It was a sellout, and when the three members of All the Saints ambled onstage around 8 o'clock the floor of the Tabernacle was already full nearly to the back. I positioned myself to the left of the soundboard as the Atlanta band kicked into their opening set. As far as I could tell, nobody in my immediate vicinity had any idea who they were. It didn't appear to be the kind of crowd that typically goes to see local bands, aside from maybe cover bands at the Wooden Nickel, so there was a lot of "Who are these guys?" going on around me. Still, ATS received a generally enthusiastic reception, especially whenever drummer Jim Crook bounded from the stool behind his kit to rouse the crowd at the front of the stage, which was pretty much after every song. He's the most animated, entertaining and intense component of this band by a long shot, pummeling his drums with such concentrated ferocity that he has to bounce up and pace several steps each time a song ends, like he needs to come down a bit, regain his vision and remember where he is. At one point near the end of their set Crook approached the microphone to testify how excited and honored they were to be opening for Them Crooked Vultures – the music their members and their various bands have made, he said, deeply inspired All the Saints. That got their biggest cheer of the evening, but he wasn't exaggerating.

Tuesday's show at Variety brought more cowboy hats to Little Five Points than it has seen in years. The lineup was blatantly cohesive – all three bands were clearly country-derived (excluding the modern commercial kind) and damned proud of it. The stage setup introduced a fitting Mexican cantina, Southern Texas element, with oversized white lights strung loosely on both sides.