Miller and his band headline Webster Hall concert

Rhett Miller and the Serial Lady Killers, the band he plays with when he's not with the Old 97's, rocked New York's Webster Hall Saturday Sept 19. With opening acts Nicole Atkins and Jim Ward of Sleepercar, the whole show had great energy.

Ward began the show with a set on acoustic guitar. Despite playing alone, Ward played loudly to the quiet room. He mentioned having played the past few nights to loud, crowded bars and realized he almost preferred them to the nearly empty room.

There may not have been a huge audience for Ward, but after Miller thanked him for playing, the crowd cheered. Miller pointed out the merchandise table in the back, asking his fans to check out Ward and his band, Sleepercar.

Atkins turned the volume up a few notches with her loud rock'n'roll. While the crowd was still fairly small, Atkins had one over-eager fan screaming and cheering for her during each break in the set.

As enticing as her music was, the crowd seemed even more in love with her outfit. Sporting a red-and-white striped mini-dress and embellished grey heels, Atkins is destined to be an indie fashion icon in the same vein as Rilo Kiley's Jenny Lewis should her music become more well known throughout the music scene.

When Miller finally took the stage, the crowd had finally filled the venue pushing in closer to the front of the stage. Miller started off the set with "Like Love," a track off his new self-titled release.

Playing both solo work and Old 97's songs, Miller pleased everyone in the crowd. "King of All the World," "Rollerskate Skinny" and "Buick City Complex," the opening tracks off the 97's Satellite Rides, received some of the most applause along with a handful of tracks from his first two solo releases, The Instigator and The Believer.

Another of his hits, 97's "Barrier Reef," had the whole crowd singing. Miller's backing band, the Serial Lady Killers, was named after the lyric, "My name's Stuart Ransom Miller/I'm a serial lady killer." He sped up each chorus and slowed back down for the verses.

Miller brought a guitar tech on the stage halfway through his set and announced to the crowd that it was her birthday. He dedicated the next song to her — her favorite in his set, "Lonely Holiday" off the 97's Fight Songs. Miller also played "Happy Birthday, Don't Die," a track off his latest release, after introducing his bassist, Greg Besher, despite it not being Besher's birthday.

Besher, along with drummer Angela Webster and guitarist Tommy Borshceid made up the backing band he plays with when he's not with the 97's.

While Miller's music would have been enough to get the crowd moving, his dance moves inspired the audience to dance as well. As he wind-milled his arm and shook his hips, it was obvious why the New Yorker  called him an "indie-rock sex icon."