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The Southern-styled alternative rock quintet Sister Hazel is known for their extensive touring and interactive live show. There’s something about this rootsy bunch and their grassroots approach that gets audience members to sing along, even to tunes which were not hits.  Sister Hazel has certainly had their sprinkling of hits over the last four years, and on the road in support of their second Universal album, Fortress, there may be a few more on the way.

Their latest, “Champagne High,” certainly got a huge audience response at their House of Blues show, but was missing the pleasant background vocals from Emily Saliers featured on the CD. And for whatever reason, in a live setting, the group seems stripped down and less polished than they do on their records, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but does show their label invested a whole bunch of money into slick production. Examples of that come from in the form of the jangly drawl “Thank You,” and the extended jam “Fortress.” The latter gave the group the change to do a bit of improvisation and redirection. 

“Beautiful Thing” showed the group going back to their acoustic roots, bearing similarity to Toad the Wet Sprocket. From the last album, the two most receptive cuts were “Happy” and “All For You.” Even after the show it was hard to shake the insanely catchy “All For You” out of my mind, and the crowd’s sheer appreciation for the track even made more of an impact. But the fan favorite, of the evening was by far “Change Your Mind,” a track which the group interpreted with an almost gospel-esque flavor and renewed interest. The chorus of “If you want to be somebody else/ If you’re tired of fighting battles with yourself/ If you want to be somebody else/ Change your mind.” It was one of those songs to which a record can’t do justice and one that proclaimed an upbeat attitude which was impossible not to walk away with at the end of the evening, despite its early placement in the set. 

No doubt Sister Hazel will continue on their touring path, spreading similar vibes of good cheer in every city they visit. It will be interesting to see how the group will approach their next CD after the tour is over, but in the meantime, try to catch them if they swing by your town.