In addition to his own songs, which included “Rosalie” (sweet), Alejandro Escovedo played “The Man Who Sold the World,” “Beast of Burden,” and—of all things—“Supersonic,” the lyrics to which he had to read as he sang, which is fine, since who wants to remember “Supersonic” anyway? Watching him sing that way, I remembered the last band we saw at the Mill, the peerless Del McCoury Band. It was a week after Paul McCartney’s birthday, and Del wanted to sing “When I’m 64,” but he didn’t know the lyrics, so he made them up then decided just to listen to the audience sing. That was a good show, too.

Anyway, it was several years ago that I last saw Escovedo, well before he almost died of hepatitis. What I had forgotten was how loud his band plays when it’s not playing ballads. And it’s not playing ballads half the time. But loud can be good, and few play it better than Escovedo. He rocked tonight.

(PS. Scott, he’s playing your town, at Park West, Friday. If you don’t go, I’ll be forced to believe that not only do you hate rock and roll and all things good in this world, but also that your soul has been sucked dry by law school, leaving you nothing but an empty, necktie lusting shell—and did I mention that he wears a suit onstage?)