Electric Six drew a large, yet varied crowd to the Black Cat this past weekend. The polite, the underage, and the very drunk all were present and ready for a good time.

The night’s biggest surprise and ultimately its best act was opener, The Blue Van. The Danish quartet look like extras from Almost Famous and sound like Credence Clearwater Revival. The hard rockin’ set featured blasts from the past you didn’t even realize you missed. Was that a drum solo? Oh yes it was. An organ solo? On a Hammond organ? While a lot of rock has hopped the wayback machine to post-punk, The Blue Van just kept riding to the early ‘70s.

The quartet’s vocals are mostly falsetto-based harmonies. While energetic as a whole, their bass player was especially active. Apparently part acrobat, he climbed and jumped off of every piece of equipment that would hold his weight. The band’s enthusiam fully transmitted to the crowd who clapped, shouted and even danced with abandon. Though the group’s final song, “Rebel with a Cause,” was its weakest, by then The Blue Van had definitely and deservedly won fans.