Photo courtesy of Warner Brothers Records

Wobbly voice. Shirtless. Bizarre. These were some of my preconceptions of Devendra Banhart before attending his concert last Thursday night. And who could blame me? After listening to his albums “Rejoicing In The Hands” and “Nino Rojo,” along with most of the pictures of him floating around the Internet, it would be easy to think this.

To my surprise, Banhart’s performance was something totally different. His sound has evolved since those early records. It is no longer the modest acoustic guitar playing with shaky singing. Banhart is now more Rockabilly than psychedelic hillbilly.

I must confess, I have always been on the fence with Banhart’s music. Typically I sway more to thinking it is ridiculous but this show perhaps awoke the side of me that was partially intrigued by his sound. Playing with a full band added some more charm to songs. Much of the audience was provoked to move around and dance during the upbeat tracks.

Banhart’s singing has become a lot more approachable, yet still maintains the unique flavor he captured audiences with in his first albums. The Venezuelan folk rocker does not lack in stage presence. His eccentric movements while he sang matched his bizarre but endearing personality. Bringing his arms close to his chest and extending his fingers outward, he would sing with his eyes shut tightly and immersing himself in the music.

There was a small break in the set where Banhart took the stage and played acoustic guitar by himself. From my experience of going to shows, when the lead singer steps out to play by his or herself tends to be the most emotional and memorable part of the set. Strangely enough, at this show the acoustic segment was the weakest part. I was looking most forward to the acoustic songs because they were the medium I was most familiar with hearing his songs in. He openly noted he couldn’t remember the words to a lot of the songs people in the audience requested.

The new, livelier Devendra Banhart could be seen as selling out but in this case I think it is just evolution of his sound. He seems to have focused his music better. This psychedelic rockabilly mixture keeps Banhart unique without scaring people away. While I don’t think he should be a headliner like he was last Thursday at The Showbox at the Market, he could be a solid opening act for a larger act.