About six years ago an old editor from Atlanta formed a Facebook group called “Chicks Who Dig the Replacements.” His rationale was that no further description was needed for the group—if you joined, it was clear that you were into frills-free, no bullshit, self-effacing, high quality rock and roll (and by association, probably into other people with similar characteristics.)

Yet, considering the Replacements’ seeming lack of shit-giving, there’s been no shortage of mythology around the band. This is, after all, one of the few acts that was banned from SNL. People in the crowd wait to see which covers they add into their set. They wait to see during which songs Paul Westerberg either drops or purposefully alters the lyrics. In the shows on this “Back By Unpopular Demand” tour, people want to see what letters Westerberg has painted on his white t-shirt (which appears to be a poison pen message.) Most notably, they wait to see whether they get the best show they’ll see all year or the worst show they’ll see all year.

To be fair, remaining original band members Paul Westerberg and Tommy Stinson were nowhere near the levels of debauchery they reached during the band’s original run in the 1980s (although the crowd at EchoStage more than made up for that.) However, since the band had cancelled two recent shows in Columbus and Pittsburgh due to Westerberg’s illness, the question of whether the show was going to live up to the colossal expectations placed on classic reuniting bands was still one worth asking.

His health turned out to be a footnote in an overwhelmingly high energy performance. Westerberg’s voice eventually gave out when they played “Skyway” during the encore and he let out a loud groan during “I Will Dare” because his ears finally popped after two weeks of discomfort. The band was incredibly tight and Westerberg’s “I forgot the lyrics” routine stayed in the closet for the entirety of the 2-plus hour set.

The long set wasn’t without memorable silliness. Although Westerberg did not perform “Androgynous” from inside a camping tent (in fact, they didn’t play the song at all), he did play a tongue-in-cheek Pink Floydian number called the “Whole Foods Blues” and added in the opening riffs of Black Sabbath’s “Iron Man” to the end of “Kissin’ in Action.” This was the one show where it actually made sense when audience members yelled “Freebird,” because as one audience member astutely pointed out, “They’ll play anything, even if they can’t play it.”

They mostly stuck to tried and true numbers and the results were masterful. The particularly loud sing-a-longs started early on with “Little Mascara” and continued well into the encore. There was a little bit of a lull at the hour mark but it was hard not to feel chills when 3,000 people were clapping to the chorus of “Alex Chilton” and jumping wildly to the familiar riffs of “Left of the Dial.”

All the while, Westerberg mugged at the crowd with his trademark smirk, as if he hadn’t just put all of his energy into the songs that had whipped the crowd into a frenzy.