The previous night's show in Philadelphia had been rained out thanks to the hurricane, and the Rockets were eager to play by the time they crowded onto the stage. It seemed like the place could barely hold them, or their sound. Hell, guitarist Tom Parr's beard could have filled out most of the venue. Parr, drummer Mark Ortmann, and bass player Robert Kearns are all six footers plus, and made an odd frame around the shorter, stocky singer Brian Hennemen in his overalls and Motorhead T-shirt.

The band opened up with "Slo Toms," a stomper off of their last album, before heading into a twenty-five song set. Much of the material came from "Brand New Year," the band's latest, and their heaviest outing yet. Hennemen noted the backlash after the Skynard-on-steroids "I've Been Dying." "The banjo fans were sorely disappointed by the new album, but sometimes you got to trade the tractor in on the Camaro."

There were lighter moments, sprinkled into the set to let the audience rest their ears a bit. "Sometimes Found" became a mantra, swelling with harmonies that lifted the song above it's sometimes laughable lyrics ("Sometimes breakast/Sometimes lunch/Sometimes whiskey/Sometimes punch.)

Hennemen was pleased enough with the stage sound to call it the best the band has ever had, and drew cheers saying, "We could play all night." That seemed to inject some extra fuel into songs that weren't especially notable on record, like "Kit Kat Clock," and did wonders for crowd favorites like "Indianapolis," "Wave That Flag," and "Get Down River." There was a little more swing to the shuffle, and a little more bounce in the backbeat.

The Rockets did their best to be the world's best bar band, as they have been called in the past. Their motto is, "Tonight we're going to party like it's 1972." And they proved they meant it with their anti-technology rant "Helpless," treating computers the way "Mr. Saturday Night Special" treated guns. A couple of covers lightened the mood. Hennemen was thrilled with at least one modern day device -- his new twelve-string electric guitar -- and gave in to the urge to play a Byrds cover, "Hey Mr. Spaceman." Someone yelled "Breakdown" during the next pause. Always game, the band got halfway through it before confessing they didn't know it, and were wasting valuable time, since they had to be offstage by one o'clock.

The Rockets played right up until curfew, ending with a string of their earlier songs, including "Kerosene," -- a compelling tune full of homegrown heartache and worldly angst. And when they left after "1,000 Dollar Car" and "Radar Gun," they left a little countrified feedback hanging in the air.

On Music...