LAST YEAR, when Howard Tate – a talented if not particularly well-known or successful soul singer from the '60s and early '70s – returned from the dead, cut a record, and was subsequently hyped to the heavens, I thought that a desperate record industry and a bunch of bored music journalists had cooked up a legend and sold it to music-starved fans. Tate's rebirth came at the same time that an army of crate diggers – each fiercely competing to find a soul singer of his or her own to introduce to the world – was discovering buried treasure every day, most of it fool's gold. So when Tate turned up in a church where he had a ministry, or wherever it was, I had to be convinced. I went out and bought Rediscovered (Private Music), his comeback album, and while it wasn't incredible – incredible is Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson, and Al Green, OK? – it was good. His comeback has been watched over by industry veterans – and if that's just another way of saying ex-cons, at least it looks like this time they're making amends and making sure the man is getting paid (Tate's frustration with the business end of things led to his disappearance). This time around he's happy, and it shows; Tate is the real live deal, and when he gets onstage, he adds a magic touch that makes you feel like soul music is alive and well even if it isn't. Go see Tate; he disappeared once, so there's no telling when he's going to do it again. Austin deLone opens. 9 p.m., 859 O'Farrell, S.F. $15. (415) 885-0750. (J.H. Tompkins)