Last Night: Nick Lowe and Aimee Mann Pay at the Moore

​It was a slow start for last night's show at the Moore Theater--and judging by the crowd's average age of 45, it looked like it would be an early one. Granted, when the lights went out and a white-haired, wiry figure came out from the shadows, middle-aged women swooned and cooed to Nick Lowe's bouncy tunes. The London-born musician has inspired the likes of Elvis Costello, who popularized the Lowe-penned hit "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding." Adorned with thick, framed glasses and a modest demeanor, it comes as no surprise that even simple songs like "I Read A Lot" were well-received
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As for the headliner, the evening featured a good amount of material from Aimee Mann's latest album, @#%&* Smilers, although Mann didn't shy away from hits such as "Momentum" and others from the Magnolia soundtrack. Clever and full of wit, Mann even stopped the show to ask audience members to write down requests, and proceeded to play nearly ten songs selected from the large crowd of adults pushing one another for some serious serenading. It wasn't until the show's end that you realized she's the good book you tell everyone about years later--or a cigarette after a long day of work that makes you say, "Mm, now wasn't that fantastic?"