The idea of an energetic folk singer-songwriter seems to be a bit of a rarity. Most people probably don’t go into a folk show hoping to be wowed by masterful stage presence. There are exceptions, prostate of course, help and The Tallest Man On Earth can easily be counted as one.

On just the second night of the band’s tour at in support of the expansively insular (or is it insularly expansive?) Dark Bird Is Home, the band had the pristine finish without any sort of hiccups. It marks the first time a band has set out on tour with the traditionally solo Sweden-born Kristian Matsson.

And those new album tracks are tailor made for a touring group. Opening the performance with “Fields of Our Home,” which starts with just a guitar and Matsson’s mournful voice, but buids to include viola and saxophone.

Songs like “Sagres,” which are among the lushest of tracks, sounded wonderful live. “Sagres” builds to the emotional climax with the line “It’s just all this fucking doubt,” which I personally had no problem yelling along with, but maybe the rest of the Orpheum Theater crowd hadn’t digested the album quite yet.

Still, at times, the band ceded the stage to Matsson, who would find himself hugging them when they left or returned. The trifecta of previous-album tracks “Love Is All,” “The Gardener” and “Leading Me Now” freed Matsson from what was never a distraction from the amped up sound. But getting Matsson’s raw voice and guitar alone was a definite treat.

It didn’t occur to me that I hadn’t ever seen videos of live performances of The Tallest Man On Earth until Thursday’s show. If I had, I wouldn’t have made much of Matsson’s showmanship. The bandmates were on a raised platform toward the back of the stage, giving Matsson an incredible range of motion on the stage — and Matsson used every inch of it. He’d come right up to the edge of the stage, crouch a bit for that perfect Instagram shot and — oh yeah, this is just a 15-second instrumental break in the first verse and he’s back behind the mic and hasn’t missed a beat. After every song he used a pick on, he’d flick it into the crowd. Here’s how to sell tickets: buy a ticket closer to the stage, and walk away with a slightly used pick.

The Tallest Man On Earth’s songs are at times sad, but they have a groove to them. And yet, no one stood up until the encore. It’s not the end of the world, but I would have preferred not being glued to my seat. Perhaps it’s a sad consequence of it being a theater show, but there’s enough energy in a Tallest Man show that it’s worth standing for.

Still, Matsson’s music, no matter if you’re lying in bed, sitting in a theater or standing, is a treasure to behold.

Madisen Ward and the Mama Bear opened the show with a delightful set of straight folk music. The mother-and-son duo hailing from Kansas City, bantered with the skeleton crew (Hey, that’s the name of their album!) of early arrivers, and eventually obliged with their lead single, “Silent Movies.”

You can catch both The Tallest Man On Earth and Madisen Ward and The Mama Bear at Newport Folk Festival this summer (Friday tickets are still available).