On a hazy August evening, the Spin Doctors, Blues Traveler and the Gin Blossoms brought a packed Leader Bank Pavilion back to the softer side of ’90s alternative rock.

The Friday night bill delivered a steady stream of familiar hooks, plus a few unexpected covers, including a blistering rendition of “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” by Blues Traveler. Harmonica virtuoso John Popper took on Charlie Daniels’ sawing fiddle parts.

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Decades removed from their MTV-era peaks, all three acts sounded sharp and leaned into their best-known material, playing the hits that made them famous with visible enthusiasm, free of any sense of the obligatory that sometimes shadows successful performing acts on the tail end of their career.

The audience returned that energy, remaining on its feet for much of the night.

With a warm breeze rolling off the harbor and a rosy end-of-summer sunset hanging over the Seaport, three defining bands of the 1990s reminded Boston that what has aged can still be electric.