JUNE 11, 2005: Vanessa Davis Band at North Center Rib Fest. I’d never seen her before, though I was with a friend who claimed to have seen her something like 40 times. It was an entertaining set of blues rock and R&B, made all the more interesting by Davis’ bigger-than-life personality. She was apparently not clear on the concept that this was a family festival with kids in the crowd, and let loose with some adult language… while talking about a recent DUI arrest that her lawyer had advised her not to talk about. Oops!
Later, I caught some of the Coral’s show at Martyrs’. I got there late, just in time to hear the last five songs… enough for me to confirm my memory from SXSW 2003 that they’re a great live band, better than they sound on their studio records. I will have to listen more to the new one. If the Futureheads are the new XTC, these guys are the new Dukes of Stratosphear. (And I mean that in a good way.)