Some Nights Are Just More Fun

Oh, to be Nate Ruess.

The charismatic, boyish frontman of fun. (yes, the period is part of the name) took the stage at the House of Blues in Boston Saturday night not looking like he had an album to sell. Rather, it seemed like he wanted to celebrate, and bask in the band’s success so far this year.

The guy was positively beaming as he bounced all around the stage, having the best time of anyone in the room, and he commanded the mic like a conquering hero.

That’s how you’d act too if your crossover hit “We Are Young” was on track to be the best selling song of 2012, and you’d already had it featured in a Super Bowl commercial and an episode of Glee.

Sure, “We Are Young,” with its catchy, anthemic chorus, has many of the trademarks of a great one-hit wonder. But fun.’s show Saturday night proved that the band deserves to have a career beyond that one song.

In fact, fun. has two great albums — Aim and Ignite and the more recent Some Nights — and both are filled with plenty of good tunes. The concert’s setlist basically ping-ponged between the two albums, starting with “One Foot” and “Walking the Dog.”

Not surprisingly, high points of the evening included “Barlights,” “Carry On,” “All the Pretty Girls,” “At Least I’m Not as Sad as I Used to Be,” “Some Nights,” and yes, “We Are Young,” not to mention a cover of the Rolling Stones’ “You Can’t Always Get What You Want.”

Nate and the band seemed to genuinely enjoy performing, and the enthusiastic crowd of mostly twentysomethings (we are young, indeed) turned nearly every song into a sing-along.

Boston’s a favorite stop on the tour, Nate explained, because Boston was one of the first cities to embrace the band, their manager and tour booker are from here, and guitarist Jack Antonoff’s parents met at Boston University.

And if there was any doubt about how Nate felt about Boston, he let the Rajon Rondo jersey he wore all night do the talking.

Given the love fun. supposedly has for Boston, then, it was puzzling why the show was so short. At just 75 minutes, including the two-song encore, it felt like things were over as soon as they began. I was disappointed to not hear tracks like “Stars,” “Benson Hedges,” and “Some Nights (Intro),” for example. Despite the room feeling like a bit of a sauna, Nate looked like he could have performed for a while longer, and we all would have stayed as long as the band wanted to play.

But no matter. These guys put on a show that indicated they intend to make the most of their time in the spotlight, and to enjoy every moment of it too. And if they left their fans wanting more … well, that’s not exactly a bad thing.

“Me, I’m gonna live forever,” Nate sang at one point. Time will tell if fun. has a long-lasting shelf life, but for now, the band sure does put on a good show that’s absolutely true to its name.

(Photo of Nate courtesy of Jenna)