Ian McLagan & the Bump Band

Last year when the Rolling Stones played Houston, the Stones guitarist Ron Wood left the after-party and snuck down to the Continental Club to jam with former Small Faces band mate Ian McLagan. (There's a photo on the wall at Sig's Lagoon that shows both men in a moment of rock and roll bliss.) Word has it that McLagan and his Bump Band are red hot right now. When you've got McLagan's credentials -- writing Small Faces hits like "You're So Rude," playing on Rod Stewart's "Maggie May" and "You Wear It Well," recording with Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, and Bonnie Raitt -- you draw top talent. Put McLagan together with grizzled vets and consummate players like Gurf Morlix, Scrappy Jud Newcomb, Mark Andes and Don Harvey, and things get heated in a hurry. This band has had an increasingly busy travel schedule and, fresh off an October 22 appearance opening for the Stones in Austin, its all-pro lineup will likely carve deep grooves in the Continental dance floor before someone sings the old Faces standard "Stay With Me." This one has the potential to be one of the shoulda-been-there shows of the year.