Photos by Chris Gray

What happened to all the hearty, stiff-upper-lip individuals who survived Hurricane Ike and two weeks without electricity? Two drops of rain falling on downtown seems to have killed the crowd at the weekly Discovery Green show Thursday, keeping attendance somewhere in the 40s, about one-third the size of the crowds headliner Randy Weeks has been drawing at Mucky Duck.

That didn’t keep Weeks from working through almost two hours of music that included much of his new album

, scheduled to drop in January. Producer Will Sexton was on hand to play bass with Weeks, whose band also included former Houstonian Rick Poss on guitar and mercurial old pro Rick Richards (Ray Wylie Hubbard) on drums.

New songs like “Fine Way To Treat Me,” “Hard To Believe,” “Just A Little Bit of Sleep” all melded perfectly with Weeks’ previous material and a funky cover of “Down Home Girl.” But it was the title track and “Black Coffee and Lifesavers” that caught our ears as possible singles from the new album should Weeks decide to release one.

It’s a shame the free Thursday shows at Discovery Green haven’t attracted the kinds of numbers that will make them viable in the future. Hopefully music and outdoors lovers will take advantage of fall weather and support this program, which runs through November 20 and resumes in the spring, before it bites the dust. - William Michael Smith

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