Call him irreplaceable

Indie rock is certainly on a roll. With such products of the scene as Bright Eyes and Arcade Fire getting huge media exposure and even selling some records, this alternative to the major-label system has become an increasingly viable, thriving place for bands to develop and prosper.

Given that flowering, it was easy to imagine a delegation of prominent indie musicians assembling at the Henry Fonda Theatre on Tuesday to bow down in gratitude before the evening’s headliner, Paul Westerberg.

It would be something like seeing today’s jewelry-encrusted NFL stars paying homage to the hard-nosed players of the ‘40s who played for meal money and love of the game.

In fact, the concert, the first of two nights at the Fonda, drew a core of loyalists who weren’t about to miss a rare tour stop by the road-shy musician, whose music and example have an unusually deep hold on his fans.

Westerberg and his great ‘80s band the Replacements didn’t set the stage for indie-rock’s rise all by themselves, but the star-crossed singer, songwriter and guitarist embodied the attitude and ideals that created the indie-rock culture.

And his musical talent and ambition as a songwriter and singer backed the attitude with artistry. It soon became clear that his was a unique and articulate voice, forging youthful confusion, hope, anger and disillusionment into a body of work that became a life guide for an attuned segment of his generation.

It was undeniable, and soon they were blasting down the walls of skepticism that isolated the upstart scene as merely a chaotic party.

Of course it was a chaotic party too, which was part of the point and much of the fun, and the pleasant surprise at Tuesday’s show was that Westerberg was able to connect with his inner brat.

It wasn’t exactly the old over-the-cliff joyride that made the Replacements so fascinating, but for a 45-year-old agoraphobic father, Westerberg was a pretty convincing rock ‘n’ roll loony.

It wasn’t at all clear going in that it would go that way. After several disillusioning post-Replacements years as a solo artist on big labels, Westerberg has retreated into a reclusive life at home in Minneapolis, where he occasionally turns out a charmingly homespun album in his basement studio, such as the recent “Folker.”

But in the spirit and manner of his old band, Westerberg was a mischievous troublemaker as much as a bandleader Tuesday, constantly delivering instructions to his three musicians, stopping songs and starting new ones, shouting chord changes to create impromptu transitions, forgetting lyrics (a result of his attention deficit disorder, he has said) and regularly falling to the floor (a result of his being a rock ‘n’ roll loony).

The difference between this and many of the old Replacements breakdowns was the songs pretty much shone through with full force and eloquence -- contrary to the self-disparaging evaluation Westerberg delivered after an encore duet with Lucinda Williams on the country standard “Wild Side of Life” ground to an awkward halt.

“Folker” is a pensive and mellow album, but with a Replacements formation of two guitars, bass and drums, Westerberg and the band billed as His Only Friends rocked hard and tirelessly through a set of Replacements staples, outside material (including Bob Dylan’s “Only a Hobo” and Billie Joe Shaver and Eddy Shaver’s “Live Forever”) and songs from his solo albums.

Since Westerberg doesn’t tour often -- this was his first trip here with a band in nine years -- the concert wasn’t about showcasing his new music. It was about reclaiming a legacy, and that’s what it did.

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Paul Westerberg

Where: House of Blues Anaheim, 1530 S. Disneyland Drive, Anaheim

When: 8 p.m. Saturday

Price: $25

Info: (714) 778-2583