The band Flickerstick, accompanied by bands Spindle and Schazam, stopped in Columbus as part of its “Causing A Catastrophe Tou,” Sunday night at Newport Music Hall and giving a performance that was anything but flickering.

Before the show, adoring fans gathered outside, waiting to see the winners of VH1’s hit reality television show “Bands on the Run.” But after witnessing the energy pulsating from Flickerstick’s stage performance it was evident that this talented group of musicians is more than reality-TV-show winners.

“They have so much passion when they play,” said George Byrd, a fan from Cincinnati. “They never disappoint and have the best live show ever.”

In the fall of 2000, Flickerstick, along with three other bands, toured the country and competed for a record contract and $50,000 on VH1’s “Bands on the Run.” Flickerstick – clearly the drunkest, most outrageous and most talented band on the show – won the contest after the eight week competition and signed with Epic Records.

Lead singer Brandin Lea said after the show it was clear was looking for specific types of band, and Flickerstick did not know what it what was getting itself into when it decided to do the show.

“Each band was chosen to offset the other one,” he said. “They wanted an all-girl band, a good-guy band, and then a crazy, dirty rock band that was going to get in a lot of trouble – we figured out very quickly that that was us.”

Cory Kreig (guitar-vocals) joked the reality-show experience made the band more infamous than famous.

“It’s like being in a porn movie – nobody will ever forget it,” he said. ” ‘Bands on the Run’ is our porn movie.”

Before its reality-show encounter, Flickerstick formed in 1997 when Brandin met Kreig at the University of North Texas and began playing together. Soon after, they convinced Brandin’s brother Fletcher Lea (bass) and Dominic Weir (drums) to join them, and began playing around Texas as Flickerstick. Later, Rex Ewing (guitar-vocals) joined the band so Brandin Lea could focus more on singing.

In November of 2001, Flickerstick released “Welcoming Home the Astronauts” on Epic Records and toured for six months. The following spring, the band toured with the Cranberries, and this past summer it recorded “Causing A Catastrophe: Live in Deep Ellum” at a sold-out concert in Dallas, which is slated for release Nov. 26th.

Flickerstick – hungover, tired and hungry – woke up in Columbus Sunday after playing a sold-out show in Chicago. Back stage, the guys hung out and joked about how Weir once locked himself out of his house stark naked, and how Kreig drank too much and wet his pants on the bus the night before. They drank beer, had a few shots of Jagermeister, ate ham and cheese sandwiches and laughed together (and at each other) like normal guys.

Their unassuming attitude and hilarious interactions with each other made it easy to forget they were members of a rock band, but when they stepped on stage and began playing “Believe,” it was clear Flickerstick was going to do what it does best – put on an electrifying show.

After playing “Got a Feeling” Flickerstick injected the crowd with a dose of rock music with one of its brand-new songs, “Now You Like Me.” The crowd approved of the new material, jumping up and down to the positively chaotic song, which will probably be the band’s first single off the next album – set for recording in January and February.

The flowing unity between each member as he played, mixed with Brandin Lea’s unparalleled voice, showed performing live was Flickerstick’s hangover cure. Although the guys put a few beers back on stage, they appeared completely sober as they exerted energy and passion into their performance.

After pleasing the crowd with some of its most popular songs – “Chloroform,” “Smile” and “Coke” – Flickerstick showed its diverse aptitude with an alluring cover of Mazzy Star’s “Fade Into You.”

Following “Fade Into You” the band played the new song “Money and Dealers” and continued with “Sorry Wrong Trajectory” and “Beautiful” – a song that, for a lack of better words, is simply beautiful.

“You’re so beautiful, so beautiful today,” the crowd chanted along with Brandin Lea as he jumped off stage, still not missing a note.

Flickerstick ended its set after playing for over an hour with “Direct Line to the Telepathic.” This song, with its anticipating melodies and perfect use of building tension, seemed to set the venue on fire and ended with Ewing and Fletcher jumping into the crowd with their instruments. Remaining on stage, Weir accompanied Kreig as he displayed his talent with an amazing solo before ending the show.

After the show Weir and Brandin Lea, sweaty and as Ewing said, “smelling like Rock,” interacted with adoring fans and signed autographs.

“We’ll walk out of a sold-out show and people afterwards are like ‘man I hope you guys make it’ and I’m like, what level are you playing on – do we have to sell like 15 million albums to be successful? We’ve already reached the level of success we want to,” Brandin Lea said. “We just want to be able to play music, be able to tour, and to live decently, that’s it. Everything else is just extra.”