It was Sunday night, the beer was flowing, the Giants had just won the Super Bowl and the parking lot at Jazz was nearly full. Tonight it wasn't the game that encouraged the sea of familiar faces to venture out. Dr. Skoob and the Gringo Sol of Lubbock were back in town, and this time, they brought friends.
Members of the Lubbock native band "Cellus and the Loose Grip" - Josh Brandenburg from Garland and Mike Burnall from Plains - also recently made the move to Austin when their music became more widely recognized. They made no qualms about driving in to visit this Doctor for an extra-large dose of soul medicine. After Skoob's 2007 release of the album "Dr. Skoob's Gringo Sol," not many have passed up on the opportunity.
"It cures cancer. It cures gingivitis. Our joints have never been this good. That's how good our album is. It's like Aspercreme for the soul," claims Doug Haines of Lubbock.
At 10:30 p.m., the band welcomed each other home with a sweet slow song. Shadd Daugherty from Lubbock took us back to days of sitting on the back porch swing with grandpa and his guitar.
"Shadd Daugherty is self indulgent, but he's glad to be home," Haines jokes. Minutes later the blues began to unravel as the band offered us "Vegan Interior," an ode to those who "conform by not conforming." Immediately Daugherty blew us out of the water with his electric touch.
"I feel good tonight," Daugherty said.
Daugherty wasn't the only one feeling good. The ladies of Jazz were swooning as Haines serenaded them with the lyrics, "Maybe baby, I'll have you someday" from the classic song "Maybe Baby."
"I haven't played that song in 10 years," Haines exclaimed.
The evening could not pass without mention of the big game. Haines was impressed by the half time show and the decision to employ Tom Petty.
"People that like football like to rock," he said. "Next year they should have the Black Crowes play, but Shadd says they aren't popular enough."
It was the moments like those, when Haines would spontaneously break to offer the crowd humorous anecdotes that the audience enjoyed the most. Fans found themselves roaring with laughter when Haines, clearly impressed by Daugherty's face-melting riffs chided him for showing off.
"Don't clap for Shadd, he'll get a big head," Haines joked, but this was not the favorite comment of the evening. During a Kinky Friedman original, Haines offered an explanation of what the Doctor had to deliver. "You know what ACDC does? They do cocaine off strippers butts'. You know what we do? We bring the funk!"
They brought the funk.
Though the fire burned underneath his fingers, Daugherty was only one-fourth of what made the chemistry so explosive.
"Shadd's okay but ol' Mike B is freaking killing it," exclaimed Andy Eppler of Lubbock. Burnall, a drummer quite obviously influenced by the blues, flawlessly found every pocket available that night.
The driving sounds of the bass guitar should not pass without mention either. Brandenburg, originally a rhythm guitarist, eerily almost had channeled his soul brother Joel Smith of Austin who owns the 5-string Brandenburg played.
When it all came down to it, those that found themselves at Jazz on Super Bowl Sunday were lucky witnesses to a moment each person surely will keep with them for months to come. It was a moment when handfuls of Lubbock's most prized talents joined together to entertain us all, and entertain us they did.
The lyric "I once heard a story, but the facts just never felt right," from the song "Two Trains" could not ring more true here. Stories of Dr. Skoob and the gang have been told, but the fact of the matter is you have to see it yourself to believe it.
Get a second helping of Dr. Skoob and the Gringo Sol of Lubbock at 10 p.m. Wednesday at Lonestar Oyster Bar. I'll definitely take another dose.
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