Two great acts hit New World Brewery Tuesday night. Franz Nicolay, the moustached former member of the Hold and David Dondero, a severely underappreciated singer-songwriter.

Franz Nicolay exuded showmanship. With a glimmer in his eye and a steampunkish curly moustache, Nicolay demonstrated that musicians could be class acts. Speaking amicably to the crowd in a bowler hat and suit, he mentioned visiting the Ringling Museum and partying too hard in Orlando the night before. Despite his supposed crazy night, he did fine playing hyper-literate tracks like “The Ballad of Hollis Wadsworth Mason, Jr.,”“This Is Not A Cup” and “Jeff Penalty.” It takes talent to play multiple instruments, and Nicolay showed effortless skill with his banjo, accordion, and acoustic guitar.

David Dondero hit the stage in a pea-green shirt and brown pants. He sang in his Conor Oberst-nabbed quaver and demonstrated his inexplicable absence from being listed among the best modern singer-songerwriters.

It’s always amazing to me when acts of such quality escape public consciousness. The early line that did me in was talking about his love/hate affair with his guitar, and how sometimes he wanted to “wring its skinny neck.” Evidence of wordplay like this abounded, and Dondero added plot to his literary stylings, with the thrilling tale of “The Waiter," a tale about a waiter taking wine-corkscrew revenge on thieves who stole his tips.

“Wherever You Go That’s Where You Are," from his 2010 release Zero With A Bullet struck me again with the quality of his lyrics. “Aloha, mahalo helped me figure it out/ "Da kine, Da kine, you got t’ give me that pineapple wine," he sang, conjuring the joys of Hawaii.

Clearly, Dondero is clever. But, he’s also funny. He sang a song about dog ownership (“Not Everybody”) that was both cutesy and biting. (no pun intended) “"Not everybody loves your doggie like you do / it's annoying when you're saying 'hey, look how cute'/ I don't think that the dog is as smart as you think / I think/ that the dog is smarter than you"

"Analysis of a 1960’s Divorce” was prefaced by gallows humor by Dondero, speaking about his father being an alcoholic, and his sharing the same fate. The song itself spoke about the history of his life, and added an air of sincerity that permeated the show. One of the closing tracks he played was "Rothko's Chapel." This was the song whose lyrics made me want to see Dondero. It was so obviously heartfelt, and was a perfect ending song for such an honest performer.

David Dondero, live, San Francisco