Further up the hill, small children ran around and played while the grown folks sipped a cold beer or two and enjoyed the weather. I missed the band's set at Eleanor Tinsley Park last month, so I was particularly keen to hear some of their newer cuts. The Suffers obliged early, offering up an upbeat, slinky track called "Slow it Down" as well as the soulful R&B grind of "Midtown," among others. They were my favorite songs of the set.

Plenty of ink has already been spilled by Rocks Off on the smooth vocals and dynamic stage presence of Suffers front woman Kam Franklin. If you haven't checked her and the boys out yet, do yourself a favor. On Thursday, she kept those hips and arms in motion, inviting a growing crowd to get up close and move along with her.

"If you're afraid to dance by yourself, please don't be," she told the audience. "There's magic happening up here."

The band kept the party going with a few gently rasta-fied covers, including Martha and the Vandellas' "Heat Wave," Bad Manners' "Sally Brown" and the Marvelettes "Please Mr. Postman." The most fun of the lot, though, was their cooing version of Bobby Brown's "Every Little Step." Lord knows cover songs can get tedious quick, but the Suffers made each of the borrowed tunes their own, thanks in large part to that splendid rhythm section.

By the time they broke into the bouncy little number "Make Some Room," the evening could scarcely have been nicer. For once, live music outdoors in Houston was nothing to sweat over, even for families.

"We're so happy to finally play here," Franklin said. "Last year we couldn't do it because of the rain. It's been a really, really beautiful night."

You said it, girl.

Personal Bias: No smoking in the park? Bah.

The Crowd: A nice, diverse mix of ages and ethnicities with widely varying familiarity with the acts.

Overheard In the Crowd: "Are they really going to set those chairs up right in front of us?!"

Random Notebook Dump: Nothing unites a band and an audience in mutual ecstasy like a fine summer breeze, I tell ya.