Back on the lonesome road to promote his 4th solo record “The Dreamer,” Old 97s frontman Rhett Miller absolutely destroyed a small club in a lazy Rust Belt town. Inspired by the crowd of roughly 100, Miller put on a Springsteenian show of epic proportions. He and his band, The Serial Lady Killers, played 27 songs during a nearly 2.5 hour set. He was so worked up at one point he couldn’t remember the lyrics to “Time Bomb.” Didn’t matter. He could have been singing “Paddy Cake” and the crowd would have exploded.

Of course, every song was punctuated with a “Thanks, y’all.” Polite but unnecessary. We get it. You’re from Dallas. Even John Ross doesn’t “y’all” incessantly. He just smolders. The camera loves him, but I digress.

So what about this new record that Rhett came to promote? I thought the reason for the solo records was to explore his poppy side and leave the twangy country to Murry. This record rocks less than previous solo releases, and when held up next to his very best (“Fight Songs,” “The Instigator”) it comes up a little light. Still, there are a few nuggets on it that stand out such as “Lost Without You” and “Marina.” Worth the price at twice as much! Buy it!

Opening act, the Spring Standards were a complete delight. Trying to out Low Anthem the Low Anthem, these kids switched instruments and traded harmonies like they were auditioning for their lives. Which isn’t a bad thing. I haven’t purchased their latest record yet, but I intend to.

Here’s a picture of me and Heather Robb, a Spring Standard indeed. In addition to writing songs and singing, Heather is credited with playing melodica, keyboard, glockenspiel and drums. That woman must be a damn octopus!

Prometheus, are you seeing this?

More on that later.