The word "Sage" can mean wise old man, and that would be appropriate for an alternative band as technically adept as 90s-rock legends Sage, if they weren't so inspired and flashy live. When they played the opening set before KEXP's "Live at the Sunset" Audioasis featuring Tad Doyle's new band Brothers of the Sonic Cloth, I saw many familiar faces from their club-haunting days enthusiastically soaking in the exotic vibes and expansive grooves of the band's post-grunge bass-driven more-evolved fusion indie rock.

Rhythm section Guy Davis (bass) and Mike Williamson (drums) were endlessly inventive, yet the din of fuzzy bent-notes arranged by singer Marc Olsen competed well for the attention of the fist-pumping, extremely enthusiastic crowd, who cheered every cymbal splash at the end of songs like it was a touchdown. A strangely macho feel for the otherwise diverse and subtle REVERBfest, like the underbelly of a prog-rock Seattle creeping back from the hop-sodden nights of Pioneer Square post-grunge hot spots.