POP MUSIC REVIEW : Rusted Root, Osborne Are Passionately Retro

One of the more damning tags to stick a band with these days is “retro.” But it would be wrong to assume that any band with clear, strong ties to rock tradition has nothing fresh to offer its listeners. Saturday night at the Palace, Rusted Root’s groove-heavy tribal-folk and Joan Osborne’s gritty blues-rock were both successful blends of familiar sound and contemporary energy.

Rusted Root’s neo-hippie demeanor and sprawling, drum-driven jams have earned them some comparisons to the Grateful Dead. Their songs can be heard as a rallying call for the same kinds of communal ideals Deadheads have embraced, and this night a receptive crowd answered that call by dancing nonstop for nearly two hours.

But the six-person band’s music was far from reheated psychedelia. It flowed along more as an earnest celebration of earthy vibes and world-beat rhythms.

Almost all of the band’s songs were powered by layers of percussion and anchored by the frantically strummed acoustic guitar of songwriter Michael Glabicki. On potent tracks like “Ecstasy” and “Lost in a Crowd,” the swirling rhythms, capped by Glabicki’s strongly punched vocals, called to mind the “Remain In Light”-era Talking Heads.

Osborne opened with a powerful set of her gospel-tinged rockers. Her bluesy voice is capable of both delicate nuance and full-throated attack, and she used all of her formidable range to bring to life her evocative tales of troubled lives and unrequited lusts.

Her backing band sometimes sounded clunky and mannered when it pumped up the volume, but Osborne’s energetic performances remained engaging. When the sound was scaled back, she was even more effective. Her impassioned performance of “One of Us”--the single that envisions God as a bus-riding slob--was a highlight of the evening.