Boiled in Lead, the legendary Minneapolis folk band, performed at the Mabel Tainter Theater on Saturday night. They’re promoting their new album, Silver.

It’s been nearly ten years since I last heard them in concert, and I shrieked like a teenager when my friend Susan told me she had tickets.

They played Macedonian tunes, Estonian tunes (one of them in 15/16 time), an impossibly complex Swedish polska, and a lot of Celtic folk songs.

I first heard about Boiled in Lead in Emma Bull’s sensational fantasy novel War for the Oaks. The band players have a walk-on role, and one of the main characters recites a few stirring lines from one of their signature songs.

These hard-rocking folk musicians are about to celebrate their 25th anniversary. May we hope for another 25 years?