Ian McLagan & the Bump Band

Live at the Lucky Lounge (Maniac)

In the two decades since his arrival in Austin, ex-Faces/Small Faces linchpin and sideman-to-the-stars Ian McLagan has lived up to his status as local musical royalty, delivering consistently excellent new music and energetic live gigs with various incarnations of his crack combo the Bump Band. The veteran Brit singer/keyboardist’s long-running happy-hour residency at the Lucky Lounge remains an ideal venue for his mix of boozy buoyancy and unfussy expertise, and this effortlessly amiable 14-song set spins a high-spirited document of the intimate living-room ambiance of those gigs. With effervescent rockers from McLagan’s solo catalog augmented by enduring chestnuts by the Small Faces (“Get Yourself Together”), Faces (“Cindy Incidentally”), and ex-bandmate Ronnie Lane (uplifting set-closer “Kuschty Rye”), Live at the Lucky Lounge offers a joyous gem that underlines this Rock & Roll Hall of Famer’s stature as a musical gift that keeps on giving. ***.5

This article appears in July 26 • 2013.

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