It's weird. The bassist runs a restaurant in Red Wing, Minnesota. The guitarist is a somewhat popular DJ in D.C. with a very successful solo career. The drummer plays guitar and has no fans. Well, maybe there were 20 of us who showed up to the Knitting Factory on Friday at the ridiculously early set time of 8:17 P.M. to see Grant Hart, one third of the greatest and most important band in the history of independent rock music, Husker Du.

I'm not sure who's turned out the best. Bob Mould is popular with the gays and played a couple of sold out shows at Joe's Pub last year. His 2009 album got a decent 7.0 at Pitchfork while Grant Hart's latest, Hot Wax, got a pitiful 4.2. I like Hot Wax a lot more, but what the hell do I know? I don't have the vocabulary to write for Pitchfork.

And then there's Norton. His restaurant, Norton's Downtown, earned a 4.5/5 from Yelp.com, although that statistic is based on a mere four reviews. It's easy to say Bob Mould's got it best, but most of us haven't eaten a steak at Norton's or even listened to anything by Grant Hart in years. You might be surprised, but "You're the Reflection of the Moon on the Water," a song off of Hot Wax, is one of the best songs to come out of the Husker break up. Based on that track alone, I decided to check Grant Hart out live. I was a little disappointed, but looking back a couple days later, it was a good experience.

There's something romantic about the show on Friday night. Grant Hart stood alone on stage with his hollow body Gibson plugged into a Fender amp sitting on a chair. It felt like I was watching my roommate play a few songs at a coffee shop, sneaking in his own songs between well known covers. For Grant Hart, the covers just happened to be songs he wrote more than twenty years ago in Husker Du. The best of those was "Turn on the News," though "Don't Want To Know If You Are Lonely" was great, too. Like the roommate, he seemed a little nervous at the beginnings and ends of songs. He never exactly finished any song, just played a few extra chords at the end of each one because he wasn't sure what to do. I was confused about that, but he is a drummer by trade. Besides, it added to the romance.

I couldn’t help but feel a little bit bad for him when he played a great version of Love's "Signed D.C." He belted out "No one cares for me" and my heart broke a little. It was much more real than watching Bob Mould sing his misery to a sold out crowd of fancy motherfuckers at Joe's Pub last year. Grant Hart has something to be sad about. His voice is incredible, his guitar playing is good for a drummer and his heart is there for the taking, but still, no one cares.