Ain't that strange?

I've never missed the Old 97's as much as I did tonight at the Barrymore. I saw Rhett Miller and his backing band, The Believers, and overall I'd have to say ... eh. The band was technically proficient, and I liked the drummer. But I just couldn't shake the feeling that I was watching a cover band that just happened to be fronted by the real lead singer. It didn't help that the guitar player (and bassist, to some degree) creeped me out. I'm sorry, and I'm sure they're actually fine fellows, but oh my Christ. Anya will back me up on this.

Even Rhett's usual audience chemistry and charisma seemed somewhat dampened. He smiled and danced and shook his hips as per usual, but it wasn't until the end that I truly believed he was into it. Maybe that was just me, though. I did find their transformation of "Barrier Reef" into blistering punk interesting and entertaining, and the songs from the solo albums were decent - though the bass was mixed too loud. But the clear highlight for me was the trio of songs Rhett played by himself while the band took a break. In honor of a recent march and capitol sit-in by "a bunch of hippies" here, he even played "Stoned". You (and even I) might think that my opinion is biased, since I'm very familiar with solo Rhett. But Anya, who'd never seen him in any incarnation and only knew a couple of songs, independently prounounced it the best part as well. And if both of us think that, who's going to argue?

Garrison Starr, who opened the show, was good. I liked her songs, and she bantered with the audience and told stories for probably a quarter of her time onstage. Unusual for an opener, but kind of fun. When she wasn't veering into "okay, this is kind of awkwardly rambling now" territory. I also enjoyed the fact that her Mississippi twang was able to make "and" into a two-syllable word.