San Diego Reader

"Take this pill now, put it on your tongue, keep you actin' just like everyone."

The audience cheerfully sang along with caustic lyrics tucked into bouncy folk-roots rhythms by the Devil Makes Three.

"It's drinkin'-and-singin'-in-a-rocking-chair-on-the-front-porch music," said a pretty mountain climber from Seattle.

A man with a ZZ Top beard and Scorpions T-shirt jumped up and down with the rest of the capacity crowd at Brick by Brick, pumping his fist to the originals as well as a galloping rendition of "St. James Infirmary Blues," Bob Dylan's tongue-in-cheek "All Over You," and "Statesboro Blues" by Blind Willie McTell. Friends and couples responded to the gypsy Django blues about life and booze with enthusiastic square dance moves at the foot of the stage.

Pete Bernhard and Cooper McBean shared vocal duties and traded off playing acoustic guitar and banjo (Bernhard has a distinctive voice -- think Adam Levine of Maroon 5 with the twang and gravel of Dylan). Lucia Turino swayed with her eyes closed in ecstasy as she sang harmony and thumped out the beat on upright bass, which sounded at times like a tuba. Drums were unnecessary.

• Concert: The Devil Makes Three
• Show date: March 19
• Venue: Brick By Brick
• Seats: general