I went to the hot sauce festival for the Honey (Bears)
Approximately 10,000 sweaty Austinites took to Waterloo Park on Sunday for the 18th Annual Austin Chronicle Hot Sauce Festival. Given my new convenient proximity to downtown, I was happy to stumble on over to check out the scene. Personally, I found the tasting lines to be way out of hand, but to be honest I wasn't there for the hot sauce. I was there for the smooth, satisfying, rhythm & blues of Austin's own Black Joe Lewis & The Honey Bears.
"Doing the Funk"
The Honey Bears headlined the musical portion of the festival and KILLED IT. Their straight forward, heavy, blues-funk is so tight that the appeal is universal. I saw a frat boy try to buy a Natalie Merchant tour shirt off the back of a homeless man, straight up. That's just interesting. Surprisingly, the business transaction was denied! Why? Because the homeless dude was too busy gettin' DOWN. And although frat boy was noticeably disappointed, he was totally understanding as he boogied back to his little click.
Their modern-day Motown sound is reminiscent of the greats and suitably they list their influences as James Brown, The Bar-Kays, Sam & Dave, and Bo Diddley. This amateur footage I found from the show doesn't quite do justice for the audio (or visuals), but I was there in the flesh and they brought it.
"I Don't Mind"
I previously caught Black Joe Lewis, et al opening for The Hold Steady as well as Man Man, so allow me to testify that their shit is consistent. Be sure to check them out if you haven't. They'll be playing ACL next month before leaving town to tour with Okkervil River.
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