Georgia's not-quite-grunge pop-rockers Collective Soul blazed through a short but singable set Tuesday at Moose's Music Hall. Most fans were clearly there to hear the big tunes, becoming distracted during unrecognizable songs. The band, however, compensated for the crowd's short attention span by condensing the show into what sounded like a hit-laden Collective Soul mix tape.

"They had a lot more hits than I remember," said nine-year New Rock 90 DJ and Knoxville music guru, Colonel Bacchus. "It was just like one after another. I didn't know I knew so much Collective Soul."

The quintet proved they're no strangers to the top-10 list with rocked out versions of "The World I Know" and "Where the River Flows." Chart toppers like "Gel" and "Listen" were carefully spaced out between less memorable songs off the new album Dosage.

Collective Soul is practically the only guitar-rock band to come out of the 90s that actually avoided being labeled "alternative." Their safely pasteurized pop has always been unoffensive enough for crusty classic rock air waves and modern "extreme" stations. This broad appeal loaded up Moose's with rockers of all ages and cheesy advertisement banners.

Collective Soul shockingly sounded less ear-shattering than most bands to play at Moose's, perhaps because of all the bodies absorbing the blare.

"I'd say there's at least 800 people here," said staff employee Bing Fu. "We're completely sold-out."

Being packed in like sardines kept the dancing to a squeezed-together minimum, but crowd response was still positive. Awkward but heartfelt head banging and '80s-style fist shaking were the dance steps of the evening, keeping Collective Soul rated PG as usual.

But even though Collective Soul may be the only MTV band suitable for the whole family, their presence at a small club like Moose's maintained a gritty no-nonsense edge. Having played at Woodstock '94 and toured with Aerosmith, returning to intimate, small venues seemed to energize the group.

Frontman Ed Roland was able to tap in to the crowd's enthusiasm much more than would have been possible in a cavernous arena setting. With ultra-basic stage lighting and puny, run-of-the-mill guitar amps, Collective Soul was charismatically low-tech. At times the show seemed pleasingly more like a house party than a rock concert.

The set culminated with a finale featuring their mega-hit "Shine" as the last song of the evening. As part of a two-song encore, "Shine" was received with almost total audience participation. Roland has always admitted the concert sing-alongs for "Shine" are particularly emotional moments -- and Tuesday night was no exception.