REVIEW: Mott The Hoople recaptures Golden Age of Rock ‘n’ Roll with show at Keswick Theatre

David Bowie’s disembodied voice came over the speakers at Keswick Theatre in Glenside on Monday – a recording of the late singer introducing Mott The Hoople at its first U.S. show in 1972 at the Tower Theatre in Upper Darby.

That was to be the band’s last U.S. tour.

With that introduction, Mott’s front man Ian Hunter walked onto stage and, with an acoustic guitar, broke into a short version of Don McLean’s “American Pie,” stopping after he recited the line, “the day the music died.”

“Or did it?” Hunter asked.

It was a cheeky start for Mott The Hoople’s first Philly-area concert in 45 years since that Tower show, with two other members of that lineup: guitarist Ariel Bender (AKA guitarist Luther Grosvenor) and keyboardist Morgan Fisher, supplemented by five members of Hunter’s solo Rant band.

But it was really the next song, “Golden Age of Rock ‘n’ Roll,” the night’s first by the full band, that really told the story of the show.

The energy with which the band performed was no doubt more mature – the voices, not to mention the hair, a bit thinner — but the enthusiasm was there: Hunter wailing vocally and Bender playing wildly with a great, long solo, with the solid band behind them.

And that was the way it went for the entire 18-song, 95-minute set, which leaned heavily on the discs released by the lineup: 1974’s “The Hoople” and its live album from that year.

It was both a notice of how influential Mott The Hoople was – the full-band sound and complex lyrics clearly influenced what Bruce Springsteen was playing around the same time – and how well its music, and clearly its musicianship, has held up.

Nearly all the songs were strong – some simply elevated by the band’s strong performance, as on “Lounge Lizard.” It was one of the songs that, with its sax and boozy approach, and even Hunter’s vocals, showed the clear lineage to Springsteen.

Or “Sucker,” or the rollicking “Pearl ‘N’ Roy (England),” on both of which Bender played more of his riffs and solos.

Perhaps just as importantly, it was fun. “Alice” was good, intricately composed music and the band really cut loose. The line in “Honaloochie Boogie” was appropriate: “He has converted me to rock ‘n’ roll!”

Though straight-forward rock was the group’s best, it did well with other genres, as well. “Rest in Peace,” slow, with a piano intro, acoustic guitar and very Bowie-esque vibe, was very good. The slow, gentle “Rose,” with Hunter clearly pushing his voice was particularly nice.

In fact, both Hunter’s voice and his overall performance belied the fact that he’ll turn 80 on June 3. While his voice clearly had wear, it worked exceptionally well with the material. Bender, too, belied his age of 72 – quickly shedding the scarf he wore to start the set to rock unabashedly with his shirt open to the navel.

“Rock ’74!” Bender shouted before one of the night’s best, “I Wish I Was Your Mother,” during which Hunter jokingly added to the line “Is there a happy ending” by shouting, “So far, so good!”

There were other references to aging, as well – both Hunter and Bender during the night told the audience it was “great to be here tonight – great to be anywhere.”

But both also repudiated age by rocking. Its cover of Velvet Underground’s “Sweet Jane” (which Mott The Hoople covered on its 1972 “All the Young Dudes” album, was more pop and upbeat than the original, but maintained the edginess.

Another of the night’s best, “Walking with a Mountain,” was full-bore rock – every bit as hard as Led Zeppelin, with Bender playing perhaps his most inspired part.

“Roll Away the Stone,” which Hunter introduced as the band’s “best-selling single – not the one you think” – was easily its most commercial song of the night, and the six-minute opus “Marionette” was its nod to the overwrought music of that time, but was easily its least successful song of the night.

The sold-out audience, made up mostly of what appeared to be the band’s contemporaries — reacted to the music as you would expect 45-year devotees would, loudly cheering every high point. And when the band started to close the main set with the same medley that closed its live album (with the addition of “Crash Street Kids” and “Cleveland Rocks,” stretching it to 15 minutes), the crowd was up, dancing and rushing the stage.

The encore opened with a rollicking “All the Way from Memphis” that again had Bender playing a ripping solo, then the nostalgic “Saturday Gigs” – Mott The Hoople’s last single before Hunter left the group.

And, of course, with Hunter saying, “Just one more thing before we go,” it closed with its signature song, “All The Young Dudes” – the David Bowie-penned piece that kept the band alive for a couple of more years. Singer Steve Wynn from opening act The Dream Syndicate joined the band to sing it.

It was a bit ragged, but even that was appropriate. It seemed right that Mott The Hoople came to the end having given all it had left.

The Dream Syndicate played a very good seven-song, 40-minute opening set that showed, like the staying power of Mott The Hoople’s glam rock, its 1980s neo-psychedelic rock has also held up better than expected.

It opened with the newer single “Filter Me Through You,” which stood up well against such classic songs as “Armed With an Empty Gun.” The newer “80 West” – a road song that Wynn said was Pennsylvania-inspired – also was indistinguishable from the band’s classic sound of 35 years ago.

And the best was the new “Glide,” which appropriated the best of the band’s classing floating, flying

But the best of those old songs still were the band’s highlights. “Halloween” from its watershed 1982s debut disc “Day of Wine and Roses,” had exceptional guitar. “Glide” was floating and flying while still rocking.

And, of course, The Dream Syndicate closed with “Days of Wine and Roses,” all belting and blasting, with a two-minute, drum-and-voice midsection of Bo Diddley’s “Who Do You Love.”