Passion remains strong for Waterboys’ Scott

Greatness is not always rewarded. Or even noticed. Mike Scott of the Waterboys has carried that burden from time to time, somehow failing to find a large U.S. audience despite a sound that, at its best, can be as stirring, passionate and memorable as Springsteen or U2.

Scott must be used to this by now, and it isn’t as if he hasn’t made it happen with frequently daring -- if not always satisfying -- left turns from the obvious commercial path. But it was still almost distressing to see a veteran modern rock talent so powerful playing to a small crowd at the Avalon on Tuesday. Those who attended got their own reward.

The Waterboys have always amounted to whatever Scott thinks they should be at any moment. On this tour, that means just him, his guitar and a piano player, performing old and new songs in the raw acoustic mode found on the band’s new live album, “Universal Hall.” Scott needed barely even that, singing explosive folk-rock with a muscular lilt to his voice that remained urgent and filled with drama.

His ambitions seem simpler now, focused only on communicating the message and epic emotions of a song, and not on the rich arrangements of his early albums. He stood behind the microphone strumming his guitar, voice breathless, shaking his head between lyrics. Scott then opened the night’s second hour-long set with “Don’t Bang the Drum,” a radio hit from the hopeful ‘80s. The delivery was as fresh as ever. Still overwrought maybe, but definitely a worthwhile burst of feeling.