Andy Gray

Left End put on a show Saturday worthy of its local legacy.

I’m not sure what I expected — or what the band’s longtime fans assumed it would be — but the Packard Music Hall performance had to exceed all expectations.

Most of those in attendance Saturday probably had seen Left End more that 10 times. Those who were regulars in the ’70s when the band was playing different bars and clubs nearly every night of week might be in triple figures.

It was an evening that promised to deliver a jolt of nostalgia, a chance to see an old favorite one more (last?) time, and maybe nothing more.

Instead the band and the organizers gave the crowd a full-scale production that was more impressive than many of the nationally touring and more-famous acts that have played the venue in recent years.

Left End — founding members Tom Figinsky, lead guitar and backing vocals; Patsy Palombo, drums; Jim Puhalla, rhythm guitar; and Roy Guerrieri, bass and backing vocals, with guitarist / vocalist David Lemasters (who joined the band in 1987), backup singer Leanne Binder and lead singer Michael Lawrence — outdrew those national acts too.

A large screen behind the band shared old photos. There was a great moment early on when a photo of original lead singer Dennis T. Menass (real name Dennis Sesonsky) was looking down on the band. He died in 2014, but his presence was felt on Saturday.

Lawrence had a white tuxedo jacket with tails and black lapels made to resemble one that Menass often wore on stage, and he clearly studied his vocal style in preparation for the concert. But it didn’t turn into a tribute show where the singer is trying to be a carbon copy of the original. He respected the legacy without doing a visual impersonation.

The screen also was used for videos that accompanied several numbers, and during the intermission it showed interviews with area radio personalities and others sharing their Left End memories.

There even were a couple flashes of pyrotechnics.

None of the that would have mattered if the band couldn’t deliver musically, but it did.

I didn’t grow up listening to Left End. I saw the band at a rib burn-off or a Yankee Lake festival at some point, but I’m guessing at least 1,200 of the 1,400 people at Packard on Saturday have seen the band more than I have. I’m not the guy who can say, “They sounded as good as they used to at the Agora” or the Orange Room or the Apartment or any of the other regular haunts.

But I do own copies of “Spoiled Rotten” and “Ridin’ Again” and have played them enough to be familiar with the originals, and I was astonished how well they sounded live, particularly for a band band doing only its third show in 20 years and musicians who only had a few rehearsals together before showtime.

Figinsky played one dazzling guitar solo after another. Other times he and Lemasters played dual solos while Puhalla held down the rhythm guitar. Palombo was flashy and entertaining behind the kit, while he and Guerrieri were in sync as the rhythm section. Binder, Lemasters, Figinsky and Guerrieri all provided strong backing vocal support for Lawrence.

It was an undeniable success, from both a performance and a ticket-sales standpoint.

An “encore” seems likely. The buzz following Saturday’s concert should bring out those who couldn’t make it Saturday, and I’m guessing anyone who was there will be happy to go ridin’ again.

Andy Gray is the entertainment editor of Ticket. Write to him at agray@tribtoday.com.