Last Friday, September 20 th, Louisiana Soul Maestros and winners of the 2017 NPR Tiny Desk Contest, Tank And The Bangas rocked the house at Emos in Austin.
When the house lights went down, a dim green light fell upon the stage. After that, Tank took the center spotlight tethered to a giant Green Balloon, coincidentally the title of the band’s new album, and started singing the new single, Spaceships.

From there it was a wide range of the band’s top hits such as Ripperton Love, Quick and Let Your Soul Grow while still showing off new crowd-pleasers such as Nice Things and Ants. For the uninitiated, Tank and The Bangas is a multi-member ensemble that miraculously manages to blend Hip Hop with Soul and Funk and even Showtunes.

Tank can effortlessly command attention with her voice within songs like Nice Things and mesmerize a packed crowd. However, what’s always made this band unique can be found on the new song Forgetfulness where the band’s trademark Hip Hop Rhythm is blended with the same theatric quality of show tunes that run on Broadway.

Making this an extra significant night, this is the first meeting of the band with their Texas Soul counterparts, The Suffers, as the two head out on a three-night mini-tour. The two groups have been in each other’s radar for the better part of a decade it turns out, but this is the first time they actually will be sharing a stage.

The difference in Tank’s Hip Hop-infused experimental Soul, compared to The Suffers’ Neo-Traditional style was on full display, and it was incredible how the two complement each other so well. At the end of the night, the band brought it home on their top jam, The Brady’s, sending the crowd home electrified.