"If you came here to hear "Super Bon Bon,' you are so fucked," Mike Doughty reprimanded a fan that yelled out for one of the better known tunes by Soul Coughing, the eclectic jazzbo band Doughty used to front. "We're not playing "Screenwriters Blues' so go get your money back,' he told a patron who requested yet another Soul Coughing track. Even though his solo material often elicits a similar vibe to Soul Coughing, Doughty steered clear of older tunes (with the exception of Soul Coughing's "Circles," which he disposed of early in the 18-song set).

Doughty, who opened with "Navigating by the Stars at Night," the final track on his new album, Golden Delicious, was clearly into making sure his current group gets its due. He and the guys jammed a bit at the end of "Busting Up a Starbucks" and Doughty made a special point to introduce drummer Pete McNeal and keyboardist John Kirby as he launched into "I Just Want the Girl in the Blue Dress to Keep Dancing." As terrific as Doughty's band was, the singer fared just as well on his own, handling a sampler for an innovative intro to "More Bacon than the Pan Can Handle" and dismissing most of his backing band for a stripped-down segment. Lingering over the words of the somber "Wednesday (No Se Apoye)" like they were something to savor, Doughty proved himself to be more than just a clever wordsmith in a black shirt and sportcoat. Mid-set songs "Put It Down" and "27 Jennifers" had real vigor to them and the set-closing medley of "Lola" and "The Gambler" brought the whole affair to a cool conclusion.

Aspiring to the all-encompassing approach of Beck, openers the Panders didn't quite achieve their intentions. Frontman Scott Wynn simply had no stage presence and the band's 30-minute set seemed short on substance, something that's perhaps indicative of the fact that the guys only have one EP to their credit. n

Crystal Castles

Grog Shop

Friday, March 21

When doors opened at 9 p.m., a line of coiffed, H&M-clad youth curled around the venue. The average age of the night's concert-going crowd couldn't have been more than 17. I felt like an anomaly standing in the middle of the floor with a drink in hand, as touchy-feely teens with haircuts sharp enough to kill a man writhed all around. When Crystal Castles finally took stage after midnight, I realized I was neither young enough nor drunk enough to fully enjoy this spectacle. Crystal Castles are an amusing take on a novelty concept - screechy indie vocals layered over heavy beats and synthy melodies borrowed from all your favorite Atari games. It's music that should be gimmicky but is executed with a high degree of intelligence and finesse by the Canadian duo. Even so, it's music that's fun in theory, but at 1 a.m. on a weeknight to a person stooped over her $4 beer bottle, not particularly inspiring. I'd like to say something about what was happening on stage, but between the light show and gyrating limbs, I couldn't pick either member of Crystal Castles out of a police line-up.

A DJ opened with lengthy sets of dance punk and indie remixes spliced with rap and the odd pop hit from the '80s. It's strange to see a generation who has no claim to the '80s clapping along with "Mickey." Tour support Health didn't go on until around 11 p.m. When I'm forced to endure a band I don't particularly like, I try to search for some positive angle. But in this case I searched in vain. Health were god-awful. While some seemed to appreciate the screaming and unstructured chaos happening on stage, just as many headed for the shelter of the restrooms. Health seemed to combine the worst of all genres into one big package. There wasn't a melody or a riff to latch on to if your life depended on it.

- Emily Anderson

Blue Man Group

Quicken Loans Arena

Saturday, March 22

Sure, it felt more than a bit forced to stomach three percussionist mimes painted blue walking a near-capacity multi-generational crowd at the Q through the fundamentals of becoming a rock star. It's a good thing Blue Man Group and its How to Be a Megastar Tour 2.1 offered more of a tongue-in-cheek run-through, stocked to the hilt with Vaudevillian comedy, light-show experimentation and that solid rhythmic playfulness fans have grown to expect. Though the "rocking" the group did wasn't nearly as visceral or aggressive as fans of the genre have come to expect, it nonetheless offered a tidy recreation, all ages welcome.

After an initial number that exhibited the stick skills of these three Blue Men (there's been about 60 members since the group was born in the 1980s) with a tight backing band composed of three additional percussionists, two guitarists, a bassist, a keyboardist/singer and a Vegas-ready female vocalist named Adrian Hartley, a manual is "downloaded." It features SNL's Fred Armisen playing a cheesily attired infomercial host hawking rock know-how for the masses, with tips spread throughout the show, ranging from simple movements like the Basic Head Bob and the One-Arm Fist Pump to complexities like the Fake Ending and the Codpiece. It could have become tiresome if not for the interspersed driving rhythmic ditties that expose the roots of the Blue Men fervor. Here and there, the group introduced some melodic fare that highlighted Hartley's heavenly pipes but, overall, came across more like Celine Dion than Shirley Manson. Still, the group lived up to its reputation with props like light suits and giant whips that brought sound to choreographed light-saber-like moves, or by beating on an open baby grand to powerful effect, and with drum-heavy covers like the Who's "Teenage Wasteland" that "rocked" as heavily as the original. The hefty admission might not have included true rock know-how, but it did fill the eyes with fantastic colors and turn the eardrums into putty. - Dan Harkins

doughty More than just a wordsmith.