Rusted Root has planted its jams in various local venues, from the 16,000-seat Bryce Jordan Center's first concert in 1996 to the State Theatre's 571 seats Saturday night.

Fans rocked out in the theater's smaller setting as the band played a mix of old and new material.

"I could see people's faces and reactions to the new songs," band member Liz Berlin said.

The Pittsburgh-based band has been together for 19 years, Berlin said, and is touring to promote the group's new album, Stereo Rodeo, which will be released May 5, according to the band's MySpace page.

The sound of the album is "like the old days, but grown-up," Berlin said.

Tickets for Saturday's performance sold out quickly, State Theatre volunteer Eileen Christman said, adding it was "one of the bigger shows."

Around 8:15 p.m., the band's dreadlocked drummer appeared onstage, and cheers of "Rusted Root!" emerged from the crowd. The band played for almost two hours, returning for an encore with "Send Me on My Way," one of its most commercially successful songs.

State College resident Evan McClintock said he remembers seeing Rusted Root in an even more intimate setting -- down the street at Café 210 West, 210 W. College Ave., and the former Players Nite Club, 112 W. College Ave.

"They sure bring a lot of life to a small, intimate place like this," McClintock said. "They're one of the few bands that can capture the energy they have onstage in their recordings."

The band offers a "pretty unique" mix of sounds, and tribal tones were more prominent at this concert, McClintock said.

Alex Deutsch (junior-media studies) enjoyed the band's "new-world sound."

It's "a mishmash of different genres. You can't really compare them to anyone else," Deutsch said.

The show was "absolutely fantastic and memorable," Deutsch said.

Deutsch was among the first people who started dancing at the concert Saturday, she said.

"It like spread from there," she said.