If you made it out to Mission of Burma's show at the Black Cat on Saturday night, it's likely you're still hearing those songs running through your head. If that's the case, it's probably because you can hear little else. The band may now be firmly entrenched in middle age, but don't tell them that there's a mellowing process that's supposed to go along with reaching your 50s. Saturday's show was quite possibly the loudest we've ever heard at the Black Cat, as Burma showed all the young 'uns just how to blow the roof off a venue. Fans close to the stage would have done well to ask guitarist Roger Miller to borrow an extra set of earplugs.

Of course, Burma's volume was always legendary, and a big part of the reason their star burned out so quickly during their first iteration, as the floor-shaking decibel levels had taken a serious toll on Miller's hearing. Since their return in the early portion of the decade, though, sacrificing that cacophony has never been part of the deal; turning down the knobs would have made them an aging curiosity, cashing in on a reputation that never got them much aside from a lot of posthumous adoration. But with amps humming at full bore, they're as vital as they were nearly 30 years ago.

Before Burma took the stage, though, there was the matter of the opening act. In a clever move, Burma is playing a few shows with the veterans of Versus (the band) opening a show that was to be devoted to Burma playing Vs. (the album). We imagine it's a dream come true for Versus, who named themselves after the record when they formed back in 1990. And while they've been inactive for the better part of the decade, they're back together now and working on new material, which if Saturday night's set is any indication, should stand up well to the band's well-worn '90s catalog. And what could have been a simple case of stunt-casting turned out to be an excellent choice; Versus sound as great (even as a stripped-down three-piece) as they did in their prime.

As for Burma, while their new material is excellent, Saturday was about the classic tunes. The band is doing a series of special gigs celebrating their early records, with some nights devoted to full recreations of their debut EP, Signals, Calls, and Marches, and others (like the Black Cat gig) for full run throughs of the only LP from their first go round, Vs.. When there are no surprises in the set list, and everyone pretty much knows what's coming next, it could be easy to settle into an unenthusiastic rut for the evening. Any worries that might be the case were settled early on.

Photos by Flickr user Andrew Feinberg, used under a Creative Commons license.

The show opener was not, as one might have expected, album opener "Secrets". Instead, they warmed things up with Vs. bonus track "Laugh the World Away", which made a solid argument for not only its inclusion on the original album, but as a stellar opener. As a tape loop droned on and on, guided by Burma's invisible fourth man, Bob Weston (working back at the sound booth as Martin Swope used to), Miller's guitar scratched and squealed as Clint Conley tried to solve a technical problem with his bass; when they had it sorted, he came booming in with the thick and meaty bassline that provides the backbone of the song. The audience's hair was thoroughly blown back, and there was no looking back from there.

Through the rest of the set, Conley's bass continued its apocalyptic rumble and Miller's guitar could have cut through solid cement, with piercing squalls of noise on top of which Weston layered his own loops and sound effects. Miller and Conley traded vocals, with Miller's slightly more subtle approach contrasting the melodic barks of Conley, who looked weirdly like Ted Leo's older brother as he threw his voice at the microphone, eyes wide, cords in his neck standing out. It was a cathartic night for everyone; after drummer Peter Prescott's blistering primal screams on "Learn How", Conley claimed that Prescott could always skip therapy on any week they performed that tune.

For those who love Burma's other material nearly as much as Vs., there were some treats in the encores (the second of which appeared to be somewhat unplanned, as the band had to conference for a few minutes back by the drum kit to decide what they'd play). The encores touched on all their other major releases, with tracks from OnOffOn, The Obliterati, and most memorably, "Academy Fight Song" from Signals, Calls, and Marches, which had the crowd shouting along through the choruses so loud it seemed we were trying to drown out the band with our voices.

But this being Mission of Burma, we didn't stand a chance.