LIVE MUSIC I'VE SEEN

Dr. Dog seems to get better everytime I see them. Catchy melodies, great harmonies, excellent musicianship, and a happy-go-luck attitide make each show a lot of fun. Some good pictures and reviews are available here and here. The opening set by Here We Go Magic wasn't too bad. They had kind of a psychedlic sound that was at times reminiscent of Pink Floyd.

Chris Isaak with Amy Cook

10/13/10

Chris Isaak put on a great show. He is hilarious, has a tight band, is an excellent vocalist, and plays some great songs. I particularly enjoyed several Elvis songs and one of his sidemen's version of Alvin Crow's "Nyqil Blues". He also sported a disco ball suit that was pretty cool.

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Buckandi's ACL Festival 2010 photoset

Schedules: Friday, October 8 \| Saturday, October 9 \| Sunday, October 10
*Favorites*
JJ Grey & Mofro	As usual, a swampy, funky set, but first thing on Friday was too early of a slot for my taste.
The Mountain Goats	Lead singer John Darnielle is crazy, but writes clever lyrics and pumps it up when he banged out rhythms with his 2 bandmates
Qbeta	This Siclian band played a lively eclectic danceable world music mix, and really got the tent going
Nortec Collective Presents: Bostitch & Fussible	Unique act from Mexico, dressed in traditional Black Norteno style with 3 traditional instruments (guitar, trumpet, and accordion), along with and two guys playing eletronica on what I later heard were IPads in front of a large computer panel. Had a fun danceable sound.
Robert Randolph & The Family Band	His best set that I've seen since his remarkable appearance at ACL 1. Sacred steel backed by a strong band and lots of energy
Gogol Bordello	Crazy gypsy rock
Muse	Really impressed by this 3 piece English band's original explosive "stadium" rock show
Grace Potter & the Nocturnals	She looked great in a short gold glittery min-skirt and ulra-high heels, and she and her band rocked. I especially enjoyed their version of "White Rabbit".
Beats Antique	Creative danceable world music with several special guests including a belly dancer and a stage full of people wearing animal masks for an encore
Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue	A funky New Orleans dance party. Troy "Shorty" Andrews was impressive on both trombone & trumpet
Richard Thompson	Richard Thompson was incredible on guitar and with his tight three piece band rocked the tent with one of the best sets of the fest
*Other Highlights*
Those Darlins	Young female rockers with attitude
Phish	A nice set of jam-band improvisation
The Jones Family Singers	High energy gospel family band
The Dough Rollers	Sons of movie stars Harrison Ford & Gabriel Byrne played old-time acoustic blues with conviction
Monsters of Folk	All star-band that included M. Ward (She and Him), Jim James (My Morning Jacket), Conor Oberst and Mike Mogis (Bright Eyes), and Will Johnson of Austin's Centro-matic played a wide range of fun and interesting music.
Ozomatli	Danceable Latin world music
Deadmau5	Crazy light show and danceable electronica from a guy wearing a giant mouse head
Ashley Cleveland & Kenny Greenberg	A lively threesome doing energetic bluesy gospel
The Relatives	More high energy gospel funk
The Flaming Lips	Crazy show that started out with the band crawling out of a giant on screen vagina, and then went on to feature leader Wayne Coyne rolling around the audience in his "space ball", followed by exploding confetti, lots of balloons, and crazy on-screen graphics. I think there was some music too, but I don't really recall..
*Enjoyed*
Asleep at the Wheel	My traditional opening act. Just saw a few songs, but they sounded great
Kings Go Forth	A kind of campy Funk/Soul (almost Disco era) review
The Ettes	Some fun garage rock
Sarah Harmer	Pleasant Canadian singer-songwriter
First Aid Kit	Swedish sisters with melodic, ethereal harmony vocals
Basia Bulat	Singer with a nice voice accompanying herself on autoharp
Run with Bulls	Energetic straight ahead Nashville Rockers
Bear in Heaven	Interesting synth-driven alt rock
The Jane Shermans	Reminiscent of '70's New Wave rock
Black Lips	Fun, hard core punkish rock band
Portugal the Man	Interesting progressive rock
Rebelution	A young reggae band with some good grooves
The Constellations	Interesting rock band with a wide range of sounds
*Wish I Had Seen More*
GIVERS	Upbeat indie pop
Charlie Mars	Impressed me with his catchy songs and tight band
The Black Keys	Too crowded, and couldn't get close enough to really get into, but what I heard sounded good
The Strokes	Too crowded, and couldn't get close enough to really get into, but what I heard sounded good
Two Door Cinema Club	I just saw the start of this Irish dance band. I wasn't impressed, but others who stayed longer told me they were great once they got it going.
*Unremarkable*
Ponderosa	Not too bad Southern rock
The Soft Pack	Rock
The Kicks	Bar rock
Miike Snow	Apparently a lot of people like these two Swedes wearing silver masks, but they were too slow for me
Broken Bells	Alt
My Name is JohnMichael	Indie from New Orleans
Slightly Stoopid	For the second ACL in a row, their watered down Ska/Reggae didn't do much for me
Lucero	I guess I expected something more eclectic from this southern rock band. To me they sounded like Drive By Truckers without the grit.
The xx	The part I saw was too mellow for me
MIA	Great light show, boring music
The Eagles	I managed to sit through one hour -- sounded just like Eagles records
*Wish I Hadn't Missed*
Sahara Smith	Too early
Chief
Girls
Spoon	Wasn't going to fight the huge crowd when there was other music I could see close up
Sonic Youth	Wasn't going to fight the huge crowd when there was other music I could see close up
Ryan Bingham & the Dead Horses
The Very Best	Sorry to miss this Afro-pop band, but couldn't make it that end of the park
Pete Yorn
The Gaslight Anthem
Kinky
Devendra Barnhart & the Grogs
Midlake
Band of Horses

The Steps

10/07/10

Shoal Creek Saloon

Bill and Sheri's annual ACL Fest Pre-Party. The Steps rocked again.

Papa Grows Funk

09/24/10

Momo's

A fun set of New Orleans funk, in a show was put on by Funky Batz.

Drive-by-Truckers with The Henry Clay People

09/24/10

Truro Raceway at Bible Hill in Truro, Nova Scotia, Canada

Drive-by put on their usual set of driving southern rock. I liked their new third guitar player, especially on pedal steel. The Henry Clay People were a good opening act, especially their closing cover of Sprinsteen's "Born to Run".

Punch Brothers with Loudon Wainwright III

09/10/10

Bass Concert Hall

Loudon was great as usual -- funny, touching, creative, and crazy. Punch Brothers, led by Chris Thile, formerly of Nickel Creek, were kind of boring. It didn't help that their guitarist was ill, so they played as a foursome rather than as a quintet.

The Dutch Mason Blues Festival

08/14/10

I ran into this Blues Festival while vacationing in Nova Scotia. It is named after late blues musician Dutch Mason who is known as Canada's "Prime Minister of the Blues". Legendary blues harp player James Cotton (who now lives in Austin), whom they call the "Festival Ambassador" performed with 9-year old harmonica phenom Joshua King who was quite impressive. Headliners were Robert Cray and Jonny Lang.

Paul Ray and the Cobras, featuring Angela Strehli with Larry Lange and his Lonely Knights and Hank and Shaidri Alrich

Armadillo World Headquarters 40th B-Day Party poster

08/07/10

Threadgills World Headquarters

This was part of a 40th birthday celebration for Armadillo World Headquarters. The Cobras are a blues and R&B band who first played in Austin in the 70's. Lead vocalist Paul Ray has had some throat problems that limit his performances, but the style and feeling of the band were there. Original guitarist Denny Freeman (who preceded Stevie Ray Vaughan in the band) was excellent, as was Angela Strehli when she relieved Paul Ray on vocals. Larry Lange and his band play a fun mixture of Swamp Pop and San Antonio Tejano Soul, and put on a good set featuring guest vocalist Joanna Ramirez. Opener Hank Aldrich was a booking agent at the Armadillo who now runs Armadillo Records. He opened the show along with his daughter Shaidra with a folk/blugrass set. Here is a blogger's review of the show with a link to a You Tube clip of Angela performing with the Cobras that night.

Darden Smith with Graham Weber

7/30/10

Cactus Cafe

One of the last show of the "iconic years" of Cactus Cafe before it is taken over by KUT and new management. Darden Smith is an old favorite of Diane's, and we have seen him here numerous times, so it seemed like a good show to see. Darden sounded the same as ever on his older material, but I really enjoyed his new material from his upcoming album "Marathon", on which he was joined by a keyboard player and a percussionist. Opener Graham Weber is an eclectic singer/somgwriter who was quite entertaining.

Robert Plant and the Band of Joy featuring Patty Griffin with Bettye Lavette

07/26/10

A good show, although I must admit that I liked Plant's show at ACL a couple of years ago with Alison Krauss that was produced by T-Bone Burnett better. The sound of this show seemed a bit muddy to me, and I wished they had featured Austinite Patty Griffin as lead on more than one song. Buddy Miller and Darrell Scott were excellent on guitars and other stringed instruments as well. You can read a review of the show here here. We only heard a bit of opening soul singer Bettye Lavette.

The Bodeans with Sahara Smith

07/21/10

Zilker Park

Part of the KGSR Blues on the Green series. I really enjoyed the Bodeans, who sound just like they always have. Sahara Smith is a young singer/songwriter who sounds like she has some potential.

Marcia Ball's Pianorama, and Double Trouble and friends.

07/11/10

Antone's

Part of Antone's 35th Anniversary celebration. Pianorama consists of five talented piano players performing together. In addition to Marcia, the players included Floyd Domino, Johnny Nicholas, Riley Osborne, Nick Connolly, and a couple of others who's names I didn't catch. Double Trouble (Chris Layton and Tommy Shannon) played with Derek O'Brien, Gary Clark, Jr., and Malford Milligan in a top quality blues set that Clifford Antone would have loved.

Uranium Savages

07/9/10

South Austin Popular Culture Center

The annual celebration of 709, or International Eddy Day. It's been a while since I've seen them, but the Uranium Savages still have a knack for hilarious knockoffs of a wide variety of songs in a wide range of styles with a bunch of crazy props and costumes.

Bonerama

07/9/10

Momo's

A happy hour set by this New Orleans funk band led by three trombone players, in a show was put on by Funky Batz.

The Texas Tornados

06/16/10

Zilker Park

Part of the KGSR Blues on the Green series. A rocking performance by this all-star band, which includes original members Augie Meyers and Flaco Jimenez, and Shawn Sahm filling in admirably for his dad, the great Doug Sahm.

Robert Randolph and the Family Band and Jonathan Tyler & The Northern Lights

06/7/10

Antone's

Robert Randolph and band played their usual high energy set led by his amazing peddle steel playing. His "little sister" was a new addition to the band who added some nice backing vocals. He usuually does some nice Jimi Hendrix covers and this time it was "Purple Haze" and they also did a good cover of "Papa Was a Rolling Stone". Jonathan Tyler and his band opened with a set of Allman Brother meets Aerosmith hard-edged bluesy rock.

Midlake and John Grant

06/4/10

Antone's

Two acts I had never heard of. I was invited by friends Steve & Gina and was pleasantly surprised. Midlake, from Denton, Texas had a wall-of-sound early seventies rock (in a good way) style with 3-4 guitars, flutes, and keyboards and nice harmony vocals. They reminded us at times of Procol Harum, KIng Crimson, and Jefferson Airplane. John Grant, backed by Midlake, had a good voice and some interesting and at times humerous songs delivered in a deadpan manner.

Leo Kottke and Terri Hendrix

04/30/10

23rd Annual Old Settler's Music Festival

As usual, Leo Kottke was amazing on gutar, and equally entertaining with his off-the wall comments and stories. Terri Hendrix was a good opening act with her original folky style, and Lloyd Maines who played with her played some excellent guitar as well.

Bobby Charles Memorial Concert

04/25/10

The Cabildo in Jackson Square

A tribute to Bobby Charles featuring Dr. John, Marcia Ball, Shannon McNally, and Beth McKee held in a cool setting at the Louisiana State Museum. There was free gumbo and beer, and we were able to talk to Marcia and Shannon, and be up close to Dr. John. It was also a benefit for the New Orleans Musicians Assistance Fund.

The Radiators and Bonerama

04/24/10

Rock-n-Bowl

My first time at the recently re-located Rock-n-Bowl. They did a nice job of keeping the old vibe in a newer, bigger space. The show was fun, with some Radiators joining Bonerama during their set, and vice versa. I particularly remember Bonerama's last number "Heleter Skelter" when they were joined by John "Papa" Gros on Organ.

Lil' Band O' Gold

04/22/10

Chickie Wah Wah

A great show by an all-star band featuring Warren Storm, CC Adcock, Steve Riley, and David Egan, along with several others. And they were joined on a couple of songs by Jon Cleary. I love this band with their blend of Warren Storm's blue-eyed soul/swamp pop, CC Adcocks blusey swamp rock, and Steve Riley's cajun/zydeco, they can play a wide range of musical styles. They played one Bobby Charles song, a sort of warm-up for their gig that was talked about all over the internet the next week, when they were joined in a Bobby Charles Tribute by Elvis Costello, Ani Defranco, Dr. John, Tommy McLain, and Shannon McNally among others. Here is a YouTube of their performance of "Big Boys Cry" with Elvis Costello. I highly recommend their new CD, "The Promised Land - A Swamp Pop Journey".

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Buckandi's New Orleans Jazz Fest 2010 Slideshow

Friday, April 23 = Lots of Rain
Jeffery Broussard & the Creole Cowboys	Some solid Zydeco to start things off. Ran into some Austin friends at the first set, which was a good sign.
The Joe Krown Trio featuring Walter "Wolfman" Washington and Russell Batiste, Jr.	The two songs I saw mostly featured "Wolfman" on vocals and guitar,
Little Freddie King Band	Good blues.
Frankie Ford	We came to this set to hear "Sea Cruise", and we did.
Anders Osborne, John Fohl, and Johnny Sansone	Some good Louisiana blues with Anders and John on guitar, and Johnny on harp. It started raining hard during this set.
Baaba Maal	Rhythmic music from Senegal. Still raining, hard.
The Revealers	New Orleans Reggae. Still raining, harder.
Mount Hermon Baptist Church Mass Choir	Ducked into the Gospel tent for a large Gospel choir, and to get out of the rain.
Spencer Bohren	Listened to some nice acoustic blues, while staying out of the rain at this stage inside the grandstand.
Dr. John & the Lower 911	As always, a great Dr. John set. The rain slowed down a bit for this one.
George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic	The usual George Clintom mob scene, with who knows how many people on stage. The rain came down harder again.
Dwayne Dopsie & the Zydeco Hellraisers with Rockin Dopsie, Jr.	A rockin' Zydeco tribute to Rockin Dopsie, Sr. that eventually included Dopsie's 4 sons and his wife. Inside the blues tent, so we stayed dry, or at least didn't get any wetter.
Irma Thomas	A tribute to Mahalia Jackson, in the Gospel tent. Irma sounded great.
Elvin Bishop	Just saw the first couple of songs of this bluesy set, and it didn't sound too bad.
Lionel Richie	The rain had let up. I'm not a big fan, so only stayed for one song.
Steel Pulse	A good Jamaican reggae set. Rain was intermittent.
Nathan & the Zydeco Cha-Chas	Closed the day the way we started -- with some fun Zydeco.
Saturday, April 24 = Mud, Mud, Mud
Benny Turner & the BMWs tribute to Marva Wright with Davell Crawford	Marva Wright's former band with a tribute performance, featuring Davell Crawford on piano.
D.L. Menard & the Louisiana Aces	Some very traditional cajun music.
Bonerama	A rocking set from this band that features 3 trombones.
Lil' Buck Sinegal Blues Band	Good blues from this Louisiana veteran guitar player, best known for his years with Clifton Chenier.
Savoy Center of Eunice Saturday Cajun Jam	A fun set that brought to the fairgrounds a typical Saturday jam session in Eunice. At times on the stage there were as many as 5 or 6 fiddle players, 4 or 5 accordians, many guitars, several rubboards, some dancing couples, and one triangle player.
Papa Grows Funk	The best in New Orleans funk these days.
Davell Crawford & One Foot in the Blues	A New Orleans R&B piano man.
Funky Meters	A good set, although I was sorry to see that Brian Stoltz was no longer with them, having been replaced by Ian Neville. On the bright side, Art sounded in better voice than he has in a while, and things really perked up when Ivan Neville joined them for several songs.
Simon & Garfunkel	I was really looking forward to this. The set had it's moments, as Paul Simon and the tight, versatile band were in great form. Unfortunately, Art Garfunkel struggled with his voice. On some of the less challenging songs, the harmonies sounded great, but when Art had to hit some high notes, his voice just broke up. Art left the stage for a while to give it a rest, and Paul and the band were excellent. Art eventually came back, and gave a valient effort on "Bridge Over Troubled Water" and "Sounds of Silence" and a couple of other encores, but he just didn't have it. Still, I'm glad I had the opportunity to see them together, but I wish it could have been with both singers in top form. Here is the set list.
Sunday, April 25 = Blue Sky
Henry Gray & the Cats with Carol Fran	Some good Blues by veteran piano man Henry Gray. And it was really fun when Carol Fran joined with some sassy vocals.
Bobby Charles Tribute Interview	An interview with Dr. John, Marcia Ball, and Bobby's manager Jim Bateman by interviewer Scott Jordon. This may have been my favorite "set" of the festival. The Doctor, Marcia, and Jim all shared some great stories about the legendary Louisiana songwriter. Dr. John and Marcia also played some of his songs, with both of them playing on different ends of the piano at times. Very cool!
Goldman Thibodeaux & the Lawtell Playboys	Some old time traditional cajun/zydeco.
Storyville Stompers Jazz Band	A fun brass band.
Guitar Slim, Jr.	More good blues.
Voice of the Wetlands All Stars	An all-star band which included Tab Benoit, Cyril Neville, Dr. John, Anders Osborne, George Porter, Jr. and more.
Theresa Andersson	Theresa has an interesting new performance style, where she captures brief handclaps, foot stomps, and vocal sounds electronically, and then loops and repeats them on top of one another using foot pedals as her backing "band". I'm not sure many other performers could get away with this, but she somehow pulls it off.
L'lvoire Spectacle featuring Seguenon Kone	Some fun dancing and costumes from the Ivory Coast, including a guy on stilts who stood at least 10 feet tall.
The Electrifying Crownseekers	High energy gospel.
The Levon Helm Band	Very similar to the performance we saw at ACL Fest this year, except this time Levon Helm tried despite his battle with throat cancer to sing one song, which did not turn out too well. Dr. John joined in and sang one song, "Such a Night", as he did on "The Last Waltz".
Juan Louis Guerra y 440	A million selling superstar in Latin America, there were at least four flags from his native Dominican Republic in this large crowd at the Congo Square stage. It was pretty good Latin pop, but I didn't catch the buzz that his fans seem to have caught.
Marcia Ball	It was fun seeing Marcia and band play for a large enthusiastic Jazz Fest crowd. She was joined by Wayne Toups on accordian for a couple of songs.
The Radiators Pre-War Blues	We arrived late to this set, so I think we missed the "Pre-War Blues" aspect of the show. But what we saw was a great set of classic Radiators Louisiana R&B.
Blind Boys of Alabama	Some fun gospel. I especially enjoyed their take on Norman Greenbaum's "Spirit in the Sky".
Keely Smith	We stopped to hear one song by this jazz singer, best known for her partnership with with Louis Prima in the 50's.
Jonny Lang	The crowd loved him, but I thought he tried too hard to impress, both vocally and on guitar.
The Allman Brothers Band	I was pleasantly surprised by this strong set. Greg Allman sounded great on vocals, and Warren Haynes and Derek Trucks traded some fine guitar licks, not imitating Duane Allman and Dicky Betts, but still staying with the spirit of the songs, I particularly enjoyed "Trouble No More", "Blind Willie McTell", and the long version of "Whipping Post". Here is a review and setlist.
New Orleans Klezmer Allstars	We wrapped it up with their unique combo of Klezmer and New Orleans Jazz.

04/16/10

Salt Lick Pavilion

A fun outdoor festival at a nice venue. Fortunately the rain held off so it was a beautiful evening with great music. Acts I saw included: Joe Ely Band, New Monsoon, Ruthie Foster, Mindy Smith, The Trishas, Flounders Without Eyes (who were joined on one song by Peter Rowan), Alison Brown with Joe Craven, Alejandro Escovedo & The Sensitive Boys, The Infamous Stringdusters, and Blue Highway.

2010 Louisiana Swamp Thing & Crawfish Festival

04/10/10

Downtown Austin - 4th & Guadelupe

A nice warm-up for New Orleans Jazz Fest, with Cajun music from Beausoleil avec Michael Doucet and Lost Bayou Ramblers, Zydeco from Terrance Simien & The Zydeco Experience and Sunpie Barnes & the Louisiana Sunspots, and Funk/Soul from Big Sam's Funky Nation and Soul Rebels Brass Band.

The Guthrie Family Rides Again

3/31/10

The Long Center for the Performing Arts

Three generation of Guthries put on a fun show, with Arlo singing most of his well known songs (excepting Alice). Sara Lee Guthrie and Johnny Irion were most prominent aside from Arlo. But my favorite songs were a couple of hilarious, not rated PG songs by Cathy Guthrie and Amy Nelson (Willie Nelson's daughter) who perform together as Folk Uke. There were also plenty of Arlo's stories, Woodie Guthrie words set to new music, and almost sometimes too cute grandkids singing and hamming it up.

Mavis Staples with Booker T. and JJ Grey

03/26/10

A show they called "What it Is". It started with JJ Grey playing solo acoustic, which wasn't bad, but not quite the same as with his swampy band Mofro. Then Booker T. played a mostly instrumental set full of hits from the MGs, along with some other Stax classics that he had written. And Mavis Staples finished with a strong set of Gospel and R&B featuring her still powerful vocals and a tight backing band.

Soul Revue SxSW 2010

3/19/10

Austin Music Hall

A great evening of soul music highlighted by Motown legend Smokey Robinson. Other performers were Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings, Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears, Raphael Saadiq, and Mayer Hawthorne and the County. Smokey started a bit slow, but once he warmed up he showed that he still has that incredible voice. Sharon Jones and her band managed to do a credible job of following Smokey, and Black Joe Lewis represented the Austin soul/R&B scene well with a high energy set. Raphael Saadiq also had the crowd buzzing, but opener Mayer Hawthorne was a dud. Here is a review of Smokey's performance (including the setlist), and a brief review of the whole evening's show.

St. Cloud

03/19/10

Momo's

Some good progressive rock-and-roll from a new Austin band. The show was sponsored by a group called "Represent Austin".

Glambilly and In & Outlaws

03/19/10

Opal Divine's Freehouse

A couple of fun rockabilly bands from San Antonio, part of a show called A Town South of Austin Volume 3

Vanguard Records/Sugar Hill/Paste Party

3/19/10

The Belmont

A nice day party. I saw Bobby Bare Jr., Sarah Jarosz, Daphne Willis, Sarah Borges & the Broken Singles, Black Prairie, and Greg Laswell. Bobby Bare rocked. Sarah Jarosz showed off her vocal, instrumental, and songwriting talents. Sara Borges played a nice bluesy set. Black Praire, which features 3 members of the Decemberists had a nice blend of bluegrass, baroque, and gypsy styles.

Paul Banks & the Carousels

03/18/10

Fado Irish Pub

Some pleasant pop-rock. Part of a showcase called "I Heart Brooklyn + Austin".

Drive Like Maria

03/18/10

B. D. Riley's Irish Pub

More loud but not too bad rock-and-roll

The Effects

03/18/10

Darwin's Pub

Loud rock-and-roll, but not too bad actually.

bubbly mommy gun

03/18/10

Downtown Austin near 4th and Trinity

Electronic weirdness, or as they describe it, "Creative Go-Aheadism, Factualistic Pioneer". I was there because my friend Ed's nephew is in this band, as well as another band, Quiet Hooves who had played an earlier set.

Lost & Nameless Orchestra and Emergency Service Pipes and Drums

03/17/10

Mother Egan's Irish Pub

Somewhat of a bittersweet event, as this is probably the last St. Patricks Day celebration at this long time Austin Irish pub. It was part of the St. Baldrick's Benefit supporting childhood cancer research.

Raul Malo

03/17/10

Joe's Bar and Grill

The last set of the Guitartown/Conqueroo Present Kickoff 2010 was a great way for me to start off SxSW 2010.

Dark Star Orchestra

03/06/10

They did the Greek Theatre show from Cal Berkeley on July 14, 1984. My highlight was "Goin Down the Road", although "Franklin's Tower", "Estimated Prophet", and Eyes of the World" was a pretty good sequence. You can listen to or download the original show here. And I must admit I missed most of the first set to attend Aaron's school fundraiser, where we "won" a bunch of stuff at the silent auction and raffle.

George Porter & the Runnin Pardners with Uncle Bruno

03/05/10

Momo's

To quote George Porter Jr. from his Facebook page the next day, "last night was off the hook "YES" is was". That means it was a funky good time. George and crew played some old Meters songs that George said he thought had never been played live anywhere before. And one of the encores was an extremely funky version of "Sneakin Sally Through the Alley" (the Meters played behind Robert Palmer on his famous version of the song). You can download the show here, and see some photos here. Uncle Bruno opened with a nice set as well. Thanks to Funky Batz for putting on the show.

John Prine with Jim Lauderdale

02/27/10

Bass Concert Hall

The man has so many great songs. Just he and Dave Jacques on guitar/mandolin/harmonica and Jason Wilber on bass put on a fantastic concert.

Help Austin Help Haiti

1/24/10

Austin Music Hall

A benefit to help the people of Haiti following the devastating earthquake. Performers while I was there included: Kelly Willis, Ray Wylie Hubbard, The Gourds, Reckless Kelly, The Joe Ely Band, with Marcia Ball, Robert Earl Keen, and Charlie Sexton. Although I must admit I spend a good part of the early part of the evening watching the New Orlean Saints outlast Brett Favre and the Minnesota Vikings in the exciting overtime NFC Championship game.

Patty Griffin with Jack Ingram and Scott Miller

01/21/10

A fundraiser for Grounded in Music. Patty Griffin played mostly solo, but was fantastic as exepected. Jack Ingram was pretty entertaining. But the surprise of the evening was Scott Miller whom we'd never heard of before. He was really fun, with great stories, great lyrics, and great melodies. Overall, a very enjoyable evening.

Danny Schmidt

1/09/10

Sycamore Creek in Dripping Springs

A really enjoyable, although cold, night at an intimate venue in the Texas Hill Country. Danny Schmidt is an impressive young singer-songwriter. He was the Kerrville New Folk winner in 2007. He writes really poetic songs, plays excellent acoustic guitar, and has a nice singing voice as well.

Cyril Neville and Tribe Thirteen and Anders Osborne

12/31/09

Tipitina's French Quarter

In New Orleans for the Sugar Bowl. Spent New Year's Eve at this secondary Tips venue in the French Quarter that is only used for special events. Cyril & Tribe Thirteen played some old New Orleans classics & some newer blues, R&B, and reggae tunes. Anders tore it up on slide guitar with some long jams with his threesome that featured Kirk Joseph on sousaphone. Both Cyril and Anders were joined at times by Johnny Sansone on harmonica, and a bit of accordian. Not a big crowd, but you can't help but have fun at a show like this on New Year's Eve in the Big Easy.

Carolyn Wonderland

12/23/09

Austin Convention Center

At the Armadillo Christmas Bazaar.

Hogan Sullivan

12/19/09

Starlight Theatre

A fine meal, good company, and some nice tunes at this "oasis of food and entertainment" in Terlingua Texas, the night before a geocaching/hiking adventure on the Rancherias trail in Big Bend Ranch State Park.

David Rawling's Machine with Sarah Jarosz

12/14/09

The Parish

The Dave Rawlings Machine, was led by guitarist Dave Rawlings, and featured Gillian Welch with members of The Old Crow Medicine Show. It was a really entertaining night, with excellent four part harmonies, great musicianship, and a real spirit of fun by everyone in the band. Here is an article previewing the show. You can get an idea of what they sounded like here on a recording from thw Newport Folk Festival. Sarah Jarosz who opened is an amazingly talented young singer & instrumentalist. Although she is just a teen-ager in her first year in college, she played four stringed instruments like a pro, has a beautiful voice, and writes nice melodies and lyrics. I would think that having a Grammy nominee in your first year college class might really blow the curve.

Leeann Atherton

12/12/09

Mother Egan's Irish Pub

Some fun rock and blues by this veteran Austin band. Part of Club Chi-Wa-Wa's annual X-mas celebration.

Suzanne Smith

11/25/09

B.D. Riley's

Some pleasant covers with acoustic guitar.

The Subdudes and Lou Ann Barton

11/13/09

Antone's

The Subdudes sounded as good as ever, featuring John Magnie's accordian, Tommy Malone's guitar playing, and their tight harmony vocals. Some new material from their recent "Flower Petals" recording sounded pretty good. Lou Ann opened with a nice bluesy set featuring Derek O'Brien's usual superb electric blues guitar.

Mojo Nixon, Dash Riprock, and New Duncan Imperials

11/06/09

Continental Club

Mojo although semi-retired, was in fine form, still as raunchy as ever, and rocked up a storm with his band the Toadliquors. Not much new material, but stiil a rocking good time. Dash sounded as good as ever with classics like "Stairway to Freebird". The New Duncan Imperials were new to me, but also fit right in with their mix of garage/bar-band material.

The Pogues and Justin Townes Earle

10/28/09

Bat Fest on Congress Avenue Bridge

An interesting show of punkish Irish music. Lead singer Shane MacGowan is clearly, despite earlier reports, not on the wagon. He stumbled off stage between songs, coming back each time with cigarette and drink in hand, and slurred his speach so badly you could virtually not understand anything he said. Occasionally other members of the band would take pity on us and translate a few words. The rest of the band played well, and overall it was an enjoyable train wreck of a show. Here is a good review with a couple of photos and another review is here, and here is YouTube video taste of "Old Main Drag" and another video from one of their encores, "Fiesta", that features a band member smashing his head with a what looks like a metal cookie sheet. Justin Townes Earle, son of Steve Earle, opened with a quirky eclectic solo acoustic set.

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Buckandi's ACL Festival 2009 Slideshow

Friday, October 2 = Blue Sky, Green Grass
Saturday, October 3 = Dark Sky, Lots of Rain
Sunday, October 4 = Blue Sky, Brown Mud, Mud, Mud
*Favorites*
Papa Mali with Bill Kreutzmann	Probably my favorite set of this year's ACL, as Bill Kreutzmann, drummer from the Grateful Dead joined Papa Mali and band. They played two Dead tunes, "I Know You Rider" and "Bertha", along with some excellent selections of Papa Mali's swampy blues.
Rebirth Brass Band	A funky dance party, just like being in new Orleans at Tipitina's. And what sent it to the next level was some wild hip-hop dancers showing off some crazy moves on stage with the band.
Thievery Corporation	I really enjoy their wide range of world music styles. The sounds ranged from reggae to middle-eastern to funky, and always danceable.
!!! (chk chk chk)	Pronounced "chk, chk, chk", according to the band. This band was new to me, but put on a very fun set of what is described as dance-punk. Their lead singer, Nic Offer, was all over the stage and out in the crowd.
Flogging Molly	An excellent set of hard rocking Irish folk, reminiscent of The Pogues. The fact that it took place in what was probably the hardest rain of the weekend only added to the atmosphere.
Ben Harper & Relentless Seven	Very high energy, hard-rocking set by Harper and his band, which consists of three Austin blues-rockers
*Other Highlights*
Sara Watkins	Best known for her time spent with Nickel Creek, she put on a nice set of blue-grassy music, featuring her violin and vocals. She was joined by John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin fame, who played mandolin, and also Austinite David Garza for a few songs.
Dr. Dog	I seem to be the only person over age 25 who like these guys, but whatever. Anyway, the crowd who were there seemed to enjoy their high-energy, melodic rock.
Daniel Johnston	The first time I have seen Daniel Johnston live. Known for his eccentricity and erratic behavior due to mental illness, I found his performance and lyrics to be cool and riveting. It is obviously a challenge for him to perform in public, but the fact that he puts himself out there and does it is impressive.
The B-52s	My first time to see the B-52's. They may not look like they used to, but they sound just the same. They did all of their hits, and it was a fun set.
*Enjoyed*
Asleep at the Wheel	I almost always start out with Ray Benson & band on Friday morning, and as usual they played some classic western swing, focusing on their recent collaboration with Willie Nelson

The Gospel Silvertones	Some fun, high-energy Gospel
Walter "Wolfman" Washington	Classic New Orleans R&B
Robyn Hitchcock & the Venus 3	Solid set by this veteran rocker, assisted by Peter Buck from REM on guitar.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs	I liked this indie rock band more than I expected. Front woman Karen O is a charismatic performer, and the music was fun but not very memorable.
The Soul Stirrers	Old time Gospel. I must admit I got chills when Willie Rogers, lead singer since the '60s, performed "A Change Is Gonna Come" after he had introduced it by describing what it felt like to perform the song for new president Barack Obama in the White House shortly after the inauguration.
Cotton Jones	Enjoyable mellow psychedelic folk
The Felice Brothers	Dylanesque vocals, backed by energetic fiddle and accordian/organ
The Levon Helm Band	Unfortunately, Levon Helm was not able to sing because of recent surgery, but his large band with three guitarists, four vocalists, five-piece horn section, and a B-3 organ/accordion player did a good job of covering a mix of songs by The Band and others in a roots/Americana vein.
Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band	A crazy hillbilly twosome
Rodriguez	Rodriguez apparently had a hit psychedelic rock album in the sixties, and has been pretty much out of sight since then. At one of his first appearances since then, he and his picked-up band showed some rust, but some of the songs and melodies were really good, so overall I enjoyed the set.
Brett Dennen	Bretty good singer-songwriter
Arctic Monkeys	Cool British Indie Band
*Wish I Had Seen More*
Mishka	Just caught a few of his mello Reggae songs. No Matthew McConaughey sightings this time.
Todd Snider	Unfortunately only saw a the start of this eclectic songwriter's set
Los Amigos Invisibles	Just caught a bit of this Venezuelen dance band
The Scabs	Only saw part of one song on the way to something else
*Unremarkable*
Sarah Siskind	Folky songwriter - didn't grab me
Blitzen Trapper	Bland melodic rock. I didn't hear the Grateful Dead influence that some have suggested.
Jonell Mosser	Bluesy soul, but not very exciting
Andrew Bird	Noted for his whistling. That's all I remember.
Them Crooked Vultures	Supergroup with Dave Grohl from Foo Fighters/Nirvana, Josh Homme from Queens of the Stone Age, and John Paul Jones from Led Zeppelin. I did not get very close, but from where I was they didn't sound very super
Eek-a-Mouse	It was all about the ganja, and not much else
Dave Matthews Band	My first time to see him. He sounded like Dave Matthews. I did like the Talking Heads "Burning Down the House" cover, but the rest was just OK.
White Lies	British rock band - not memorable
Michael Franti & Spearhead	I tried to get into him, but the portion of theset I heard was a little too smooth, and not enough gritty enough for my taste.
Pearl Jam	It was too late, and too muddy to get up close. They actually sounded OK, but I just wasn't close enough to really get into it.
*Very Strange*
Girl Talk	I don't get it. One guy who plays a bunch of short "samples" from other people's music and "mashes" them together, although he says "I am not a DJ". But around 100-200 people on stage and a huge crown in the mud seemed to love it for some reason.
*Disappointments*
The Avett Brothers	Supposed to be very hip bluegrass, but they sounded slow and boring to me
Phoenix	This year's Vampire Weekend -- I thought I'd like them, but found them lightweight and repetitive
State Radio	They were supposed to be Reggae with some harder edges, but to me they were just loud, noisy hard rock, with a few moments of Reggae thrown in.
*Wish I Hadn't Bothered/Won't See Again*
The Parlor Mob	Led Zeppelin Wannabees
*Wish I Hadn't Missed*
The Greencards
Poi Dog Pondering
Henry Butler
...And You will Know us By the Trail of the Dead
Devotchka
Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears
Terri Hendrix
Raul Malo
The Dead Weather
Preservation Hall Jazz Band

The Steps and The Bobby Lueders Band

10/01/09

Shoal Creek Saloon

Bill and Sheri's annual ACL Fest Pre-Party. The Steps rocked once again. The Bobby Lueders Band opened with some western swing. .

Dave Alvin and the Guilty Women and Shannon McNally

09/18/09

Antone's

An amazing show. Dave Alvin was backed by a great all-woman band, four out of five of which were from Austin: Christy McWilson on vocals, Cindy Cashdollar on steel guitar and dobro, Amy Farris on fiddle, Sarah Brown on bass, and Lisa Pankratz on drums. Sadly, Amy Farris died of an apparent sucide shortly after the show on Sept. 26. Here is a nice remembrance. And here are some good photos from the show. If you want an idea of what they sounded like, here is a recording of an earlier show, and a Mountain Stage performance from Sept 21. Shannon McNally opened with a nice solo acoustic set. Some good photos of Shannon here.

The Apple Trio

08/30/09

Austin Java (12th & Lamar)

An acoustic trio made up of young women from the fine arts academy at McCallum High School. They played some mellow original folk on guitar, violin, mandolin, and cello, and reminded some of us of "The Sundays".

Ivan Neville's Dumpstaphunk , Blondie Chaplin, and The Lee Boys

08/28/09

Antone's

A celebration of Ivan's birthday. It started off with the Lee Boys, a "sacred steel" band similar to Robert Randolph. They played one fiery song after another, and I was amazed to learn when they finished that the peddle steel player doing all of the damage wasn't even the regular steel player in the band. All I can say is they must have one amazing music school at the church they all attended in Perrine, FL. Next on the bill was Blondie Chaplin, a singer/guitarist recently known as a backing singer with the Rolling Stones (although he also played with the Beach Boys in the '70's and The Band in the '80's). As a solo artist, he was entertaining although not that memorable. By the time they got to the main act, Dumpstaphunk, I was tired, and although they played some solid, danceable New Orleans funk, it didn't have the magic for me that the old Meters and Neville Brothers shows had.

The Wailers and Bob Schneider

08/22/09

The Wailers were OK, but really didn't do it for me. It's a bad sign when a reggae band has to keep imploring the crowd to dance. Maybe it didn't help that much of the set was based on "Exodus", which although a great album, is not the most jammin' of Wailers albums. On the other hand, Bob Schneider put on one of the best sets I have seen from him, with lots of energy and audience participation.

Papa Mali

08/12/09

Richie Tisdall & Hugh Quinn

Probably my favorite show of this summer's KGSR Blues on the Green series. A swampy, funky set of Lousiana-influenced slide guitar, along with an excellent backing band. As one of his best songs goes, "Let the Bon Ton Roulet".

Smoke Like a Fish and
The Resonators

08/07/09

Hootananny Brixton, London, England

Smoke Like a Fish, the headliners from Wales, play fast, relentless Ska. The Resonators are a reggae band from South England fronted by two women vocalists. They started things off with some mellow, grooving riddems. Overall a fun free show in Brixton, which is known as an area of London with a large population of African/Caribbean descent, and also as where Paul Simonon the bass player and Mick Jones the guitar player for The Clash grew up. By coincidence, earlier that same day I had run across The Rock 'n' Roll Public Library, a really fascinating exhibit of pop artifacts collected and presented by Mick Jones.

Open the Taps

08/05/09

Paragon Bar, Skibbereen, Ireland

Somewhat less traditional, but still good quality Irish music featuring fiddle, guitar, and 5-string banjo.

08/03/09

The Corner Bar, Skibbereen, Ireland

Very traditional Irish music featuring fiddle & Irish Uillean pipes in an authentic Irish pub.

Nakia and his Southern Cousins

07/29/09

Scholz Garten

Some funky, southern-fried, soul by Nakia and band.

Carolyn Wonderland with Shelley King

07/29/09

Part of KGSR's Blues on the Green series. Carolyn was excellent as usual, with a set of bluesy original tunes and covers. Shelly Kind and some other guest vocalists joinedfor the second set.

The Radiators

07/19/09

Threadgills World Headquarters

One of the best Rads shows I have seen in a while. Lots of energy and a great New Orleans vibe, and one of their encores was a great cover of "You Can't Always Get What You Want". You can listen to or download the show here

El Tule

07/11/09

Steve & Gina Aycock's

Some fun, danceable Latin music at the Aycock's 30th Anniversary party

Pinetop Perkins, with James Cotton and Marcia Ball

07/08/09

Antone's

A celebration of legendary blues piano player Pinetop Perkins' 96th birthday, part of Antone's 34th Anniversary. Pinetop still sings and plays well, and was backed by Gary Clark Jr. and Derek O'Brien among others. They were joined later by Marcia Ball and fellow blues legend James Cotton, who at a young age 74 still plays a mean blues harp. Later on, Marcia Ball and her band played a set of their own.

Tift Merritt, with Sarah Lee Guthrie and Johnny Irion

07/01/09

Stuyvesant High School, NY City

Part of the River-to-River series of free outdoor concerts. Actually it was supposed to be outside at Rockefeller Park, but due to a threat of rain the show was moved to Stuyvesant High School. Tift Merritt played some new songs and older music that showed off her nice voice, accompanying herself on acoustic guitar, keyboard, and on one song, Johnny Irion's electric guitar. Sarah Lee and Johnny performed the kind of folk music you would expect from the daughter of Arlo and grand-daughter of Widdy Guthrie. Here are some photos and a review of the show.

Dr. Dog, with PHOSPHORESCENT, and These United States

06/27/09

Prospect Park, Brooklyn, NY

Part of the Celebrate Brooklyn series of free outdoor concerts. Dr. Dog put on their usual dynamic show featuring lots of guitar and Beatle-esque harmonies. This time their regular five man lineup was supplemented on some songs by 4 horn and 3 string players. Here are some photos from the show. Of the two openers, I preferred PHOSPHORESCENT, which is primarily one guy named Matthew Houck who's most recent album was made up exclusively of Willie Nelson cover songs. These United States played garagey folk music that didn't work too well for me.

Slaid Cleaves

06/17/09

Scholz Garten

Just stopped by for the last few songs by Slaid Cleaves at this free series at Scholz's, and I ran into my sister Liz there.

Cyril Neville & Tribe 13

06/17/09

Part of KGSR's Blues on the Green series. Cyril and band sounded good with some new material, some old Nevilles/Meters, and some covers featuring his "Queen" Gaynielle. As he puts it, now that he lives in Austin, "The gumbo has spilled into the chili."

Gomez and J.J. Grey & Mofro

06/08/09

The Long Center for the Performing Arts

I enjoyed Gomez's pop-rock, which was higher energy than I expected, and the crowd certainly loved it. With three rotating lead singers, they had a nice range of sounds, and plenty of good material. Several people on a fan site said it was the best Gomez show in years. Here are some photos from the show. J.J. Grey and Mofro sounded great again, with their big swampy sound, the full horn section, and Austin's Greyhounds sitting in on bass and Hammond B3 organ.

Conspirare

6/06/09

Here is their description: "ROCK MY SOUL brings all of the ensembles of Conspirare's Company of Voices on stage together for the first time for a joyous celebration of spirituals – the music born of struggle, faith and deliverance. With the combined 200 voices of the Conspirare ensembles, plus special guest artist, trumpeter and composer HANNIBAL LOKUMBE, the program will focus on many of the most passionate and stirring settings of songs from the African-American spirituals tradition, as well as West African chant and American blues – music that shares a common and related core of expression."

Tribute to Ronnie Dawson

06/05/09

Continental Club

An excellent tribute to the late, great rockabilly legend Ronnie Dawson (also known as "The Blonde Bomber" and "Waxahachie Wildcat"), with Nick Curran on guitar & vocals, Tjarko Jean on guitar, Shaun Young on guitar & vocals, Kevin Smith on bass, and Lisa Pankratz on drums.

Dale Watson

06/03/09

Scholz Garten

Just stopped by for the last few songs by Dale Watson at this free series at Scholz's.

Ruthie Foster

06/03/09

Part of KGSR's Blues on the Green series. Ruthie put on a high energy, feel-good show along with her full band.

Soul Rebels Brass Band

05/16/09

Threadgills World Headquarters

A (slightly muddy) New Orleans dance party with this horn-led jazz/funk band.

Slaid Cleaves

05/07/09