Rusted Root & Backyard Tire Fire

Along with bands like the Spin Doctors and Blues Traveler, Rusted Root was part of a crop of positive, feel-good jam bands to cross over to mainstream radio in the ’90s, when the current jam scene was just beginning to emerge. Although Rusted Root ultimately didn’t inspire the same levels of devotion as bands like Phish, The String Cheese Incident and moe., nostalgia for their one big hit, “Send Me On My Way,” should keep them touring comfortably into middle age. Tonight’s openers for the band’s 8 p.m. show at the Rave, Backyard Tire Fire, sang “I want to be Tom Petty, I want to be a star” as the opening salvo to their 2007 record, Vagabonds and Hooligans, but judging from their agreeable, modest rock ’n’ roll, they’d settle for just being a well-liked bar band. With a persistent, rootsy twang, the band evokes shades of The Replacements, The Violent Femmes and early Wilco.