Outside the night was cold and rainy, and that cold rain was leaking in through the roof of Ziggy's in quite a few places.

The smell of stale beer emanated from the venue. Amid all this, however, the Mighty Mighty Bosstones and their fans seemed to be having the time of their lives Nov. 5.

Bursting onto the stage after a sound clip of the Ghostbusters theme was played over the PA, the Bosstones infectious energy made the audience feel that they were ready to "bust some ghosts" themselves.

They wasted no time, immediately launching into their fast-paced, high-energy brand of ska. The crowd, consisting mostly of people ranging from their late teens to their late twenties, quickly responded, jumping, skanking and moshing right from the get-go.

Unlike most bands that I've seen live, the Bosstones didn't save their big hits for the very end of the set. They played their biggest hit, 1997's radio staple "The Impression That I Get," about six songs into the show, following two songs later with "Where Did You Go" of Clueless soundtrack fame, and playing fan favorite "Rascal King" soon afterwards.

Lead singer Dicky Barrett also established an ongoing rapport with the audience fairly early on, telling them two songs into the set to push the people who were running into them towards the sides and the back, because he had seen someone in the front take a pretty nasty fall.

He later traded gibes with a female fan from South Carolina who questioned Barrett's claim that the Bosstones had been playing at Ziggy's since 1955, and other such exaggerations.

The dates may have been false, but the affection was real. The Mighty Mighty Bosstones have in fact been coming to Ziggy's annually for several years, and were clearly enjoying their audience here in Winston-Salem on Tuesday night. Close to the end of the show they asked the crowd what song off their new album, A Jacknife to a Swan, they wanted to hear.

The band ended up playing "The Old School Off the Bright," a song they'd never performed live before, at the request of a long time fan. Barrett dedicated it to that "old school mo' fo."

They finished off the set with a couple more songs from the new album, "Mr. Moran" and "You Gotta Go!" but went back to some older stuff for the encore, including "Someday I Suppose."

Neither the fans nor Barrett left right away, even after he'd proclaimed the show over, as he met with people two inches from him who wanted autographs or just to touch his hand.

The Mighty Mighty Bosstones clearly have established a loyal following in Winston-Salem which promises to produce more high energy shows in the future like the one on Tuesday night.