The Utah Utes and Utah State Aggies battled each other on the football field on one side of the University of Utah campus Thursday night.

On the other side of campus, at the outdoor amphitheater at Red Butte Garden, two bands competed in a battle of the bands. The opener, the country-rock band Cracker, led off the night with a fun, rollicking one-hour set that essentially dared the headliners, Booker T. and the Drive-By Truckers, to outplay them.

And guess what?

Booker T. and the Drive-By Truckers were up to the task, ensuring that the last Red Butte concert of the season was the best of the summer.

The unexpected yet magical pairing of Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Booker T, who created the Memphis Soul sound that immortalized singers such as Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett and Sam & Dave, with the southern rock operas of the Drive-By Truckers, showed that live performance outshines recordings every time.

Booker T. and the Drive-By Truckers collaborated on April's "Potato Hole," the 64-year-old Booker T.'s first solo album in two decades, and the album is a satisfying groove that can be faulted only for playing it too safe. But live, on stage together, the six members of the Drive-By Truckers and Booker T. let loose in the spirit of jazz, with different musicians trading the spotlight and letting improvisation guide them to exhilarating heights in the 90-minute set. With Booker T.'s organ providing much of the melody on songs such as the OutKast cover "Hey Ya!" and the originals "Pound it Out" and "She Breaks," the three-guitar onslaught by the Truckers added depth and raw, rootsy flavor to the stew.

Not all of the songs were instrumentals, with as many as three Truckers singing lead, but the night's highlights were boisterous, full-bodied renditions of Booker T.'s greatest hits: "Green Onions," written by Booker T. when he was a high school senior, and 1969's "Time is Tight," from the soulful soundtrack to the film "Up Tight!" During the encore, Booker T. sang an engaging version of "Sitting By the Dock of the Bay," made famous by Redding and M.G.'s bandmate Steve Cropper.

Until Booker T. and the Truckers hit the stage, it was difficult to imagine them topping Cracker's fun set, in which the California country-rockers mixed songs off their album, "Sunrise in the Land of Milk and Honey," with songs from their first two albums, their self-titled debut in 1992 and 1993's "Kerosene Hat."

The tight quartet, led by singer David Lowery and guitarist Johnny Hickman, showed that quality songs, sung and played with sly wit and professionalism, are all the showmanship some bands need. The most beautiful song the band has ever written, "Euro-Trash Girl," was performed as an eight-minute ballad that alternated between moving emotion and tongue-in-cheek humor. And the band's first hit, "Teen Angst," showed the ironic cynicism that Lowery is known for, with the unforgettable chorus: "What the world needs now is another folk singer like I need a hole in my head."

On a night with a chilling breeze that blew away the oppressive heat of the afternoon, it was apparent that all you need is a groove, and all you want is one more night of summer.

dburger@sltrib.com