Kweller: small stature, big sound

Ben Kweller made one of the best albums of this past year with his solo debut, Sha Sha. Hence, I had no reservations in traveling to Indy's Emerson Theater on Sunday night to see the youthful pop rock prodigy. True to form, Kweller did not disappoint, nor did opening acts The Pieces and Brendan Benson and the Wellfed Boys, albeit to a lesser extent.\nThe Pieces kicked things off in admirable fashion with a solid 45-minute set. I know next to nothing about this trio (research proved unfruitful as they have no website), except that they put on an entertaining show. The group unleashed a string of beautifully harmonized Emo propelled by its bassist's flirtations with back-up vocals, slide guitar licks and Moog fiddling. The fact that she was easy on the eyes also didn't hurt.\nNext came Brendan Benson and the Wellfed Boys - a group of rail thin rockers from Detroit. Benson (touring in support of his critically acclaimed album, Lapalco) and crew played a decent 45-minute set. Within a minute of setting foot on stage, Benson began lambasting Indianapolis, and later mocked his silenced audience with the catchy pop number "You're Quiet." He later relented and repeatedly thanked the audience for its presence, which in turn applauded more often, enraptured by the quintet. The likable "Tiny Spark," "Folk Singer" and "Good to Me" further fostered goodwill.\nAs the evening progressed, the moment we'd all been waiting for finally arrived: Ben Kweller made his grand entrance onto the stage. Ambling drunkenly and smoking a cigarette (which he later flung into the audience, hitting me), the diminutive little dude wasted little time in making with the rock. \nDuring his hour-long set, Kweller played a vast majority of Sha Sha. He also played some new material, which while good is a lot heavier than much of his catalogue, driven by thrashing guitars as opposed to lilting piano parts. Highlights included album-perfect renditions of "Wasted and Ready," "In Other Words," "Harriet's Got a Song" and the Kweller concert staple, "BK Baby," an amusing, acoustic guitar-driven parody of Vanilla Ice.\nThroughout the set, Kweller kept his audience in the palm of his hand. Whether he was turning cartwheels, leaping off the stage, reprimanding a spastic, pudgy, balding middle-aged concertgoer or shrieking through the choruses of "Commerce, TX," this 21-year-old kid was having fun and knew full well how to play a crowd. Kweller may not be as good looking or as smooth as many of his contemporaries, but he is infinitely more talented. I was glad to see him in this smaller venue when I did, because he won't be playing them for long.