Bostonist didn't suspect at the time that Rhett Miller's Saturday show would be the weekend's high point, but it would have been a night well spent despite whatever happened on Sunday. The Old 97s gained national attention around the time of the "No Depression" Americana/alt-country scene, which was spearheaded by Uncle Tupelo and which also launched the career of Ryan Adams in Whiskeytown. Hailing from Dallas, Old 97s definitely have a helping of twang in their rock; but they straddle folk, country, cow-punk, and power-pop.

There were good times a-plenty at The Paradise as Miller delivered the goods from both of his solo albums as well as many of his band's best-loved tunes -- and 3 songs from their just-completed CD. Rhett started shaking his head with abandon by the second song and repeated his trademark headshake over and over to the crowd's delight. It may be a way to disperse the sweat that engulfed his well-coiffed hair by the third song. He rarely stood still all night. Many of the faithful in front of the stage gladly went home with a souvenir from Miller's sweat glands.

He and his guitar held the audience's attention for over 90 minutes. Rhett said he wouldn't talk a lot so he could get through 30 songs, and he was pretty close by our count. Solo and band songs were evenly mixed with an emphasis on songs from Old 97's major-label debut, "Too Far To Care," and his superior "Instigator" solo CD. Surely it was a coincidence that he played a favorite after Bostonist screamed a request. When others tried requesting songs, he chided them by claiming he had put together an awesome set list. "Salome" and "Barrier Reef" (the crowd sang it louder than Rhett) book-ended the first two songs from the upcoming release that's due May '08. The lyrics didn't impress on first listen, but the fans gladly ate 'em up.

More after the jump! Post and photo of Miller looking happy and then smoldering contributed by Rob Vassegh. For more about getting your kicks in Boston on the cheap, go to Cheap Thrills Boston.

While not all of his songs are winners, when Rhett connects with the literate and the romantic he knocks it out of the park. (However his songs couldn't keep Vince Vaughn and Jennifer Aniston together in "The Break Up".) His clean, unaffected vocals allowed the words to carry the emotional content to all corners of the club, and the rhythmic guitar flourishes kept things interesting. He compensated well for the absence of a backing band. While the banter was scattered economically, his wit was still appreciated.

One is never surprised about the abundance of females in the crowd; several of the women in Bostonist's group had to be restrained from jumping him at various times. Miller is a charming, approachable guy but is also aware of his dreamy heartthrob appearance. You either want to chat with him over a couple beers or make out with him -- or both.

The encore included a couple songs from "The Instigator," "Big Brown Eyes," and his lovely song "Question" about getting engaged, which he sung partly in French. Miller recorded a French version of the song a couple years ago, possibly for a soundtrack. (Bostonist heard Rhett explain it once, but we've forgotten.)

Rhett took his time to chat with the fans at the merch table afterwards, and he even posed for Bostonist and encouraged us to take another photo. Oh, yes, he has a charming thoughtfulness and a rockstar level of self-love.