Judging by a purely musical perspective, there was nothing wrong Lyle Lovett [ tickets ]'s Saturday (3/18) performance at Stubb's. He and his three-piece band--a cello, stand-up bass and drums--were solid, and Lovett's voice was as smooth and unflappable as ever.

Lovett, playing acoustic guitar, began the show on a low-key level, opening with "Babes in the Woods," from his covers album "Step Inside this House," and the show essentially remained stuck in a slow, nuanced place for nearly the entire hour-long set.

It probably would've worked in the proper setting--say, a theater or a performing-arts hall--but Lovett was playing at a 2,000-plus capacity open-air venue, on the final day of the SXSW music festival.

Much of the crowd was with Lovett for his first few songs--including "My Baby Don't Tolerate" and "I Love Everybody"--but when the tempo failed to pick up, lots of attention spans were tested. While the fans clustered near the stage were generally quiet and reverent, the conversations taking place at the edges and back of the venue grew is size and volume as the set wore on. Lovett wasn't deterred, however, and stuck with his game-plan.

Things eventually perked up a bit with crowd-favorite "If I Had a Boat," and a stretched-out and slowed-down rendition of "You Can't Resist It" (including a wild cello solo), but that only got the show into second gear, at best.

This wasn't the time nor the place to play this set.