Soul Asylum showed Otto’s Niteclub, 118 E. Lincoln Highway, its usual song and dance Saturday night.

Audience members eagerly cheered the band onto stage at 11:15 p.m., but the excitement subsided as the band launched into its first song. Most people stood motionless, while a few heads could be seen bopping to the beat.

Lead singer and guitarist Dave Pirner, who traded his beloved dreadlocks of yesteryear for a cleaner Shaggy-from-“Scooby Doo” style, and lead guitarist Dan Murphy, who’s on his way to having no hair at all, struggled to sing out-of-tune harmonies to “Doin’ the Best You Can.”

The band continued to go from one song to the next, receiving its first substantial applause after the third song, “Somebody To Shove,” which was one of the few songs from Soul Asylum’s 11 albums to receive ample radio play.

Pirner finally addressed the audience after the fourth song with a feeble, “Hi, how are ya’ll?” Then he took off his guitar and sat down behind an electric piano. The new sound was a welcome change to the already stagnant vibe.

Pirner changed instruments again when he traded his electric guitar for an acoustic one, subtly altering the effect for a couple of songs including another radio-friendly song, “Runaway Train.” Half of the crowd sang along with this one, while the other half acted indifferent.

Seventeen rapid-fire songs later, at 12:15 a.m., Pirner hung his guitar over the microphone and headed off stage. After one minute of applause mingled with a few “whoos,” wolf whistles and cat calls, the band returned for an encore, delivering three more songs to the nostalgically appreciative crowd. The excitement of the show seemed to culminate when about five audience members tried to shake things up and get a mosh pit started, but their attempt fizzled quickly and Soul Asylum’s first visit to DeKalb was over.

Some audience members were disappointed that Soul Asylum didn’t do anything new or exciting.

“They sound the same as they used to 10 years ago,” NIU alumnus Carl Nonderhorst said.