SAN FRANCISCO — The Holy Modal Rounders may not have played here since opening for Pink Floyd at the long-gone Avalon Ballroom in the '60s, but the first of their two Bay Area shows last week nonetheless — or perhaps for that very reason — attracted a full house.

The band, reunited for a brief Too Much Fun and/or Bust Tour, kicked the outing off at the Last Day Saloon.

Formed amid the burgeoning folk scene of New York's Greenwich Village in the early '60s, the Holy Modal Rounders took their inspiration from the whimsical approach of classic jug bands and the surrealist art movement introduced in the '20s.

Original members Peter Stampfel and Steve Weber created what might be described as the missing link between American folk music and the psychedelic jug-band movement of the 1960s. But their eclectic blend of satirical lyrics, yodeling, fiddles and banjos was pretty much ignored by the mainstream media of the day, lost in the onrush of Beatlemania.

Nonetheless, the troupe, made legend in part by airplay on the syndicated "Dr. Demento" radio show, have gathered a few other feathers in their caps along the way.

Cultural Impact

They are credited with inspiring the Rounder Records label name in the '70s. Before that, their "If You Want to Be a Bird" was featured in the soundtrack to "Easy Rider," Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper's iconic '60s film. They also formed an alliance with the Fugs and appeared on that band's debut album.

The Rounders' influence also can be heard in the music of the Bonzo Dog Band, Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention, and Jerry Garcia, who enjoyed Stampfel's music prior to the Rounders' formation in 1963.

In the liner notes of their first album, Stampfel acknowledged that the band often rewrote the lyrics to traditional songs: "It was easier than listening to the tape and writing words down."

The performance at the Last Day Saloon certainly seemed to back up that assertion. They began the show with an inspired interpretation of the Association's 1966 hit "Along Comes Mary," adding many words of their own.

Digging into the past, they pulled out some assorted gems, such as "Flop Eared Mule" and "Bound to Lose," both from their first two albums, recorded in 1963 and 1964 and recently reissued by Fantasy as Holy Modal Rounders 1 and 2.

Another tasty nugget from that set was "Blues in the Bottle," a song later covered by the Lovin' Spoonful on their first album (RealAudio excerpt of Lovin' Spoonful version).

Along the way, Stampfel and Weber took time to share anecdotes from their colorful career. They covered topics such as flying saucers, beatniks, farms and insecure San Francisco hippies — who apparently didn't know what to make of these (very) strangers from the East Coast who, on the occasion of their previous gigs in town at the height of the psychedelic era, seemed more inclined to tipple than indulge in the current drugs of choice.

Perhaps in the intervening years the hippies have forgotten the offense, as the crowd was, in large part, composed of folks who might fit that description.

Stampfel and Weber were backed by a band that included Josh Broody, a San Francisco accordion player who's performed with the Wonderful World of Joey Sehey (a.k.a. the Velveeta Underground up until the arrival of the cease-and-desist letters).

After an hour-and-a-half set, which also included cuts from the Rounders' most recent album, Too Much Fun! (1999), such as "Penny's Farm" and "Bad Boy" (RealAudio excerpt) a fan casually mentioned to the band that they had neglected to perform their two most popular songs.

So after a break, they got right to it. Inspired renditions of "Do You Like Boobs a Lot?" and "If You Want to Be a Bird" followed, with the audience singing along.

There wasn't a dry throat in the house.

Moss And Metallica

For all the Rounders' notoriety, however, it must be said that much of the nearly full house that night was apparently drawn by the opening band, the Moss Brothers, two talented young boys from the Bay Area who have been receiving some airplay on local radio stations. Reuben Moss, 10, sings and plays guitar, accompanied on drums and vocals by his brother Evan, 13, in a duo that sounds remarkably tighter than other bands twice their age.

Starting off with a grungy rendition of Dire Straits' "Money for Nothing," they followed up with a humorous original entitled "Heaven Got Overpopulated."

After that, they performed an old blues standard "Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out," followed by some other inspired originals.

Midway through their set, the Moss Brothers invited a special guest onstage to play bass, Metallica's Jason Newsted. In Newsted's honor, Reuben Moss explained, their first song together, the Moss' "Guitars and Drums," would, for the evening anyway, be known as "Guitars and Drums and Bass."

Onstage, Reuben Moss seemed comfortable in the spotlight, often prefacing his songs with a few comments that accentuated his youthful demeanor:

"Two years ago, when I was in third grade. ..."

To close their show, the Moss Brothers performed a special song written for their grandfather's 80th birthday, exactly two years earlier. With a birthday cake, and the entire audience participating in a birthday sing-along, a jubilant grandfather celebrated the moment with his grandchildren.