Matt Nathanson performs for IU students at Alumni Hall

A man with stiff hair, held in place by what seems to be pounds of styling gel, sits at a table with a blank sheet of paper and a black permanent marker scratching his eyebrow. He's scheduled to take the stage in 15 minutes, and the task of putting 18 songs on paper seems insurmountable. \n"I have to go to a computer to see what I've been playing," singer/songwriter Matt Nathanson said.\nThe San Francisco resident wasn't kidding as he asked a friend in his dressing room if there were any computers wired to the Internet. He then drew a hump in the air and described how the middle dates of a tour are often "like Wednesday" and that he begins to get homesick. But his road blues were far from evident Monday evening when the Indiana Memorial Union's Alumni Hall played host to Matt Nathanson, Matt Wertz and Kate Earl. Nathanson headlined, and from the moment he took the stage, he grabbed the audience's ears and didn't let go.\nEarly in the set, he ad-libbed a narrative about Rick Springfield and his inability to comprehend how a woman could choose Jessie over Rick Springfield before playing "Jessie's Girl." His dialogue interrupted the song, as he stopped when a new thought popped into his head, citing Rick Springfield's appearances in the soap opera "General Hospital" and his songwriting abilities as reason enough to choose Rick instead of Jessie. For the rest of the night, the spellbound crowd fell silent between songs in anticipation of another rant from the mind of Matt Nathanson. \nHe didn't disappoint, refusing to let a drunk student heckle him, proclaiming his love for Ashlee Simpson, denouncing an "anti-Semite D string" and mocking Eminem before playing a new song, "Detroit Waves." "Car Crash," another song from the forthcoming untitled album due out January, was also met by a warm reception from the students in the crowd.\nNathanson opened an energetic version of "Lucky Boy" with a tease into Cheap Trick's "I Want You to Want Me" and kept the energy level high with crowd favorites like "I Saw" and "Church Clothes." He took time in between to mock Kanye West and even take a jab at Dave Matthews Band's "Halloween." He closed the show by pushing aside the microphone for a truly acoustic performance of "Suspended."\nBefore playing his most well-known cover, a James song called "Laid," Nathanson managed to work in some staple self-deprecation. \n"This has been the biggest hit that I've ever been involved with," Nathanson said. "And I didn't write it -- just goes to show you."\nAfter three false starts from bad tuning before finally playing "Laid," Nathanson conceded he isn't as important as people think he is. \n"You think we're really famous, but we don't have guitar techs," he said. "Techs get in the way of connecting with you. We want you to see the real ins and outs of a rock and roll experience. We don't want you to think it's all cocaine and bitches." \nKate Earl opened the show, playing piano and singing soulful renditions of "Cry Sometimes" and "When You're Older." Matt Wertz joined her on stage for a song called "Officer." Wertz came on second, playing rhythm guitar and singing, while Justin Rosalino played lead guitar. The crowd responded well to their sound. Excitement climaxed during a Michael Jackson cover montage, followed by Matt Wertz in a confused state on stage asking, "What just happened? I think Michael Jackson just took over our bodies, but it was consensual"