Tuesday night was just another night at the Bowery Ballroom, where some of the best music happens in NYC. I have yet to see anything less than a packed room there.

First up was Fergus & Geronimo, already one of BestNewBands.com’s top 10 picks for the SXSW Festival 2011. These guys sound like they are influenced by The Beach Boys, Ramones, and King Tubby. Their MySpace description lists their genres as Punk / Post punk / Western Swing, and with post-punk they definitely delve into dub in one smooth segue, with a little bit of surf thrown in for good measure. The core of this band is comprised of Denton, Texas natives Andrew Savage and Jason Kelly. They write all of Fergus & Geronimo’s songs independently, collaborate on the recording, and then are joined by friends for their live performances. It seems that this band is more of a side project for both of them, but a side project that is getting lots of attention. This is a band with energy, with jumping and yelling and dub-style grooving, and a drummer who multi-tasks with singing lead. They ended their high energy set with a reworked version of “Louie Louie” going into a bluesy original tune. These guys are a little all over the place, but somehow they make it work.

Next was The Ettes from Nashville, with a sick chick drummer. It’s always great to have a girl going wild on drums, tossin’ her hair and beating those floor toms with fury. That in itself was a great show, but they also had a great bass player, and with the lead singer’s punk rockabilly style, they made straightforward punk songs that are simple yet great to dance and rock out to.

Finally it was time for what most of the crowd came to see. The Greenhornes casually came on stage and started their set. No showy dramatic rock star moves, just straightforward tell-you-bout-the-blues garage rock. Considering their decent repertoire of albums, they did a good job covering the gamut, playing older tunes like “The End of the Night,” and also several from their latest album, Four Stars.

While The Greenhornes were definitely the main highlight of the show, Fergus & Geronimo made their own experimental psychedelic doo-wop dub punk footprint. Although the majority of the crowd that night came after their opening set, without a doubt they sparked some interest in the city they now call their home. Since their style is so eclectic it’s hard to predict the direction they go from here, but judging from their work so far it’s worth finding out.

Fergus & Geronimo currently have a 7” out on Hardly Art, and are planning to release their first LP, Unlearn this January.