Rogue Wave began life as a way for lead singer Zach Schwartz to cope with the loss of his dot-com gig in San Francisco, and more recently turned into his motivator on the road- to-recovery from the agony of two slipped discs in his neck. Not surprisingly, the band delivered a set heavy with the more escapist-oriented pop of their latest effort, Permalight, starting with “Stars and Stripes” and the (unfortunately) Owl City-esque “Good Morning.”

While the band has caught a fair amount of flack for adopting a de rigueur electro-pop vibe on Permalight, their live show still feels like it’s caught in the middle of a sonic tug-of-war between The Replacements’ era crunchy alt-pop and the sparkling sonic spaces of Nada Surf (“Publish My Love”). The band started as a way for Zach Schwartz to figure out where he was in life, and the live show feels like he’s still trying to get there.