The Soulphonics Featuring Ruby Velle

Here's another of the bands from Tropical Heatwave last month. They're called The Soulphonics Featuring Ruby Velle. They play some sweet soul music. Well, that seems a little mellow. They were pretty upbeat, as you'll see in some of these pictures. You know that any band with a prominent horn section has to be pretty good.

The horn section alone can't carry the band though, so there's a guitarist and a keyboardist, too. I hope there's a better picture of the keyboard player here somewhere. He was an important part of their sound (think Booker T.), so I don't want to slight him with not having a picture. We'll see.

Oh, yeah, there's a drummer in there, too. You see him hanging out behind Ruby in many of these shots. But obviously the main focus of my lens is Ruby.

OK, here's the whole band so you can get an idea of who's where. This is the same hall that I saw Rocket 88 in later on in the night. This seemed to be the best stage of the four, at least as far as I was concerned.

There's the piano player again. Maybe you can see him a little better this time. Oh, and the drummer man. And of course, Ruby.

And more Ruby. She's got some pipes, trust me.

Still more Ruby. I'm like John Cusack's character in High Fidelity, I want to date a girl who's in a band. Put me in the liner notes to your LP, please. :)

And there's Ruby again, giving us all the finger. Or telling us she's number one. Yeah, that's it, she's number one! Oh, and I like the key she has on a chain around her neck. I used to have one of those on my keychain. Had it for years and years and years. I wonder what I did with that?

Ruby can't stop doing The Monkey. Or is it The Frugg? I'm not sure...

This must have been a more tender song. These guys are based in Atlanta, so I figure maybe I'll try to go see them the next time I'm up there. Maybe I can convince my buddy to hire them for his wedding reception. Oh, Ben?

When she first came out, I think I said something about her looking like Amy Winehouse. Maybe a little, but not so much. Any is a little scary sometimes in some pictures. Perhaps it's the crack. Don't know. Ruby hung out for hours after the show and watched some of the other bands play. She was even doing some crazy swing dancing at one point, which was pretty cool. I don't think you can swing dance if you've been smoking crack. I could be wrong, but I doubt it.

Here's a better picture of the drummer. Drummers don't get enough respect. They sit at the back of the stage where you can barely see them, and they rarely get a moment in the spotlight. And then there's the unfortunate fact that drum solos are a little passe at the moment... Oh, well.