Soulive and the North Mississippi Allstars have stolen the concert season. Their concert in Denver was the buzz on campus amid a concert season including major draws such as Green Day and the Foo Fighters/Weezer tour. Such attention to the band was reflected by serious Pioneer representation on Oct. 7 for an energetic night at the Fillmore. Soulive are one of the most infectiously fun jazz bands in the game. Their popularity is quickly catching up with their immense improvisational talent. The Woodstock, N.Y., natives bring a wild onstage energy anchored down with the funky bass lines of Neal Evans. Looking for Evans with a traditional four-string bass will do no good. He spent the concert standing behind an organ throwing down bass lines with his right hand and blazing dancing organ melodies with his left. Evan’s brother Alan characterized the bands ferocity behind the drums. He quickly established rock credibility by garnering an AC/DC cut-off onstage. After the first half hour he had the crowd believing that he himself could sit in with the Australian rock legends and not miss a beat. Soulive’s core group is complete with Eric “speedy-fingers” Krasno on the guitar. Early in Soulive’s set, the audience wondered, “could Soulive get any more SOULFUL??” The answer came when Soulive welcomed to the stage guest singer Reggie Watts. Watts is one of those singers who makes listeners wonder what he is saying even though they don’t care. His lyrics drip with years of passionate love making. In all fairness, anyone with a falsetto baritone like his would allow for much experience in love making. What was most remarkable about Watts was his chemistry with Soulive. He toured the stage interacting with each instrumentalist as if he was a full-time lead singer.If there was one void in Soulive set it would be the apparent lack of horns coming to the foreground. All fears were answered by the final song when Rashawn Ross (trumpet) and Ryan Zoidis (alto sax) ripped through their (eventual) lead roles on the rousing finale “Tuesday Night’s Squad.”For those who are not familiar with North Mississippi, think Black Keys crossed with a southern reefer. North Mississippi, the headliner, is a great band that definitely brought a fantastic musical performance to Denver. Despite a marvelous effort from North Mississippi, it was Soulive that stole the show. Anyone who has an opportunity to see either of these bands should buy a ticket as soon as possible.