[Chicago] The pretty blonde lead singer has that deep voice that somehow squeaks at the same time – reminded me of all those British soulsters that are so popular right now. She carried herself like a proper superstar too, which I mean as a compliment. The backing music (all sorts of people and instruments) was kind of tropical and had elements of ska sometimes. Rich, unusual, high quality. The whole band is also unusually attractive, not that that’s what’s important Listening to their online stuff – there’s a lot more dub than I realized – good band!

Their sound was about as diverse as their collection of instruments: a lapsteel, upright bass, accordion, and drums. And somehow it worked – it was some crazy mix of tejano, gypsy punk, rockabilly, 60s rock… sometimes they sang in Spanish. Nick Gaitan has a great soulful voice. It was all so lively, he had to tell the accordion player to “cool that accordion down.” There was one couple furiously swing dancing by the stage, the girl with a dagger tattooed on her upper arm smiled at me evil-ly, and the rest of the audience were wall-sized Latinos and gorgeous rockabilly Latinas. This show was about when I started thinking Houston isn’t so bad, and is possibly even rawer than Austin with its still burgeoning music scene, and all of the diverse people actually melding their music and making something new, instead of another rehash of the past.

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

we thought he was going to be the first band and he should have been the first band – it’s not that he was bad but he was a ska-pop (which sounds remarkably like afro-pop) lone singer on a guitar!! he sounded like an acoustic Matisyahu! Vampire Weekend! – would have been great if you chanced upon him in a coffeeshop – big deflation in crowd energy but luckily he only played for about an hour

I always like this band when they come on Rockboy’s iPod but didn’t expect them to be the great show of the night – they’re 2nd wave ska from the late 70s, on the 2 Tone label – maybe more of a party band than the others?… something about them made me put them in the bar band category – anyway, in addition to the slew of great young musicians on stage, the lead singer was perfect – it was his 50th birthday that night – his outfit was so horrid and ridiculous – he was so unattractive and large (although some 200 lbs lighter than he used to be) – and he was entrancing, getting the crowd to jump, shout, etc. – the entire band never stopped moving – this is what ska is or should be about! and then the next 2 bands came on

Michael Franti and Spearhead managed a level of energy during their two abbreviated sets that was unmatched by either of the other bands. Playing a mix of rock and reggae, and playing the musician and the master of ceremonies of a wild dance party, Franti was a force of nature on stage. The highlight of the night was a full company run through of their track Hello Bonjour.

For what it’s worth, they seemed to stick to a hits-heavy set, Say Hey (I Love You) and rousing version of Yell Fire!. Probably most everyone in the venue had never heard of Spearhead, but they converted fans tonight by the masses. They were hugely entertaining.

this venue immediately transports you to another place with irregular stadium seating, Mai Thai drinks, open-aired roofing, and the sweet smell of pot – the world of dub, ska, rocksteady and things reggae-beautiful – I was immediately soothed but was scrunching my brows once the music started – it was sounding like Lenny Kravitz to me which was not what I was looking for – UrbanBiker, a far more savvy consumer of the genre, stated in flat disdain “this is not reggae! this is a Jamaican singer/songwriter!” – all he needed to say, “singer/songwriter” is the death knell no matter where you’re from – he islanded it up a little bit as songs progressed but never approached escape.

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?”

this band was a breath of fresh air after rock overload – tiny black boy with polo shirt and giant smile singing – another black boy with dreads, gapped teeth, and abercrombie-style clothes on ??? – silly white boy with plastic animals glued to his t-shirt and plastic sunglasses on the keyboard – they were electronic hipsters interlaced with warm authentic African touches – the singer was all positivity and would switch from African style hymns to reggae to pure pop – the first song sampled M.I.A. and I would say their sound is fairly comparable to hers – perhaps the best part of the band were the two black female dancers in rainbow-colored clothing – one was skinny but the big girl had all the moves and no shame – the crowd was all young awkward white hipster kids and, at one point, the big girl put her hands on the hips of a shy white girl in the front and made her move them – we agreed though that there\”s something unsatisfying about a group without a single musician

I couldn’t pin a genre on this band if I tried. Their boyish joie de vivre was incredibly infectious and we made the boys stay because we were infected. They progressed from R&B to ska to blues rock. The lead singer had the tight jeans on, like all the boys do (much to my 30-something friends’ dismay), and a mohawkesque haircut and small tattoos on his neck and grins all over the place. I googled them and got this urban definition: “female on the snow who makes you crack a fat even in sub zero temperatures.” Maybe that helps you pin them down… Oh no, it wasn’t Ski Bunny – the band on MySpace is entirely different – the schedule must have changed – I hate when that happens. Ok, so more specifically, it was 4 to 5 very young males – that’s all I’ve got.

so darling the crowd could hardly stand it, 6-piece female ska group from Japan, all energy and high-skill, didn\”t speak English except for a few tag shout-outs for the crowd, the top crowd response of every band I saw this year at SXSW – inspired an inspired mosh pit, I personally think it was more the novelty of gender and nation than the actual music, plus ska is just fun

Sublime-lite, similar sensibility to O.A.R. – actually stopped to give a motivational speech that he apologized for, rock that verged into pop-punk with reggae/dub undertones

from Apple Valley! or Hesperia!, and really really good, punk with only a little bit of rockabilly, lead singer was very reminiscent of Gwen Stefani and was an excellent showwoman – confident and full of weird faces, fantastic musicians as well, especially the upright bass player, their name comes from a Simpsons episode

“live dub!,” my new favorite music, a DJ who was good and not too obtrusive

a bunch of old white guys acting like rastas and I loved them, mesmerizing happy drone bass of rock steady, “An all-star group of musicians that include founding members of Austin’s good vibes bands of the 80′s such as the Lotions, Pressure, Itex, and with a former Killer Bee or two thrown in as well” per website, two guitarists a saxophone a keyboard a drum, sweet smell of pot throughout, diverse crowd

Maybe my favorite show ever. They were so excellent I take a deep breath now. British inflected reggae. Stupid crazy outfits – party girls but not “typical girls.” Then some punk. I do have a soft spot for girl rockers but these girls crafted such fine fine songs.

punk ska, of the 2 Tone persuasion, from Liverpool

loved them but they weren’t representing Bob Marley (his old band) or what I’d expect, played dub and then Jack Johnson (I think) joined them on stage and it was groove rap-a la Sublime

BeautifulTeacher pick, Mexican, ska! (like old timey with skanking and all), punk!, ballads!, weird fantasy song with mask and a floaty group dance, excellent and energetic, little lead singer had an afro and a pink shirt with a tie on-ahhhh