Last Friday night, at a few minutes past ten, Matt Nathanson took the stage of the Bowery Ballroom to enthusiastic applause from a well-filled house. His hair was a little more rockstar than at his last appearance there, but he carried the same twelve-string guitar, and wore the same signature nose ring and thoroughly genuine smile. Vowing to start us off slowly, he launched into "Then I'll Be Smiling," a track from his most recent album, "Still Waiting for Spring." As promised, it eased the crowd into a rocking, raucous seventy minutes of story and song.

As fans know, Nathanson peppers his performances with humorous tales of twenty-something angst and exhilaration, and Friday's show was no exception. Those at the Bowery heard everything from an exuberant account of a phone call from Poison's Brett Michaels, to an explanation of the hard-learned lesson "don't date the whore." Some of the stories shed light on the songs he sang, some shed light on the inner recesses of Nathanson's mind. All seemed to entertain the audience and help build a rapport that allowed Nathanson to get the whole room singing along on several occasions through the evening (to such songs as Prince's "Starfish and Coffee" and Bryan Adams' "Summer of '69," as well as his own "Lost Myself in Search of You" and "Answering Machine").

The set, like the sing-alongs, included a mix of old songs, new songs, and other people's songs. About half of the performance was filled with tracks from the latest CD, while the other half comprised older songs (such as "First Time" and "Lost Myself in Search of You"), songs slated for the upcoming album ("Princess," "Pretty the World," and "Curve of the Earth"), and audience-pleasing covers (a couple of teases, as well as the Prince and Bryan Adams songs).

For all but a handful of those, Nathanson was joined onstage by cellist Matt Fish, "chick magnet." Fish wore thick-rimmed glasses and an engaging smile, and rocked a cello harder than I thought possible. Having another musician by his side provided an additional opportunity for Nathanson to air his excitement and enjoyment of the show; it was a treat to watch old friends share music with each other as well as with the crowd.

It was also exciting to see Nathanson co-headlining at the same venue where, only a few months ago, he was opening for rising star Howie Day. Nathanson has stated publicly that he's currently considering the move to a major label, after releasing four albums independently, so the transition from "support" to main attraction may be an indication of the impending meteoric rise of another singer-songwriter. Hopefully that will prove to be the case. With his singable melodies, rocking twelve-string accompaniments, and poetic-yet-accessible lyrics, paired with an energetic stage presence and a gift for storytelling (in and out of song), Matt Nathanson is a performer and musician worthy of the loyal fan base he's accumulated, and well worth the price of a ticket next time he's in your town.