The Club @ Water Street is always a cool hang. It's got its own vibe, but there always seems to be an air of anticipation, of expectation due to the fact you can walk in and hear just about anything. That's what I did the night of Wednesday, February 25. I was open and hopin' for something good, and was knocked out by Ithaca-based Thousands Of One. This band blended a lot, as jam bands are wont to do. But when it poured it out on stage, the band knew when to say when. But I'm telling you, it was intense: African polyrhythms and hip-hop bounced beneath vocals intoned with a mix of elation and purpose. The saxophonist added a particularly ominous edge and was probably my favorite component. The band was on fire, and no doubt won some new fans - at least one, anyway.

Abilene was packed like Folsom as it celebrated its patron saint Johnny Cash's birthday Thursday night with Cash Back. And because Cash is virtually a genre unto himself, it's not really a tribute band. Cash Back plays Cash 'n' roll, and sounds so alarmingly like Cash and The Tennessee Two that when the band stopped and the jukebox kicked in, you could hardly tell the difference. Cash Back's secret weapon is TJ Ricer - he of the cast-iron diaphragm - who plays the brass equivalent to Cash's voice in The Po Boys Brass Band. It occurred to me that the bass line is the same in most of Cash's songs, and yet I don't get bored.