The group played "Hazards" stem to stern. The disc may have been inspired by old English folk music, but the tunes ran the gamut from pastoral acoustic musings to chipper pop to thunderous prog-rock. Jenny Conlee's thick organ riffing on "The Queen's Rebuke" in particular would have made Keith Emerson proud.
Guest vocalists Becky Stark of Lavender Diamond and Shara Worden of My Brightest Diamond dug eagerly into their roles as ethereal maiden Margaret and the powerful queen, respectively, with Worden drawing cheers for her flamboyant theatrics.
After the high drama of "Hazards," the second set - featuring favorites from the band's earlier catalog - felt oddly more ordinary at first, like returning to Kansas from Oz. But as the hour progressed and the singalongs to fizzy tunes like "July, July" and "O Valencia" grew louder and more raucous, the energy was restored. A particularly frantic take on "The Chimbley Sweep" found Meloy and fellow guitarist Chris Funk handing off their instruments to excited, and admirably game, audience members. Worden and Stark returned for a pitch-perfect romp through Heart's epic rocker "Crazy on You."
Throughout, Meloy was funny and self-deprecating, goofing on his pretentious image - including a chorus of "the worst song" he ever wrote, a truly terrible ditty called "Dracula's Daughter" - and allowing his bandmates to take center stage. The night ended with a celebratory version of the lilting "Sons and Daughters."
Opener Robyn Hitchcock came off like Meloy's delightfully dotty uncle, digging into his typically offbeat new album, "Goodnight Oslo," with the surehanded assistance of the Venus 3-R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Scott McCaughey, and drummer Bill Rieflin. Meloy joined in on a couple of tunes.
Sarah Rodman can be reached at srodman@globe.com.
