It is amazing that all of my favorite bands from Memphis were scheduled to play within 5 days of each other the week of my birthday. Perhaps it was a reminder that you don’t have to live in this stress-pit of a city to have an audience here.

The Reigning Sound played Maxwell’s in Hoboken tonight (not technically NYC) and Greg Cartwright announced he was still getting over an illness when he took the stage. It certainly didn’t matter much. Having not seen them since SXSW ’07, it was a reminder why I tell people they are my favorite current band. The line-up sounded tight, giving the tempos room to breath and fluxuate, while Greg spat the bile that can only be pumped out by a broken heart.

They ran through wonderful versions of “Stop and Think it Over,” “I’ll Cry,” “The Bells,” “Polly Anne,” and the Oblivians’ “Bad Man,” but did not come back for an encore as Greg had worn his voice out for the evening. Good thing I have tickets for the South Paw show. Maybe I’ll get to hear “Drowning” or “Something to Hold on To.” Its a not often that a songwriter has a catalog so strong that no set could possibly deliver everything you’d want to hear. More on this fantastic week of Memphis music tomorrow.

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• Reigning Sound are here (Maxwell’s tonight, Southpaw Friday), but not long enough to catch Jack Oblivian (Sunday) (brooklynvegan.com)