[New Orleans, LA] Deep powerful voice – total command of the stage. Kind of a Tina Turner vibe. It doesn’t take much to make people in New Orleans dance, but she had the whole crowd going, at 3pm in the hot afternoon. We walked in on “I Will Survive,” and stayed for a cover of Stephen Bishop’s “On and On,” and then a medley of New Orleans classics: “When the Saints” … the Treme theme song (my favorite!). The energy was amazing. EyesPoetic and I both confessed to some teary moments. We couldn’t figure out what the issue was exactly, but it was something about all sorts of people having a great time together or New Orlean’s general air of joy-for-life – regardless, there’s no better cure for hordes of competitive status-obsessed statisticians than hordes of dancing New Orleanians.

that big-sound bluesy rocking jazz – reminded me of the Sex and the City episode with the “I Can’t Get Next to You” song – it just bugs me

[Austin, TX] this was an intentional sighting of a local band because they are always so professional and good – a blend of guitar rock, 60s soul, and moderate jam band – 2 horn guys, 2 guitars, and 2 drums, and they’re all enthused – they pulled out what looked like a cigarette for the last song which seemed perfectly fitting, but I think it was actually a blunt and a little NORML message

[San Francisco, CA] among the top three bands of SXSW 2011 (for me) – last year, the lead singer of The Magic Kids had a jacket on that said “Hunx and His Punx” but I thought he was referring to him and his band, turns out the Hunk is not him – it is a very fabulous thin boy in a moustache, cap, see-through leopard-print leggings, and a raggedy t-shirt – Rockboy had just told me he’d ran into one of the members of Operator Please, who had an outrageous blonde wig on, had dropped something, and then staggered up to stare meaningfully at Rockboy for way too many seconds – turns out it was actually Hunx: hipsters, they’re hard to tell apart – the lead singer was rock star outrageous, rolling around on the ground exposing his very exposed crotch (“I wear really pretty underwear”), and preening in front of male audience members – I don’t know if he was really drunk/high or putting on the sort of show that will make him famous, but his crew of 4 to 5 female guitarists/back up vocalists even seemed a little surprised – I would have just classified them as classic 60s rock with a male lead instead of a female lead, but Rockboy heard (and rightfully so) really gay Ramones, Redd Kross, and some Rocky Horror – he seems the sort of flame that will burn out fast if he doesn’t take care

[Oakland, CA] doo-wop stylings over punk rock – drum and slap guitar – raw 60s girl rock

[Brooklyn, NY] girl on keyboard – ah ah harmonizing between a girl and boy – pleasant dance rock – they weren’t an intentional see but they were good

[New York, NY] only saw them for a few songs but they were striking – really pretty soul rock – like Jackson 5 on acid – every band member had long hair that was parted in the middle – and they would engage in moments of thrash like the kids do nowadays to pretend that their pop bands are hardcore

also a 2nd wave ska band from the late 70s on the 2 Tone label more recently noted for the song playing as Ferris Bueller runs through backyards and houses to beat his family home – so we were optimistic at the start – the lead singer had a cute British accent – the band was good – it was pretty quickly clear, though, that there was something lacking – that energy! the quick pick-up of ska – it finally became clear that they just weren’t playing ska – maybe some sort of pop-rock inspired by ska but not ska – the early part of the set reminded me of The Talking Heads, kind of – the pop-rock became decreasingly ska and increasingly soul-pop – like a mix of 90s artists Soul Decision and Shaggy – by the end, it was full-on reggae – I preferred the reggae to the watery rock – reggae would have been okay if I hadn’t come expecting ska – 2 hours of unska was not okay – Rockboy insists they were playing poorer versions of their recorded material and/or the worst of their recorded material – I insist this band is not for me

Although it was the first time in some ten years that both primary contributors to Concert Central were actually at a concert together, we only saw a couple of songs. But the band still managed to make their goodness clear. A rootsy indie sound and fronted by a very lovely young girl with a great voice. Originally from Alabama but now in Austin

this band played music I would never ever listen to and I loved them – it was rousing brassy soul that Rockboy called R&B, as it was born at least – the red-headed lead singer seemed to be a former choir boy what with his slacks and shiny vest but his frenetic sweaty bug-eyed antics made him immensely watchable – not sure if they were doing covers or original material

may be the most professional slick band I\”ve seen in Austin, and while that usually annoys me, it suits their music – they\”re local but touring in support of the New York Dolls – lots of soul, some wah-wah 70s funk and then some Chicago blues – a brass section of saxes and a trumpet, two guitars, drums, etc. etc. – whole assemble was having a good time – Joe Lewis\” voice isn\”t remarkable but he has a pleasing innocent fun demeanor on stage – he supposedly started as a blues singer in Austin with the likes of Scott H. Biram but found his success with the addition of the Honeybears

this band has a gorgeous reggae-pop sound that I’ve come to crave – probably because of the touches of dub – singer’s voice is also a husky high-pitched delight – although my drunk compatriots were a bit of a distraction and my view was often blocked, the band did not disappoint a bit – music and lyrics can move from fun to more soulful and melancholy – they were a group of 3 to 5 clean-cut nice-looking white and black people – “Where’s your soul gone to?”

I liked this guy a lot but I’m not positive that’s his name – I thought he was calling himself Rick Undercut! he came out in a stupid fake long clumpy beard but he worked the crowd (unlike last guy), he moved quickly through his songs (which always pleases my quick-process style) and played a diverse mix of soul, hardcore rap, and sleazy 70s funk, he did a little bit of scratching but mostly was attentive and interactive, he had an unfortunately drab voice but it didn’t hurt him too much

soul/R&B, think they were high quality but just not my thing, didn\”t fit the show either, nice little earnest singer

immediately striking and enjoyable, bluesy rock with rootsy jive

Did not want to go see some old lady doing early rockabilly but how could I not love her? Tiny spunky 70 year old. Clear that she\”d lived but still had the restraint of an older generation. Voice is an awesome blend of raw scratch and melody. Knew how to bring the party. She created an experience. Must mention that she dated Elvis Presley, though he wasn\”t the husband helping her off the stage.

they made my face smile mostly because they are indescribable, love them for the drone as in band above – they always make me think of New York diners and dark streets with car lights streaking, but they are more than that live – more black, some soul and some Seal though I won\”t stand that by that, kind of a heavy rock band with a crooner singer, can\”t describe them because they are that special

from New York, two saxes, trumpet, bass and two other guitars, drummer, put on an excellent show, continual stream of mildly gimmicky stage moves, all instrumentalists were attractive and of undisclosed ethnic background (NY) but could have stood to appear to be enjoying themselves, lead singer was a short fury of a black woman who controlled all Al Green style, some politics, some fun, some sad, I loved the whole spectacle, the soul funk makes me want to dance harder “within myself” than any other kind of music, LameGuitarGuy turned up his nose and said that the vocalist eclipsed the musicians and that his funk band was more jazz than soul, white boy

more interesting now that I know he was a tortured Afghan Whig rocker who tore up shows then went to a mental institution then started Twilight Singers, much harder live-different sound and vibe-love the recordings but the man was a good live show, odd combo of soulful jazz crooner and leering rocker, really like this band

religious acopella gospel, I was wanting that call and response soul-tugging gospel

best of the females, rough voice, rough looks, entertaining lyrics, Heart and country, said “fuck” five+ times and threw fit when lost lyrics

MandolinWoman raved about their steel guitar-looked like a lap guitar to me (?), black near-ghetto-style boys with a white mustached guitar player, passionate and hard, gave shout-outs to Steely Dan, basically did excellent covers of Jimi Hendrix

brother knows how to move a crowd-had the white ones thinking they were black and soulful, he was near scary in his exclamatoriness and the music was 70s porn-style soul and funk

Detroit, MI-old bloated pasty-white rockers, they were having a great time but their lame-crude jokes weren’t moving me, definitely good and together, could break into rolling rollicking rock, lead was black vocalist with very understated voice which made them only more interesting