By Jeremy Stanley
Photos by Nina Corcoran

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It’s hard to find an adjective to describe a majority of Lykke Li’s material that isn’t a synonym for “sad.” At House of Blues on Friday night, it was neither an intimate, wallowing set, nor was it a pity party. Far from it.

What the crowd got instead was a set of pop ballads that just happened to deal with sad topics. And that was absolutely wonderful.

The Swedish musician opened with the title track of her latest record, I Never Learn, with its fierce acoustic guitar strumming. Singing of a place where “the tears melt eyes” and of “star-crossed lovers,” the regretful refrain of “I never learn” came as acknowledgment of faults.

That transitioned to the mournful yet cheery “Sadness Is A Blessing” off 2011’s Wounded Rhymes. She worked the crowd, telling Boston to dance.

Later, she underwent a bit of a costume change — from a black leather jacket to a black cape — and brought out a cup of whiskey. She exhorted the crowd to dance, dance, dance to “Dance, Dance, Dance” off of Youth Novels. She would mention that she is too shy and a bad dancer (however, she was on stage in front of thousands and exuded about 5% visible shyness. And she was a better dancer than most, but perhaps that’s because she had more room than those on the cramped floor.).

When a member of the audience threw her bra on the stage, she picked it up and tossed it back to the crowd of screaming fans, all without missing a beat.

On “Never Gonna Love Again,” Lykke Li, in true pop star mode, told the audience to wave lighters or light up their iPhone flashlights for a true “power ballad” effect. The audience happily obliged.

The live versions of I Never Learn tracks packed a bit more of a punch than their studio counterparts. That’s especially true on the great single “No Rest For The Wicked,” which had more forceful drums and an intense transition from the bridge to the final chorus.

Lykke Li covered two American treasures, Bruce Springsteen and Kanye West. The former was an almost tranquil take on “I’m On Fire.” The latter was an instrumental take on Yeezus’ “Send It Up.”

For the encore she performed a Swedish song that she called very sensual, then followed with a duet with opener Mapei on “Heart of Steel” to close out the evening.

The show was exuberant, in spite of — or because of — its lyrical content. If there’s one omission from the setlist I regretted, it was the lovelorn track “Love Me Like I’m Not Made of Stone.” Still, one wonders if it would have worked in a crowd that was hooting and hollering (and throwing bras).

Mapei opened the evening, with an engaging blend of pop and R&B. Her single “Don’t Wait” showed off her beautiful vocals that reminded of Macy Gray. There a tremendous amount of energy and while there were fans who came out specifically to see her, she definitely won a few new fans. She’ll be headlining rooms as big as House of Blues before you know it.

See Lykke Li’s tour dates here.