Here is a band way past their prime: allegedly the cover for the Old 97’s show at Stubbs was reduced from $25 to $15 and eventually free by the time we drunkenly stumbled past on our way home. I pretty much bolted to the stage in after showing my ID, excited to see the original four ripping through a set in their home state. Okay, they’re old, and their bass player has really gray hair but he still wears those round glasses, and they still play their poppy alt country like it’s going out of style, which is fair enough because it is. None of that takes any of the magic away from seeing “Timebomb” performed live, their best song and one of the most awesome stompers of the decade (disclosure: huge Old 97’s fan). Hearing Rhett sing, “I’ve got it badly for a stick legged girl” threw me right back into all the stick-legged girls I’ve loved before (or at least the stick legged girls I’ve wanted to be in love with when Rhett sings about them), and the crowd-wide singalong reminded me I was seeing something that doesn’t happen every day. With all of the shiny new bands doing their shiny new thing everywhere, it was great to see a Texas band play their Texas music, all heartbreak and guitar, under the open sky.

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