LIVE MUSIC I'VE SEEN

2007-2008

Artist
Date
Location
Comment
Marcia Ball's Pianorama 12/16/08 Austin Convention Center At the Armadillo Christmas Bazaar. Five excellent piano players all playing at the same time. Along with Marcia were Floyd Domino, Riley Osborne, and Nick Connolly. They mixed it up between Christmas and non-Christmas songs, but it was all a lot of fun. You can get a taste of what it sounded like in this video of Frosty the Snowman
Bonerama, Flyjack, On The One, T Bird & the Breaks, and Uncle Bruno 11/22/08 The Parish Night two of Funky Batz 3rd Annual Funkfest. Bonerama is a mostly trombone band from Newq Orleans who really funked it up, especially when joined by special guest Robert Walter, also from New Orleans on B3. Here is a review of their set. The earlier acts did a good job of showcasing various funk styles as well.
Railroad Earth with Green Mountain Grass 10/28/08 Antone's A great show by this jam band that blends rock and bluegrass and stretches it out into their own unique sound. Their excellent musicianship features multi-instrumentalist Andy Goessling on acoustic guitars, banjo, dobro, mandolin, flute, pennywhistle, and saxophone, along with top notch mandolin and violin players as well. At times their long jams took me into the zone that few bands other than the Grateful Dead have done. You can setlist and download the show here.
"Keep Austin Young: Celebrating The Life of Danny Roy Young" Benefit Concert 10/19/08 Austin Music Hall A show dedicated to the late, great, "Mayor of South Austin", Danny Roy Young. The lineup included: The Cornell Hurd Band, The Antone's House Band All Stars, featuring Derek O'Brien, Riley Osbourn, Frosty and Ronnie James, with Ray Benson and Marcia Ball, James McMurtry and the Heartless Bastards, and Roky Erickson, who was backed by John X Reed, Speedy Sparks, and Mike Buck.
ACL Fest 2008 Logo
www.flickr.com
Buckandi's ACL Festival 2008 photoset Buckandi's ACL Festival 2008 Slideshow
Friday, September 26
Asleep at the Wheel

I almost always start out with Ray Benson & band first thing on Friday, and as usual they played some classic western swing including "San Antonio Rose" and "Faded Love".

Christopher Denny

Country rock from Arkansas.
Yeasayer
 Fairly mellow, spacey rock with Middle Eastern/African flavors that held my attention better than I would have expected.
The Strange Boys

 Garage rock that seemed OK at the time, but didn't stick with me.
Vampire Weekend

 A disappointment. I actually kind of like their bouncy pop on recordings, but I was hoping for more energy and spontaneity live. It just didn't come across for me.
Jakob Dylan and the Gold Mountain Rebels
 Not bad, but not that interesting -- but a lot better than last year's disastrous show by his father.
The Freddy Jones Band
 Un-memorable roots rock.
Jamie Lidell


 The first of what proved to be an abundance of Soul/R&B Acts. I really like this kind of music, but maybe too much of a good thing? In any case, Jamie Lidell is an English soul singer with an Elvis-jump-suited guitar player, a muu-muu wearing dual sax-player, and some interesting electronic vocal effects. This had to be the most original and eclectic of the soul/R&B acts.
Gogol Bordello


 Crazed Gypsy Punk rock featuring a crazed vocalist/guitar player, a mop wig wearing-bass player, a wrestling mask wearing percussionist, accordion, fiddle, and dancing girls. I liked it.
Slightly Stoopid

 The only reggae-flavored act at the festival, but they didn't have the riddum's that I was hoping for.
David Byrne


 Focused on his poly-rhythmic works with Brian Eno. Byrne's voice sounded great, and his much over-looked guitar skills provided much of the accompaniment, along with a keyboard player, two percussionists, and 3 back-up singers. Along with several works he had created with Eno, they played a couple of my favorite Talking Heads songs, "Life During Wartime" and "Once in a Lifetime". Three young interpretive dancers were interesting, but in the end I think were more distraction than benefit to the excellent set.
Antibalas

 Highly political Afrobeat band from New York City. The current political situation seems to inspire them to play with more intensity than ever.
Manu Chao


 A lively and entertaining set of world music that ranged from reggae to Latin to hip-hop. It was an appropriate conclusion to an afternoon filled with a wide spectrum of poly-rhythmic sounds.
Saturday, September 27
Old 97's

Solid alt-country
Concert Supremes
 Energetic gospel from Louisiana
The Fratellis
 Rock from Glasgow -- not bad, but not too exciting.
The Lee Boys


 High energy "sacred steel", in the style of Robert Randolph and the Family Band.
Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings



 The only soul/R&B act to perform on one of the big stage, Sharon Jones showed why she deserved the distinction. She is a dynamic entertainer with a quality band, and definitely held the large crowd's attention with her singing, dancing, and stage presence. One of the highlights was when she brought a guy from backstage to dance with her on a song, who turned out to Austin's own Nakia from Nakia and His Southern Cousins.
Back Door Slam

 Power trio from the Isle of Man. I liked them a lot at last year's ACL, and at this one too, but I had to move on after just a few songs to go see the next act.
Eli "Paperboy" Reed and the True Loves


 A little bit lower key than some of the other R&B performers, with more of an Otis Redding/Sam Cooke smooth style.
Man Man

 Went in expecting crazy, interesting, experimental music. Unfortunately, it was crazy, but not interesting.
Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears
 Some dynamic soul in the James Brown mode from this Austin-based entertainer.
Les Freres Guisse


 Three brothers from Senegal playing their own style of afro-beat world music featuring harmony vocals, percussion, and jangly guitar.
Erykah Badu
 Just heard a bit, but a little too smooth for me.
John Fogerty


 Fogerty rocked. One after another of the best rock songs ever written. Fogerty's vocals and guitar sounded great, and to me he still performs with more energy and enthusiasm than most current artists. And yes, there was a drum solo, but Kenny Aronoff actually is one of the greatest rock drummers in the world, so he can get away with it.
Robert Plant & Alison Krauss


 People who didn't go see this because of preconceptions of what Robert Plant or Alison Krauss would sound like, or even based on their duet album don't know what they missed. The set included a wide ranging set of songs that formed a unique, moody, cohesive sound orchestrated by T-Bone Burnett. The set featured great harmony vocals from Plant and Krauss and an excellent backing band that included Burnett, guitarist Buddy Miller and fiddler Stuart Duncan, not to mention a few nice fiddle solos by Krauss. Highlights for me included Alan Toussaint's "Fortune Teller", an a cappella version of "Down to the River To Pray" (with Krauss singing lead and harmonies from Plant and 2 other male band members, rather than the trio of female vocalists on "O' Brother Where Art Thou"), a slow bluesy version of Led Zeppelin's "Black Dog", and a re-worked version of Zepellin's "The Battle of Evermore." The most hard-rocking Zeppelin sounding song was Townes Van Zandt's "Nothing". All-in-all, one of the most impressive and memorable sets I have seen at ACL.
Sunday, September 28
Nicole Atkins and the Sea
Decent soft rock with sort of a dreamy, eclectic feel.
Belleville Outfit
 Promising young swing band from Austin, featuring Phoebe Hunt on vocals and violin.
Abigail Washburn & the Sparrow Quartet featuring Bela Fleck


Bluegrass and Chinese Folk tunes somehow blend together in this band led by Abigail Washington on vocals and banjo, backed by legendary banjo player Bela Fleck along with top notch fiddle and cello players.
Nakia & His Southern Cousins


 A hot, sweaty, southern tinged soul set from this Austin-based band R&B band.
Adele
 Didn't expect to like her, but this young jazzy singer from England held my attention.
Mike Farris featuring the Roseland Rhytm Revue
 Probably the most intense and dynamic of the many R&B acts, with a bit of a gospel revival flavor.
Against Me!
 Decent punk rock.
Joe Bonamassa

 Look up "guitar wanker" in the encylopedia and see this guy's picture.
Xavier Rudd


 An Australian who played a variety of instruments including didgeridoo to produce some interesting, hypnotic sounds.
Shooter Jennings
 Son of Waylon, but he seems to have missed the outlaw gene.
Blues Traveler

 Sounded like Blues Traveler.
Gnarls Barkley
 Maybe we left too early, but their first few songs were not nearly as interesting as I remember their set at ACL 2 years ago, so we moved on.
White Denim


 A really unique 3-piece hard rocking band. Hard to describe although the Austin Chronicle called their music "post-punk" with the "spastic time changes of math rock". Don't know what that means, but it was unlike anything I've heard and I really liked it.
The Raconteurs


 I enjoyed the hard bluesy rock by Jack White & friends, but didn't get close enough at the huge stage to really get into it.
Galactic
 Outstanding New Orleans Funk, with a little Rap thrown in to spice things up.
Foo Fighters

 Although a lot of people raved about this "headline" act, they didn't do anything for me. It appeared that even the people who liked them stood around like statues while listening to them. I don't think it can be good rock music if it doesn't make you move at all. And a drum solo......by an alternative/grunge band? I stayed longer than I really wanted to hoping to hear something that would change my opinion, but it didn't happen.
The Tailgators and The Steps 09/25/08 Shoal Creek Saloon Bill and Sheri's ACL Fest Pre-Party. The Steps continue to improve as a young straight-ahead rock band, while the Tailgators led by Don Leady played the funky swamp rock that I had not heard in I can't remember in how many years. .
New Monsoon with Green Mountain Grass 09/19/08 The Parish A great show by this jam band that blends world music sounds with rhythmic psychedelic rock. They are down to a five man band, having lost a couple of percussionists, which allows more of the focus to be on their excellent instrumentation. This set featured a lot of their original songs along with a couple of strong covers of "Wooden Ships" and Pink Floyd's "Echos". Here is the full setlist.
My Morning Jacket 08/24/08 Stubb's Bar-B-Q It's hard for me to describe this eclectic band's broad ranging music, but I definitely enjoyed their nearly three hour show. Here is a review from the Austin Chronicle that does a pretty good job. Plus, you can see another review with photos, the setlist, and some video clips here.
Cornell Hurd Band 08/23/08 The Broken Spoke A show dedicated to the late Danny Young, "the Mayor of South Austin". Danny Young played rub board for years in the Cornell Hurd Band and was also the well-known proprieter of the Texicalli Grill. Take a look at the linked article and the many heartfelt comments to remember and appreciate a true Austin original.
Guy Forsyth 07/27/08 Lakeway Resort and Spa Part of KGSR's Live at the Lake series. Guy Forsyth and band put on a good show with their eclectic blend of original music. Guy played guitar, harmonica, and the "singing saw" at this venue featuring a three-tiered pool fronting Lake Travis.
Hot Club of Cowtown 7/26/08 Threadgill's World Headquarters Elana James, Whit Smith, Jake Erwin have reunited after a break, and still playing their unique combination of Hot Jazz & Western Swing.
Los Lonely Boys, with Shawn Sahm & the Tex Mex Experience 07/09/08 Zilker Park Rock Island Texican Rock and Roll, part of KGSR's Blues on the Green series.
Larry Lange & the Lonely Knights 6/29/08 Threadgill's World Headquarters A "Chicano Soul Review", put together by Larry Lange. Larry and his band performed some of his usual blue-eyed soul, and then backed up a number of old San Antonio soul and doo-wop singers from the 50's and 60's, including: Rudy T. Gonzales of Rudy and the Reno Bops, Sonny Ace of Sonny y Los Twisters, Dimas Garza of The Royal Jesters, Henry Parilla, and The Sequence,
Kerrville Logo
www.flickr.com
Buckandi's Kerrville Folk Festival 2008 Music photoset Buckandi's Kerrville Folk Festival 2008 Music Slideshow
Friday, May 30
Scott Ainslie Acoustic blues performer.
Freebo
Freebo who is best known a long time bass player with Bonnie Raitt, now leads his own band as an acoustic guitarist and vocalist. He had stellar back-up guitarist and bass player,and several guest vocalists and musicians, put on an entertaining set. He also showed up throughout the festival as a guest of many other perfomers on bass and tuba.
Sam Lardner & Barcelona Sam Lardner lives in Barcelona and plays with a band of flamenco influenced musicians. It was a nice blend of folk and flamenco guitars and vocals.
Slaid Cleaves A nice set by this Austin based singer-songwriter.
Bob Schneider's Texas Bluegrass Massacre The newest project by Bob Schneider features Jeff Plankenhorn on dobro, and has nothing to do with bluegrass. Bob played some new material, and the closed with his most well known songs, including "Tarantula" which got the whole crowd singing along and on their feet.
Saturday, May 31
Don Sanders, Purly Gates, and Freebo A Children's Concert.
Austin Lounge Lizards These guys are hilarious and great musicians as well. They featured a number of songs from their most recent album, "The Drugs I Need"
Noel Paul Stookey One third of Peter, Paul, and Mary.
Peter Yarrow The second third of Peter, Paul, and Mary. It was Peter's seventieth birthday, so a lot of time was spent celebrating and bring people on and off stage.
Bethany & Rufus Peter's daughter Bethany and virtuoso cellist Rufus Cappadocia, along with percussionist Gaston "Bonga" Jean Baptiste. The whole family affair concluded with a birthday cake for Peter and the manadatory singing of "Puff, The Magic Dragon" with all of the kids they could bring up on stage.
Ronny Cox Some country music.
Band of Heathens By far the most electric set of the two days. These guys rocked with an alt-country sound that was at times reminiscent of Little Feat and Drive by Truckers. Thet showed a lot of talent with three songwriters taking turns on lead vocals and guitar.
Heybale 5/25/08 Continental Club A great performance, as usual. This time, Redd Volkaert & Earl Poole Ball and the gang were joined by special guests Cindy Cashdollar and Erik Hokkanen.
Marc Broussard 4/25/08 Antone's This soulful crooner from Louisiana certainly had the large crowd in his pocket, but it didn't quite do it for me. The horn section and backup singer that I was told that he had with him for his last show in Austin might have helped.
Nick Lowe, with Ron Sexsmith 4/18/08 Antone's Nick Lowe put on one of the most entertaining solo acoustic shows that I can remember. He has a great voice and great songs and has that dry British sense of humor. Ron Sexsmith opened with a nice sol set of his own.
Son Volt, with Bobby Bare Jr. 4/17/08 Antone's Son Volt put on a pretty good show, although Jay Farrar sure looks depressed all the time. Bobby Bare's opening set was painfully loud and distorted.
The Mother Truckers, Octopus Project, and Kellye Gray 04/12/08 Downtown Austin - Cesar Chavez At Art City Austin.
Joe Ely, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Butch Hancock, Terry Allen, and Reckless Kelly 4/10/08 Antone's At Jessefest, dedicated to Jesse "Guitar" Taylor ...
George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic, Chubby Carrier & the Bayou Swamp Band, Cowboy Mouth, with Bonerama, and Dr. Zog & Funk Zydeco 04/05/08 Downtown Austin - MLK & Congress At the Louisiana Swamp Thing & Crawfish Festival. George Clinton and the full gang with something like 40 people on stage. Unfortunately Bonearama had travel problems and were only able to add some horn section to Cowboy Mouth's typical wild show. Chubby Carrier and Dr. Zog played a couple of fun Zydeco sets.
The Steps 03/21/08 Threadgill's World Headquarters Good young Austin band, influenced by Stones, Lou Reed, and Modern Lovers. Good show, but I wished they would have had more than 45 minutes of material.
SxSW Logo Mar08
Junior Brown and Shelby Lynne 03/14/08 Austin Music Hall A SxSW show. Junior Brown was great as usual on his guit-steel with his hard-core country and a bit of surf music. He finished with a tribute to the late drummer Buddy Miles, of Jimi Hendrix fame, who had played in Junior Brown's band for a time. Shelby Lynne played mostly songs from her new album which is inspired by Dusty Springfield. Unfortunately, I found it incredibly boring.
Daniel Lanois 03/14/08 Austin Convention Center A SxSW show being broadcast by DirectTV from what they called The Bat Bar. The famous producer played mostly atmospheric instrumental guitar, acompanied only by drummer Brian Blade. You can download a 12-minute version of his opening song, "The Maker", here.
Rattletree Marimba 03/14/08 Agave Zimbabwean style marimba band based in Austin. Pretty decent dance music
Paul Metzger 03/14/08 Spiro's Some of the strangest, eeriest music that I've ever heard. Metzger plays a heavily modified 21-string banjo, frequently with a bow. It sounded Eastern at times, and always different, to say the least.
Joey Cape 03/14/08 Headhunters A short acoustic set by this singer from San Francisco.
British Sea Power 03/14/08 The Mohawk A pretty good band that has been compared to Joy Division and The Pixies.
Joe Hell & the Red Roosters 03/14/08 The Blind Pig Pub Some sleazy blues and slide guitar work.
Airline 03/14/08 BD Riley's Irish Pub Some good solid rock by a young Dallas band.
Daniela Cotton 03/13/08 Opal Divine's Freehouse A very soulful singer.
Guitar Shorty 03/13/08 Opal Divine's Freehouse Some dynamic blues by this veteran blues guitarist.
Vallejo 03/13/08 The Tiniest Bar in Texas
Cornell Hurd Band 03/13/08 Jovita's With special guest Bill Kirchen sitting in on guitar.
They Might Be Giants with Oppenheimer 3/05/08 Stubb's Bar-B-Q I was able to be on the guest list for this show, thanks to my wife's college roomate's husband, Victor, who is TMBG's guitar tech. Although I was not real familiar with TMBG's music, I really enjoyed the show. Very fun music, great muscianship, and entertaining in-between song banter. Oppenheimer, which is two young guys from Ireland were a pretty decent opening act. Thanks to Victor & Janice for thinking of us!
Alan Haynes 2/22/08 Evangaline Cafe A really great blues guitarist who has been around Austin for a while, including a stint in the Antone's House Band in the 1990's. Outstanding playing on some classic blues, as well as some excellent Jimi Hendrix. Thanks to Peter K. for suggesting this.
Antone's House Band All Stars 2/14/08 The Long Center for the Performing Arts The first public event at Austin's new performing arts center at the former Palmer Auditorium location. It was billed as a "concert tuning" event to help adjust the sound system with an audience present. The venue seems nice -- not overly fancy, because they reused a lot of materials from Palmer to save money -- but it seems quite functional and offers great views of the city from the upstairs balcony and large courtyard in front. The music featured the Antone's house blues band, including Malford Milligan, David Grissom, Derek O'Brien,Riley Osborne, Barry "Frosty" Smith, and Larry Fulcher with their usual solid blues set.
Dax Riggs with Dustin Welch and the House Band 2/09/08 Continental Club I first saw Dax Riggs at ACL this year and got bored after a couple of songs. For some reason I thought it would be different in a smaller venue, but it wasn't, although the unusually young crowd for the Continental Club seemed to love his droning songs and simple guitar strumming. I did enjoy Dustin Welch and his band, with their jamming, although loud harmony vocals, guitar, banjo, and violin.
Grace Potter and the Nocturnals 1/23/08 Stubb's Bar-B-Q A really excellent show. Grace is a talented songwriter and musician, has a hot band, and is great looking as well. Her material ranges from blues to rock to soul. Her original material rocked, and the band also did a nice job on cover songs "Mystery Train" and Neil Young's "Down by the River". Here is a review & photos from the show.
Shawn Mullins with Amy Cook 1/12/08 Cactus Cafe The first time I had seen Shawn Mullins. I was impressed with his singing and guitar playing on his own songs as well as covers from James McMurtry, Kris Kristofferson, and Steve Earle. Amy Cook opened up with some nice singer-songwriter material as well.
Kathleen Edwards 1/09/08 Continental Club Kathleen sounded great on some new material from her forthcoming album and some older material. She played with her husband, guitarist Colin Cripps. They apparently have been staying in Austin for a few weeks, and she said they may be coming back soon for a longer stay. I hope so.
Heybale 12/23/07 Austin Convention Center As ususal, some fine traditional country music by Heybale, featuring former members of Johny Cash's and Merle Haggards's bands. At the Armadillo Christmas Bazaar.
Particle with House of Fools 12/15/07 Antone's Particle's previous instrumental keyboard-driven combination of funk, rock, and electronica has now been supplemented by guitar, with vocals on some songs. Still a very fun and energetic performance. Members of House of Fools joined them on several numbers as well.
The Knitters and The Hacienda Brothers 12/8/07 Continental Club The Knitters feature John Doe, Exene Cervenka, and D.J. Bonebrake from the band, X, along with Dave Alvin on guitar. They played mostly retro-country with a punk a flavor. John Doe and Exene have interesting vocal harmonies, and Dave Alvin played some great lead guitar, although I had hopoed he would sing and perform some of his own material. The Hacienda Brothers have an interesting style they call "Western Soul". It's a blend of hard-core country and peddle steel guitar with soul music, and it actually works pretty well, even when they throw some accordian into the mix.
Nickel Creek with Tom Brosseau 11/17/07 Stubb's Bar-B-Q One of the last stops on Nickel Creek's "Farewell (For Now) Tour". I enjoyed all of their original tunes and fine bluegrass playing, but especially fun were covers of The Jackson Five's "I Want You Back" and Britney Spears' "Toxic".
Booker T. and the MG's featuring Steve Cropper and Duck Dunn, with William Bell and Eddie Floyd 11/08/07 Palmer Events Center An event sponsored by Antone's to benefit "Help Clifford Help Kids" on the Stax 50th Anniversary tour. During the first part of the show, Booker T., Steve Cropper, and Duck Dunn showed off their skill and versatility on songs ranging from jazz and blues to gospel and Carribean, and of course the classic "Green Onions". Then, they brought back a large dose of the Stax Records material they are best know for with vocalists William Bell (songwriter on many Stax classics), and Eddie Floyd (best known for "Knock on Wood"). They finishing up with the Otis Redding classic (co-written by Steve Cropper) "(Sittin' on) the Dock of the Bay". Jimmie Vaughan joined them for Bell's "Born Under A Bad Sign", a song made famous by Albert King and Cream among others.
Larry Lange & the Lonely Knights 11/02/07 Evangaline Cafe An entertaining show at this Cajun eatery. His music draws from the San Antonio & Beaumont/Port Arthur school of classic R&B, Blue-Eyed Soul, Swamp Pop, and Tejano, much in the flavor of Doug Sahm.
Wanda Jackson and Elana James with Erik Hokkanen 10/15/07 Continental Club A fun evening. It was rockabilly legend Wanda Jackson's 70th birthday party. She played her material from the 50's and a whole lotta Elvis (whom she dated in the 50's, pre-Priscilla). Elana James played some of her Hot Jazz violin and country fiddle, accompanied by Erik Hokkanen on electric guitar, along with an excellent acoustic bassist.
ACL Fest 2007 Logo
ACL Fest Flickr Slideshow
Friday, September 14
Asleep at the Wheel

A traditional start with some Western Swing from Ray Benson and Asleep at the Wheel.

Heartless Bastards

Some good solid rock. For some reason I was expecting more of a country sound.
Del McCoury Band


 Traditional bluegrass.
The Wonderful Harmonizers

 Some pretty good Gospel.
Amy Lavere


 I enjoyed her energetic delivery and acoustic bass sound.
Will Hoge


 Enjoyable rock-and-roll.
The Dynamites featuring Charles Walker


 One of my favorite discoveries of the festival. Sort of a "Blues Brothers" style R&B and soul review with a great horn section and frontman Charles Walker who played in the '60s and '70s with the legends at the Apollo Theater.
Manchester Orchestra

 Didn't do much for me.
Joss Stone


 A fun set. Her soulful voice, which at time seems a bit forced, doesn't quite fit with her youthful good looks. But somehow she pulls it off with energy and enthusiasm, a solid band, and a nice mix of slower ballads and uptempo dance songs.

J.J. Grey & Mofro

 I always love J.J. Grey and his band, and they put on their usual solid set of original, swampy blues-based tunes, this time with a horn section.
Andy Palacio and the Garifuna Collective

 Supposedly Andy Palacio is the most popular musician in Belize. I really enjoyed his unique Garifuna sound, which blends native indigenous music, language and traditions with influences from Latin America, the Caribbean, and West Africa.
James Hunter

 I typically like James Hunter's music, but somehow it wasn't doing it for me at the outdoor stage.
Queens of the Stone Age

 Not my thing.
Spoon

 Just heard a few songs, but I thought their new material and big band with horn section worked pretty well on the big stage.
Gotan Project

 Very eclectic world beat/electronica music with an interesting stage setup. I wish I had stayed to hear more of them rather than going to hear...
Kaiser Chiefs

 More not my thing.
Björk

 A review in the paper the next day said that everybody in the crowd was dancing ecstatically to the "hit songs" of this strange woman from Iceland. Those must have been the true believers up front. From where I was towards the back, everyone was leaving shaking their heads after just a few songs. I joined the mass exodus before long.
Saturday, September 15
Dax Riggs


I enjoyed this solid rock set by this former Deadboy & the Elephantmen singer. He seemed to have a bit of a Jim Morrison complex, but pulled it off pretty well.
Back Door Slam


 A young trio from The Isle of Man. They played blues rock ranging in style from Muddy Waters to Hendrix, with some good original material as well. I liked it.
Raul Malo


 As usual, fine crooning vocals and a range of songs with a tight band.
The Legendary Soul Stirrers


 Surprisingly good gospel-soul set. Although only one band member, lead singer Willie Rogers, looks old enough to go back as far as their Sam Cooke days in the 60s, they still put on a fine show featuring impressive harmonies.
Cary Ann Hearst & the Gun Street Girls

 Some fun twangy rock by the young Cary Ann and her band.
Augustana

 Didn't do it for me.
Railroad Earth


 One of my favorite discoveries of the Fest. The played long jamming bluegrass songs featuring fiddle, mandolin, dobro, and banjo, with more than a little Grateful Dead influence.
Steve Earle

 I normally like Steve Earle a lot, but the part of the show I saw that was mostly solo acoustic didn't quite penetrate the large crowd.
Stephen Marley


 A strong Reggae set, with the expected large proportion of Bob Marley and the Wailers material.
Ocote Soul Sounds

 I was a bit disappointed by this band led by Martín Perna, the creator of Antibalas, along with Adrian Quesada of Grupo Fantasma. They were too jazz influenced and lacked the danceable rhythms that I had expected.
Zap Mama


 Fun world music.
BeauSoliel


 I always enjoy BeauSoleil, and I thought they played an especially hot set of Cajun music on this day.
Damien Rice

 Although I enjoy Damien Rice's thoughtful songs and acoustic music, I was afraid that it wouldn't cut it at the large outdoor venue. But I was actually pleasantly surprised that he rocked it up a bit and the crowd was quiet enough that he was able to be heard pretty well at the large stage.
Aterciopelados


 This South American Band from Columbia had what was probably the most rabidly enthusiastic audience that I saw at this year's festival. I thought the band sounded pretty good, but I wasn't having the ecstatic reaction that most of the hard core fans in the crowd seemed to be having.
Indigo Girls

 Just the two Girls playing guitars. I have enjoyed previous shows I've seen by them with a full band, but the twosome alone seemed a bit flat to me.
Arcade Fire


 Obviously the huge crowd of young fans loved these guys, but I just didn't get it. They had a pretty cool stage set up and impressive light show, and played a wide variety of instruments well, but to me, they lacked a distinctive or memorable sound.
Sunday, September 16
Ryan Shaw


I really enjoyed this young soul singer, who at times reminded me of a young Stevie Wonder or Al Green. I think he has a bright future.
The Jones Family Singers


 Some fun Gospel. A large family band, who at one point got the crowd fully engaged by roaming around throughout the audience.
The National

 Another not my thing.
Grace Potter & the Nocturnals


 Another one of my favorite new acts at the festival. Grace Potter palys both Hammond organ and guitar, and has a strong backing band. Her music has elements that remind me of Lucinda Williams and Neil Young with strong hooks, solid vocals, and long electric jams (which may have been a bit too much for some, but worked for me).
Kara Grainger


 She has been called the Bonnie Raitt of Australia, and she indeed has a similar sound. I enjoyed her set, but would have preferred more grit in her delivery, which seemed just a bit too smooth to me for my taste.
Ian Ball


 Some fun rock by Ian Ball, normally lead singer of Gomez, who obviously had a good time playing with his own band as a solo artist.
Ziggy Marley


 I only heard one song by the Reggae star at the Austin Kiddie Limits stage.
DeVotchKa


 I really liked this Denver quartet who mix rock with Eastern European dance music, with interesting instumentation including violin, sousaphone, and bouzouki.
Charlie Musselwhite

 A solid classic blues set.
Bloc Party

 Just heard a bit of this band. Although hip-hop is not normally my thing, I though they were actually pretty good.
Patterson Hood


 Mostly acoustic set of depressing southern songs by the lead singer of Drive By Truckers.
Rose Hill Drive

 More noisy rock.
Regina Spektor


 Sounded like a non-self-absorbed version of Tori Amos.
Preservation Hall Jazz Band

 Traditional New Orleans Jazz.
Amos Lee

 Wanted to be bluesy, but was too pop for my taste.
My Morning Jacket


 Probably the most visually entertaining set that I saw. The stage was decorated with a Polynesian Island backdrop, they came on stage with goggles and snorkels, and they had girls in hula skirts holding up pineapple in various poses throughout the set. I'm not sure what it meant or what it had to do with the music, but it was definitely fun to watch. And although I don't really remember the music, it seemed pretty good at the time.
The Decemberists

 The final show before the big Bob Dylan finale. I enjoyed their quirky indie sound, although I didn't find their lyrics as interesting or clever as pre-show descriptions had led me to expect.
Bob Dylan & His Band


 What a disappointment. I have seen Dylan before, and his voice has ranged from rough to non-intelligible, but it has never been this bad. In fact, I'm not sure if any other professional singer would go on stage sounding like that. Tom Waits would sound like a canary by comparison. The closest description I could come up with is Clarence "Frogman" Henry's frog voice with laryngitis. To make matters worse, they (I assume Dylan) dictated that the big screen could only show two stationary camera shots, a long shot of the entire band, and slightly less long shot of Dylan along with his drummer and pedal steel player. I suppose the idea was to prevent anyone from "stealing" a useful video off of the screen, but the result was that there were no close-ups of any of the band members, no visual interest on the screen, and the majority of the huge crowd could not really see what was going on. On the plus side, the band sounded excellent, especially Austin's Denny Freeman on guitar, and the choice of material including "The Levee’s Gonna Break", "Tangled Up in Blue", "Highway 61 Revisited", "Like a Rolling Stone", and "I Shall Be Released" was quite good. Dylan's voice did actually improve somewhat towards the end, but not enough to make up for the overall letdown of a show.
The Steps and Dash Riprock

09/13/07 Shoal Creek Saloon Bill and Sheri's ACL Fest Pre-Party. Dash put on their usual fun show featuring music from their new disk "Hee Haw Hell" along with their classics such as "Stairway to Freebird", and a rocking version of Amy Winehouse's "Rehab", dedicated to The White Stripes. The young Austin band The Steps lived up to the hype of their XL cover story by rocking through a series of original tunes and one well-chosen cover, "Roadrunner" by The Modern Lovers. Thanks to Bill and Sheri for the great food, drink, and music! A great way to start off ACL Fest weekend.
Ladyfingers 08/15/07 Carousel Lounge According to one reviewer, lead vocalist and songwriter Adam Weiner "manages to variously channel Elvis, Screaming Jay Hawkins, and Dion".
"The Jimmy Reed Highway", featuring Omar Dykes, Jimmie Vaughan, Lou Ann Barton, Gary Clark Jr, and Derek O'Brien 08/08/07 Zilker Park Rock Island Part of KGSR's Blues on the Green series. A great show dedicated to the legendary bluesman, "The Big Boss Man", Jimmy Reed. Jimmie Vaughan put more energy into his guitar playing than I've seen in years. Omar just sang and played harmonica rather than his usual guitar, but with Jimmie, Derek, and Gary, there were plenty of guitars to go around.
Leo Nocentelli Supagroup, Papa Mali Trio, and The New Mastersounds

07/29/07 La Zona Rosa Night two of Funky Batz 2nd Annual Funkfest. The headlining "Supagroup" was led by Leo Nocentelli from The Meters backed by Stanton Moore, Rob Mercurio, and Rich Vogel from Galactic. The surprise guest was Ivan Neville sitting in on keyboards for a couple of classic Meters songs. But the bigger surprise was "American Idol" Taylor Hicks joining the band for one song on harmonica, and he did a surprisingly good job. Papa Mali was his usual funky self. The New Mastersounds were a solid funk band from England.
The Midnight Disturbers, Papa Grows Funk, and Will Bernard Trio 07/28/07 La Zona Rosa Night one of Funky Batz 2nd Annual Funkfest. The Midnight Disturbers were a New Orleans All Star Brass band featuring Stanton Moore & Ben Ellman from Galactic, Skerik, Kevin O'Day, and others. Papa Grows Funk was my highlight of the evening. The Will Bernard Trio was a bit too jazzy for my taste. And unfortunately, Mingo Fishtrap had to cancel because their lead singer was ill, but the horn section provided some additional fire on a number of songs by the other bands.
Todd Snider 07/22/07 Lakeway Resort and Spa Part of KGSR's Live at the Lake series. A very unique venue in which to hear Todd Snider, with a three-tiered pool fronting Lake Travis.
Ian McLagan & the Bump Band 07/18/07 Zilker Park Rock Island Part of KGSR's Blues on the Green series.
Arnett Howard and Friends and Champipple 07/15/07 Westerville (Ohio) Music and Arts Festival Arnett Howard's Band did some nice soul, blues, reggae, and funk covers, while Champipple played a funky instrumental set.
The Pete Best Band 06/28/07 Threadgill's World Headquarters Pete Best was the original drummer of The Beatles. He and his band covered the early Beatles from the 1960-62 era. Pete was never a great drummer, so he had another drummer in the band to help out. But the three vocalists, all supposedly from Liverpool, who played the John, Paul, and George roles were really able to recreate the early Beatles Merseybeat sound. Here is a review By Margaret Moser.
Ruthie Foster with Papa Mali 06/13/07 Zilker Park Rock Island Part of KGSR's Blues on the Green series.
The N'Awlins Funkmasters with Porter, Batiste and Stoltz 04/29/07 The Howlin' Wolf Some of the best music I heard the entire Jazz Fest weekend. The N'awlins Funkmasters was an all-star band featuring Bernie Worrell, from Parliament/Funkadelic and The Talking Heads, George Porter and Leo Nocentelli from The Meters, Henry Butler, Russell Batiste, Tony Hall, Skerik and a couple of other horn players, and guest Ivan Neville. The band really layed down the funk, and the combination of the best of New Orleans with Bernie Worrell's unique synthesized keyboards made it some of the best funk shows that I've had the pleasure of listening to.
Dr. John 04/28/07 Tipitina's A classic Dr. John show at the classic New Orleans venue, featuring a five-man horn section.
Jazzfest 2007 Logo
Friday, April 27
J. J. Grey & Mofro

A great start to the Fest. One of my favorite bands led by J.J. Grey's soulful singing. They played lots of new material along with their usual swamp funk. And for the first time that I've seen, they were supplemented by a horn section.
Swamp-Blues Guitar Summit featuring Lil' Buck Sinegal and Rudy Richard Some good Louisiana blues by a couple of veterans.
Creole Wild West Mardi Gras Indians A nice taste of Mardi Gras.
The Subdudes As ususual, an enjoyable set from this funky band.
Bryan Lee & The Blues Power Band More good blues.
Lafayette Rhythm Devils An acoustic Cajun band.
Dr. John

The Good Doctor.
T-Bone Burnett A bit too mellow for my taste.
Trombone Shorty & Orleans Ave. Despite his name, mostly played trumpet.
Lucky Peterson Even more good blues.
Bonerama A band mostly made up of trombones. A nice blend of jazz and New Orleans funk.
Van Morrison

Nice versions of classic Van Morrison. But I might have been more impressed had I not seen a very similar set at the ACL Festival last September.
Lucinda Williams Lucinda sounded good as usual.
Geno Delafose & French Rockin' Boogie Some great zydeco. Especially cool was when Geno brought a teenage kid on stage who played some mean accordian of his own.
Amazones Women drummers from Guinea.
Percy Sledge

Some old school R&B. Percy wore a sharp suit, and the highlight was when he brought his wife up onstage and got down on his knees to sing to her.
Saturday, April 28
Shannon McNally

I enjoyed her Americana sound and fine band, and she looked good too.
Mem Shannon & the Membership More excellent blues.
Ray Abshire Traditional Cajun accordian.
Jon Cleary & the Absolute Monster Gentleman Funky New Orleans R&B.
New Orleans Klezmer All Stars Their usual entertaining blend of Klezmer and frenzied New Orleans Jazz.
The Electrifying Crown Seekers This gospel group lived up to their electrifying billing.
Henry Butler Another fine set by Henry Butler, carrying on the legacy of Professor Longhair and other great New Orleans piano giants.
Friends of Bobby Charles

Unfortunately, the reclusive songwriter, famous for songs such as "See You Later Alligator", "Walking to New Orleans", and "Tennessee Blues", didn't show up. Reportedly, one of his excuses was a dream that he would be shot during his performance at Jazz Fest. However to make up for it, friends including Sonny Landreth, Shannon McNally, Dr. John, and Marcia Ball turned out to perform his songs in one of the best all-star sets of the Festival.
Johnny Rivers

Best known for "Secret Agent Man' Johnny put on a surprisingly good set of music. He performed a variety of material from his long and versatile career, featuring both songs he wrote and covers that he is known for such as "The Midnight Special" and "Rockin' Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu".
Richie Havens

A definite throwback to the 60's. The music was spiced up by some interesting cello accompaniment.
Steve Riley & the Mamou Playboys A rocking Cajun set.
Linda Hopkins A great voice. Her music combines Jazz, Blues, and broadway show tunes.
Rod Stewart We had to go see a few songs, just to say we did. I thought it sucked. He mostly did songs from his most recent album of covers.
Sunday, April 29
Theresa Andersson Group

A decent set, although Theresa didn't tear it up on her violin as she has most of the times that I've seen her.
Jean Knight & her Knights of Rhythm

 We saw her perform her hit, "Mr. Big Shot".
Hot Club of New Orleans

 Some well-played New Orleans-style Hot Jazz, ala Django Reinhardt and Stephan Grappelli.
The New Orleans Social Club featuring George Porter and Leo Nocentelli from The Meters, with Ivan Neville, Henry Butler, and drummer Raymond Weber

This New Orleans super-group was joined by guest vocalists Dr. John, Irma Thomas, Willie Tee, and John Bouttee. Although the set was marred by some early sound problems, it was still a fitting tribute to New Orleans by some of the best.
Jerry Lee Lewis & the Killer Band

"The Killer" looked shaky making his way to the piano, but once he got up there, he could still pound the keys. He and his band tore up most of his classic songs and tunes from his recent CD.
Gillian Welch

Normally an acoustic singer-songwriter has trouble capturing the audience in a setting such as this, but Gillian and her partner pulled it off with some energetic and entertaining songs.
Rosie Ledet & the Zydeco Playboys

 Some fun Zydeco.
The New Orleans Bingo! Show

The Bingo Club is more about Vaudeville-style performance art than music. The Bingo Club consists of a bunch of costumed crazy people making noise with a saw, theremin, bullhorn, and all kinds of toys and mechanical devices, while backing up Clint Maedgen's songs and keyboard playing, and jumping off of the stage and running around in the audience. Definitely a unique and entertaining way to wrap up Jazz Fest.
Bonnie Raitt

 Just caught a couple of songs on our way out.
Big Al Carson 04/27/07 The Funky Pirate Big Al has to weigh around 500 pounds, but he has a way with those blues and soul vocals, as well as the ladies.
Geno Delafose & French Rockin' Boogie and Chris Ardoin & Double Clutchin' 04/26/07 The Mid-City Lanes Rock-n-Bowl No better way to start off a Jazz Fest weekend than with some great Zydeco and bowling.
Aretha Franklin 04/19/07 Bass Concert Hall The Queen of Soul has still got it. Her voice sounded fantastic, and she was backed by an excellent big band that included ten horns and five female back-up singers. She started out fast with her hits "Respect", "Natural Woman", and "Think", and then went on to mix in gospel and blues with other great songs such as "Chain of Fools" and "Freeway of Love". A review and pictures here.
Joe Ely with Joel Guzman , plus Brothers and Systers 04/15/07 Waterloo Records At the 25th Anniversary Celebration of Waterloo Records.
Will Taylor and Strings Attached 04/14/07 Republic Square Park At the Austin Fine Arts Festival. Will Taylor and his band provide string-enhanced covers of The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, and Jimi Hendrix.
Henry Butler and Midnight Jam with Papa Mali, Cyril Neville, and Big Sam, plus Sideshow Burlesque and Morning 40 Federation 03/31/07 Downtown Austin - MLK & Congress At the Louisiana Swamp Thing & Crawfish Festival. The jam session featuring New Orleans R&B classics was a lot of fun, reminiscent of some great Neville Brothers / Meters shows I have seen.
Southern Culture on the Skids with James McMurtry 03/28/07 Continental Club A rockin' show.
Little Richard
Little Richard at 40 Acres Fest
3/24/07 UT Tower Part of the UT Forty Acres Fest. Little Richard is more suited for Geico commercials these days. He complained a lot about the sound of his piano, said "Don't I look pretty?" and "Shut Up!" a thousand times, and sang and played ony bits and pieces of his hits. But overall, it was still a pretty fun time with this rock-and-roll hall-of-famer.
Commander Cody and The Lost Planet Airmen 3/23/07 Threadgill's World Headquarters A good performance by the Commander and his band, featuring many classics that he had performed many times in the past at the nearby Armadillo World Headquarters.
SxSW Logo Mar07
Raye Sharpe backed by Charlie Sexton and Augie Meyers, Jay Chevalier, Herb Remington, Lil Buck Sinegal with Stanley “Buckwheat” Dural, Tammy Lynn with Willie Tee, Flaming Arrows Mardi Gras Indians, Barbara Lynn, Dennis Coffey, and Archie Bell 03/16/07 Opal Divine's Freehouse The Ponderosa Stomp, which celebrates the unsung heroes of blues, soul, rockabilly, swamp pop, and New Orleans R&B. See some reviews here. My highlights included Herb Remington, pedal steel player for Bob Wills' Texas Playboys; Lil Buck Sinegal on guitar and Stanley "Buckwheat" Dural on organ who had both played with Clifton Chenier backing R&B singers Tammy Lynn and Willie Tee; and Barbara Lynn's hot blues set.
White Ghost Shivers, Joseph Israel, and Rocky Dawuni 03/16/07 Redrum Some good Reggae and the always entertaining White Ghost Shivers at a party sponsored by High Times Magazine.
Los Straitjackets with Big Sandy 03/15/07 Continental Club A SxSW show, with the normally instrumental group Los Straitjackets accompanied on a number of songs by vocalist Big Sandy. They did some entertaining versions of rock classics such as "All Day and All Of The Night", "Lonely Teardrops", and "Mother In Law".
The Dansettes 03/15/07 The Blind Pig Pub Sort of a Sixties Girl Group act.
Cornell Hurd Band 03/15/07 Jovita's
Bobby Whitlock & CoCo Carmel, Barbara Kooyman, Michelle Shocked, Carrie Rodriguez, Ian McClagan & the Bump Band, Shawn Sahm and the Tex Mex Experience with Augie Meyers and Flaco Jimenez, James Cotton, Jimmie Vaughan, Derek O'Brien, and Gary Clark, Jr. 03/14/07 Austin Convention Center The Austin Music Awards. You can see some reviews and photos from The Austin Chronicle and Statesman here. The highlight was an appearance by Pete Townsend who joined Ian McClagan's Bump Band in a tribute to Ronnie Lane. Also on the bill were Bobby Whitlock, former member of Derek & the Dominos, Barbara K and friends promoting their Texamericana non-profit, former members of the Texas Tornados in a tribute to Doug Sahm, a blues tribute to Clifford Antone, and an apperance by Sam the Sham, who was supposed to perform, but didn't.
Madeleine Peyroux with Richard Julian 02/24/07 The Paramount Theater An enjoyable performance by this jazzy singer, although not quite what I had hoped.
The Greyhounds 02/16/07 Lamberts My first time at this venue, a fancy, upscale place that seems more Dallas than Austin. Quite a contrast from the grungy Scoot Inn. But The Greyhounds did put on a good set of funky, swampy blues featuring some fine keyboards and guitar.
Monsieur Jeffrey Evans, and Ross Johnson with Walter Daniels, Eve Monsees, and The Golden Boys 02/16/07 Scoot Inn Claims to be built in 1871 and the oldest continuously running beer joint in central Texas, and it looks it. Monsieur Jeffrey Evans and Ross Johnson were supposed to be overlooked "Memphis Legends" making a rare Austin appearance. They can keep it that way as far as I am concerned. They spent most of the set yelling at each other and the crowd, and the music they did play was loud guitar, drum banging, and screaming. Eve and the Exiles were good, especially when Walter Daniels joined them on guitar.
Coco Montoya 02/16/07 Antone's Some solid blues guitar.
New Riders of the Purple Sage 01/24/07 Stubb's Bar-B-Q A revived version of the New Riders, who haven't toured under that name in over twenty years. The group included one of the two original founders, David Nelson, and original pedal steel player Buddy Cage, but not co-founder John "Marmaduke" Dawson. It was a really enjoyable show, better than I expected actually. Lots of old songs mixed with some new material and covers, nice harmony vocals, and some Grateful Dead-like extended jams. Buddy Cage sounded great on pedal steel, and the highlight of the evening was a surprising three-song guest appearance by ninety-three year-old blues great Pinetop Perkins.
Big Sam's Funky Nation with Uncle Bruno 01/12/07 Ruta Maya A New Orleans funk show, complete with red beans and rice. Big Sam is a trombone player, formerly with The Dirty Dozen Brass Band. To spice things up, they were joined by Papa Mali on guitar and Topaz on sax. Uncle Bruno played a funky opening set featuring a tribute to the late, great Godfather of Soul James Brown.

Upcoming Shows
2025 Live Music I've Seen
2023-2024 Live Music I've Seen
2021-2022 Live Music I've Seen
2019-2020 Live Music I've Seen
2017-2018 Live Music I've Seen
2015-2016 Live Music I've Seen
2013-2014 Live Music I've Seen
2011-2012 Live Music I've Seen
2009-2010 Live Music I've Seen
2007-2008 Live Music I've Seen
2005-2006 Live Music I've Seen
2003-2004 Live Music I've Seen
2001-2002 Live Music I've Seen
1999-2000 Live Music I've Seen
1997-1998 Live Music I've Seen




Buck's Live Music Page