Is there anything better than a Rusted Root concert? I sure as hell can't think of anything. So Tuesday comes and I make the drive down to the Liacouras Center at Temple University to see one of the best live bands to come out of the 1990s.

   Local band, Teenage Girls hit the stage first to open the night. Not a bad little rock band, just very out of place with what would be to follow. Teenage Girls had no chance with the crowd and more applause was had at the end of the set, not for them, 'cause it was the END OF THE SET.

Jenn Wertzusted Root

   Next up was Mike Doughty, former singer for the band Soul Coughing. Armed with just a guitar, Doughty brought out some of the classic Soul Coughing songs (most notably "Janine" & "Circles") as well as some new songs from his CD, with the money going to "put gas back into my car." Some in the crowd recognized songs but many that I talked with just felt that his songs were repetitive and not very interesting. Doughty was getting no love from much of the audience, until he whipped out a cover of Mary J Blige's "Real Love." A couple hecklers tried to rattle Doughty but ended up getting it worse back as Doughty had the crowd in stitches, while making fun of these poor idiots.

   At 9 pm the lights dimmed, and the sweet sounds of "Voodoo" hit the stage. The crowd was already in a frenzy as Liz Berlin strapped on the washboard for "Rain" from 1994's When I Woke. The energy in the crowd and on the stage was off the hook. You could tell that the band was already having a good time thriving off the good vibes in the crowd. The first big crowd moment came during "Cat Turned Blue" when Root breaks into the Bob Dylan classic, "All Along the Watchtower."

Michael Glabicki

   "Heaven," off of 1996's Remember, provided the first extended jam with new percussionist John McDowell adding more depth to the song with some really tight organ playing. While hitting a lot of the old stuff, Rusted Root does have a new CD to promote and next up were 3 songs off of Welcome To My Party. "Blue Diamonds" and "Sweet Mary" came up next separated by the very rocking "Weave," featuring Jenn Wertz on lead vocals. This song was killer live and was followed by one of the more entertaining asides to the crowd, as lead singer Michael Glabicki introduced Jenn not as the "Tambourine Girl," but as the "Sausage Queen," which had all on the stage laughing. You could see that the band was having a ball.

   The set roared to a close with "Martyr," a medley of "Back to the Earth" straight into an intense drum jam, and "Laugh as the Sun." After a very short break, Glabicki was back on the stage with just his acoustic guitar for the unreleased song "Thunder" followed by the band joining him for "Cruel Sun," once again aided by McDowell's organ playing as well as the killer bass of Patrick Norman.