The last time I wrote about Manchester Orchestra, discount I distinctly remember my ears ringing. It wasn’t the type of ringing that’s a little distracting or a minor nuisance, buy cialis but the “I can’t hear my fingers tapping the keys” type of ringing that has you avoiding ear buds like an smart mouse avoids a trap.

In that review, I raved about how the band had become one of today’s top live acts thanks to the sheer volume at which they played their songs – taking tracks that were pretty good on record and somehow turning them into religious experiences – the type you could feel reverberating through every inch of your body, whether you were standing in the front row or way up on the balcony.

The tracks off the band’s most recent album, 2014’s Cope lend themselves best to this level on sonic excess. While the songs are constructed around Andy Hull’s intricate lyrics, they marry his work with the type of bombastic choruses and stadium-worthy sheen generally reserved for bands playing the Super Bowl halftime show.

And that’s why I was skeptical going into their performance at Arts at the Armory in Somerville on Monday night. The band was playing a series of intimate venues in support of Hope, an album they released in September that featured stripped-down, semi-acoustic versions of every song off of Hope. On paper it seemed pretty absurd – I imagined it would be like watching Roger Feder play tennis with a spatula instead of a racquet or Keith Richards on stage with the Rolling Stones playing a kazoo.

Of course, I was wrong – very wrong. There was nothing about this performance that was watered down or lacking in spirit. Instead, every song the band played seemed somehow ideally suited for this quieter environment. While the tracks retained Hull’s often-breathtaking lyrical gymnastics, the band around him found ways to stretch each track in unexpected directions and make the audience feel like they were hearing them again for the first time.

Just like the songs on the fully-electric Cope sound bigger and better in a live setting, their mellower counterparts from Hope were significantly more captivating live than on record. Taking advantage of multiple keyboards, a trumpet, and a lineup of acoustic and muted electric guitars, the band found a way to fill the sonic void that should have been created by the absence of thundering guitars and drums. The arrangements reminded me of a flower sticking out of the barrel of a gun – your mind told you to expect something loud and abrasive, but what you got was quiet, pristine, and pretty much perfect.

After playing most of the songs from Hope, the band ventured into material from previous albums. Instead of lush orchestral arrangements though, these songs primarily featured Hull and his acoustic guitar – allowing the haunting lyrics of “Colly Strings” and  “I Can Feel A Hot One” to pack a walloping emotional punch.

In a nod to the many diehard fans that helped sell out the show, the stoic front man also polished off two tracks from the band’s formative years (“Girl With Broken Wings”, “Play It Again Sam! You Don’t Have Any Feathers”) that few, if any in the audience had ever heard live.

While a pre-show skeptic like myself could have easily pegged this acoustic tour as an exercise in self-indulgence, the night proved to be another chapter in what is becoming a pretty long book of scintillating Boston-area performances by Manchester Orchestra. Hopefully they’ve got a few more tricks they can pull off next time around.