For more summers than I care to (or can) remember, I’ve been coming to Lollapalooza for my fix of indie rock, techno and the occasional singer/songwriter. But it’s not exactly known as the place to check out smoking R&B and soul. All that changed, though, Saturday morning.

First, Decatur, Georgia’s Ryan Shaw, a kind of dreadlocked Sam Cooke, blew away a sparse crowd with a set of smoking throwback soul from his recently released debut album, including the grinding Stevie Ray Vaughn-style blues “Nobody.”

Then, about 50 yards away, afro’d singer/rapper Kevin Michael, whose debut comes out in September, wowed an even smaller crowd with a set that bounced from Michael Jackson old-school pop soul to D’Angelo-style modern R&B, with a bit of beatboxing thrown into the mix from guitarist Akil Dasan. Though hometown hero Lupe Fiasco didn’t pop out as some expected to drop his vocals on the soul-clap anthem “We All Want the Same Thing,” Michael held it down by jumping offstage during his set and getting some serious eye contact with the ladies in the crowd. They dug it, though their boyfriends didn’t seem to be as psyched about it.

Bottom line is the kid can sing, even when he’s doing it in a corny song like “Vicki Secrets,” which he helpfully explained was about sexy women’s drawers. We would have probably gotten that, dude. Don’t fear the mystery.

Read more about Ryan Shaw, Kevin Michael and all of Saturday’s performances on MTVNews.com …