Mix 98.5 claims to play “Today’s Best Variety,” but Saturday night at Agganis Arena, Mixfest ’07 consisted of today’s clichéd variety, and perhaps yesterday’s best. With Blue October, Colbie Caillat, Mat Kearney, Daughtry and Matchbox Twenty on the bill, the crowd ranged from middle-schoolers to middle-aged women.

Waiting for the headliners to hit the stage, half of the audience arrived hours into the show. Blue October opened the concert strongly, but played for a mere 15 minutes to a half-empty arena. Colbie Caillat followed with a well-sung performance confined to center-stage. The nosebleed section sat for her humdrum set, while concertgoers in the front rows stood at the start of her mellow hit, “Battle.”

To follow, Mat Kearney charmed the audience with stories of his BU alum brother, and playfully incorporated “Boston” and “Mixfest” into Mraz-like lyrics of “Undeniable.” While crooning at his keyboard, Kearney got the crowd singing and swaying to “Breathe In, Breathe Out” of Grey’s Anatomy fame, joking that it’s a “good song for doctors to make out to on television.” Despite his charisma, Kearney’s palpable similarities to Chris Martin were distracting; it left me with the urge to go home and listen to authentic Coldplay.

Unfortunately, Daughtry didn’t help matters. Sure, their performance was rockin’, with countless rock ‘n’ roll hand signs to prove it, but the band was trying a bit too hard. As if auditioning for Making the Band: Rock Edition, Daughtry jumped off speakers, sang into a megaphone and played guitar in a power stance all-too-familiar to an adolescent talent show. Complete with a bold drummer (wearing a British flag muscle shirt and playing a multi-colored glittery drum set), a head-banging chin-striped guitarist and a Mohawk-styled bassist, it seemed as though Daughtry hand-picked the “perfect” rock band, making the performance nauseatingly superficial. Thankfully, Matchbox Twenty’s set made up for everyone else’s faults. Starting off with “Long Day” from their first album, Matchbox put on a classic performance that had the audience longing for the better days of pop rock. Since their new album, Exile on Mainstream (released this Tuesday), compiles the band’s greatest hits alongside six new songs, Matchbox played the fan favorites while interspersing three new songs. From the intimate performance of “Bright Lights” on a baby grand piano to his air guitar solo in “I’ll Believe You When,” Rob Thomas returned to the glory days of alternative rock.

Thomas shared the spotlight with the band when “Bright Lights” faded into The Beatles’ “She Came In through the Bathroom Window.” On the keys, Thomas jammed with the band, while bassist Brian Yale, guitarist Kyle Cook and drummer Paul Doucette took over vocals while the audience sang along to this often-overlooked Beatles tune. Matchbox brought the audience back to adolescence with evocative performances of their mid ’90s hits. By the end of the show, the older women weren’t the only ones wide-eyed over Rob Thomas.