by JJ Grey and Mofro at ACL Live. JJ Grey is a guitarist, singer, and songwriter from Jacksonville, Fl. With his band Mofro, he plays a mix of swamp rock and southern soul music. I've been following him since his band began touring in the early 2000's and I've always enjoyed his shows. He currently tours with a large band that includes guitar, keyboards, bass, three horn players, two female backing vocalists, and two percussionists. During this show, JJ spent the majority of time on vocals and harmonica, and he play some guitar later in the show. The band played a mix of old and new Mofro tunes, including some of my favorites, "Country Ghetto", "Orange Blossoms", "Lochloosa", and "The Sun Is Shining Down". One of the highlights for me was when JJ brought out guitarist Andrew Trube and keyboardist Anthony Farrell of Austin's Greyhounds, who were members of Mofro for a while. Trube and Farrell played several songs with the full band and a smaller subset on a few tunes. JJ is an excellent songwriter who songs often deal with his experiences growing up in rural Florida. He is also a soulful vocalist who really connects with his audience. All of his band members are outstanding musicians, and JJ gave them each time to shine at some point during the show. I've seen JJ Grey & Mofro perform quite a few times, and this show was as good as any. The opener for the show was the Andy Frasco duo featuring guitarist Shawn Eckels. Andy Frasco is a keyboard player and vocalist who usually plays with his larger band, The U.N.. On this night, he mainly played as a duo, although he added a bass player on a few songs, and two drummers on his final number. Andy's shows are usually quite raucous and high energy, but on this night, he mostly kept things mellow with some quieter original songs. Along with his original songs, he performed Garth Brooks' "Friends in Low Places" and a fun medley of Talking Heads' "Psycho Killer" and "Life During Wartime", which made it a fun start to a great evening of music. Here are JJ Grey's stream/download/setlist, Andy Frasco's stream/download/setlist, and my photos from the show.
Ani DiFranco with Joy Clark	01/16/25	Paramount Theatre	This was Ani DiFranco's first stop on her "Unprecedented Sh!t" Tour, in support of her 2024 album of the same name. Ani is a folky singer-songwriter and social activist who has been performing since around 1990. It was our first time to see her, and I had heard good thing about her performances, so I had high expectations for the show. Her band included a pedal steel player, drummer, and stand-up bass player, who also played keyboard on a couple of songs. Ani plays acoustic guitar with a fairly unique percussive style. Unfortunately, although the band's music was interesting, the sound was so loud and distorted that it was difficult to understand Ani's vocals on most of her songs. Ani was quirky and funny between songs, and the lyrics that I could make out were interesting, so it was unfortunate that the sound issues made the show a bit of a disappointment. On the other hand, the evening's opener, Joy Clark was an unexpected revelation. Joy is a young singer-songwriter and guitarist from New Orleans who recently released her debut album "Tell It to the Wind". Joy sang a number of songs from her album that she introduced with highly personal stories. She has a beautiful voice and displayed some excellent acoustic guitar picking. She also came out later for one of Ani's songs to sing harmony and showed that she is a highly capable electric guitar player as well. I was quite impressed by Joy, and I'll be looking out for her in the future. Here are the setlist and my photos from the show.
My Nextdoor Neighbor and Mother Neff	01/10/25	ABGB	An outstanding show featuring two of my favorite Austin bands who play original jam music. Both feature two excellent guitar players (one for My Next Door Neighbor's also plays keyboards), along with solid bass and drum rhythm sections. The show on Friday was unfortunately lightly attended because of extremely cold weather and the UT playoff football game that night. However, those in attendance were treated to some creative melodic music, interesting jams, and two bands that each offered new and different sounds to their audience. I'd love to see these bands share a bill again in the future, and hopefully next time more of the Austin jam community is able to come out to support them. Here are my photos from the show.
Cracker with Johnny Hickman	01/04/25	3Ten Live	My first live music show of 2025 was an excellent performance by Cracker at 3Ten Live this past Saturday. Cracker is a rock band formed in 1990 by lead singer David Lowery and guitarist Johnny Hickman, following the breakup of Lowery's previous band, Camper Van Beethoven. I've seen them a number of times in recent years, and have always enjoyed their mix of grungy rock and alt-country. In addition to Lowery and Hickman, the band includes bassist Bryan Howard and drummer CoCo Owens. Hickman is a great lead guitarist, which he again demonstrated on this night, but for this tour, the band brought with then a secret weapon, violin player Anne Harris. She apparently joined the band fairly recently, and she blew me away with some of the best rock violin solos I've heard since Papa John Creach. During the evening, Cracker played many of their best known songs including "King of Bakersfield", "Teen Angst (What the World Needs Now)", "Pictures of Matchstick Men", "Euro-Trash Girl", and "Low". They also played several Camper Van Beethoven covers, including "Take the Skinheads Bowling" and "Club Med Sucks", and surprised me with a cover of Jerry Garcia/The Grateful Dead's "Loser" (which I later read had been included on one of Cracker's early albums). Johnny Hickman opened the show with a solo acoustic set, during which he sang a number of his both funny and sad original songs. He was joined on his last few songs by Anne Harris, who played some nice violin along with Johnny's acoustic guitar. The mellower material was a nice warmup for the rocking set that came later in the evening. Here are the setlist and my photos from the show.

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