Darius Rucker, Mike Mills & Steve Gorman Play 1st Howl Owl Howl Show

Hootie & The Blowfish frontman Darius Rucker, R.E.M. bassist Mike Mills and co-founding former The Black Crowes drummer Steve Gorman premiered their new supergroup Howl Owl Howl last night The Vogue in Indianapolis. The tour-opening concert’s setlist was mix of new originals and selections from R.E.M., The Black Crowes and Hootie & The Blowfish’s catalogs.

Rucker, Mills and Gorman were accompanied by guitarist/keyboardist Rich Gilbert and guitarist Sol Philcox-Littlefield. Howl Owl Howl saved their recently released, Ariana Grande-referencing debut single, “My Cologne,” for the start of the evening’s encore.

Preceding the finale, the main set introduced Howl Owl Howl songs including “Fear,” “Doesn’t Matter Now,” “See Me Now,” “Window to My Soul” and others. Fiddler was brought out to augment “Leftover” and “Dog Of Life.”

R.E.M. songs in the main set included “I Believe” and “(Don’t Go Back to) Rockville,” along with Hootie & The Blowfish’s “Time” and “Let Her Cry” and from The Black Crowes’ repertoire, “Hard To Handle.”

After opening the encore with “My Cologne,” the trio followed with “Used to Be.” Opening night ended with R.E.M.’s “Losing My Religion” and “The One I Love” surrounding The Black Crowes’ “She Talks To Angels.”

Howl Owl Howl’s first tour continues with stops in Chicago, Washington D.C., Asbury Park (New Jersey), Boston, New York City and Philadelphia. The two-week run concludes in Georgia with shows in Athens (where R.E.M. formed) on November 14 and Atlanta (where The Black Crowes started) on November 15.

View highlights from the first public performance of Howl Owl Howl last night in Indy below: