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THE RAPTURE
(4 stars)

November 17, Empire Ballroom

If I could join any band, I'd seriously consider becoming a member of The Rapture. Not that the cowbell-wielding New York quartet is among my very favorite groups—their September album Pieces of the People We Love could scarcely have left me colder, and past efforts came off too hit-or-miss for my tastes. But Friday night, The Rapture performed like a band I could picture myself standing shoulder-to-shoulder with, and not just because its shaggy, T-shirt-cloaked members aren't blessed with glamorous rock-star looks.

For just over an hour, Luke Jenner, Matt Safer, Gabriel Andruzzi and Vito Roccoforte cut loose in a display of refreshing revelry, good-time attitude gushing straight from their musical souls. Andruzzi frolicked—full-on body convulsions, not restrained head bobs or foot taps—while honking on his saxophone throughout latest single "Get Myself Into It." Jenner cracked goofy, crooked grins as he sang lead on "Sister Savior." Roccoforte sashayed giddily during a synth visit at the start of "I Need Your Love." A punch-drunk Jenner gunned down fans with his six-string during "Killing."

The mirthful spirit galvanized the Empire Ballroom crowd, which boogied so hard it felt as though the clock had been turned back to the building's Club Utopia era. Charged up first by a fast and fun opening set by Australian drum-and-keyboard duo The Presets, and then by The Rapture's own dramatic flair—evidenced best by the pregnant pause before Jenner's theatrical first guitar plunge into underground hit "House of Jealous Lovers"—the ebullient throng proved that indie buffs no longer need fold their arms and imitate Greek statues.

Don't write The Rapture off as some simple disco-rock squad capable only of bouncy beats and awkward steps, though. Late in the set, the foursome conjured the post-punk spirit of This Heat and The Pop Group for the double-shot of "The Coming of Spring" and "Echoes," experimenting with noisy sax, screeching guitar and off-tempo percussion, left-field musical exploration earning The Rapture musical currency to fund its lighthearted frivolity. I could definitely get down with that, and I wouldn't even have to get a haircut or take dancing lessons to do it.

James Blunt
(3 stars)

November 18, The Joint

Gay and lesbian partners, lovers old and young, married couples with the many years of their unions sagging from their faces—and me: Together we comprised the audience who gathered on Saturday night to hear James Blunt sing the heart-throbbing songs for which he has gained popularity and critical acclaim worldwide.

The lesbians shuffled around hand in hand (there was room to shuffle: At more than $80 a ticket, the concert did not sell out), the lovers embraced, the married couples pounded back drinks, and I took notice of them all, and James Blunt kept his eyes on every one of us throughout the set. Whether strumming his acoustic guitar, playing the piano or merely singing at the front of the stage, James Blunt never seemed to blink, with his large, haunting eyes (which in person appear even larger and more haunting on such a ghostly face) staring like death before the entire audience.

But he put us back to ease with that fine English voice for which he is known. Songs like "Goodbye My Lover" carried enough power to make a few guys and girls wet in the eyes; "You're Beautiful," to inspire most at the Joint to sing along; and "Tears and Rain" (a song he does not usually perform live but did on Saturday, the last concert of his 2006 world tour), to leave such a lasting impression on me that I cannot, in good faith, rate James Blunt's performance with fewer than three stars, even though it was nothing to fork over your month's gas money for.