Band brings intimacy to performance in Benedum Center

On Thursday night, Colin Meloy, the lead singer of The Decemberists, nudged his audience to… On Thursday night, Colin Meloy, the lead singer of The Decemberists, nudged his audience to standing, saying, “You’re welcome to sit, but when the Revolution comes, just know you’ll be the first against the wall.”

One by one, crowd members rose up in a wave from the front of the stage to the back of the audience for the up-tempo “Rox In the Box.” Getting the audience to its feet to sway along to the music — what the band calls the “Footloose” moment — by the third song raised the energy to a level that kept up even through the second encore.

“Footloose” was one of several songs sprinkled in amongst the set list from The King is Dead, The Decemberists’ latest album, which swayed heavily in a folksy direction in comparison to previous albums. Onstage, it seemed natural that the band would have moved in that direction, with its storytelling style and Meloy’s congenial interaction with the audience.

During one part, the laid-back front man wandered into the crowd and grabbed a box of candy from someone, popping a piece into his mouth casually. It’s that kind of easy rapport with the audience that made even the Benedum Center feel more intimate than its almost 4000-person seating capacity.

The band managed a nearly flawless performance. Meloy’s voice rung exactly as it does in the album — and just as it does in recordings, it drove the songs from the opener “Shiny” to the last song “June Hymn.”

The instruments were spot-on, with only a few extended interludes while Meloy wandered from the mike and towards the crowd. Perhaps that was tiresome for the balcony viewers, but those close to the stage relished the opportunity to high-five and pass a cell phone to the singer.

One of the interludes came in “The Bagman’s Gambit,” during which the stage was theatrically lit to match the story of the song.

When Meloy sang by himself, his acoustic guitar the only instrument, shocking white lights illuminated only him. When the band burst in, red and blue-toned lights flipped on, lighting the whole set. It was just dramatic enough to supplement the storytelling style without coming off as excessive.

And the band members continued such showmanship when they played all three parts of “Crane Wife,” which lasted more than 15 minutes in total. It wasn’t the only marathon song — the band’s first encore was “The Tain (Parts I, II, III, IV, V),” an epic journey of a song with soft, lullaby stanzas and grandiose musical interludes reminiscent of the circus.

Despite Pittsburgh roads giving Meloy a flat tire, something he lamented during the show, The Decemberists delivered anything but a flat performance.