Black Rebel Motorcycle Club’s third album Howl was a departure from the band’s noisier beginnings when it arrived in 2005. Now, for a tour celebrating the 20th anniversary of Howl, the album stands the test of time, and the San Francisco group knows it.

There was a moody atmosphere throughout the night at the beautifully adorned Granada Theater- for both the supporting act Humanist and BRMC.

Humanist’s post-punk and industrial-tinged rock set the dark mood for BRMC, and was further made poignant by frontman Rob Marshall’s impassioned vocals.

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club kept a no-frills approach throughout the set- showcasing a haunting blend of folk, blues, and rock.

The band played all but one track from Howl, as well as some of their most popular songs, like “Beat the Devil’s Tattoo,” “Spread Your Love,” and “Berlin.” Since the songs from Howl weren’t played in order according to the track list, the set still felt fresh and different.

The striking lighting design kept most of the stage near black with only streaks of light illuminating the band members. It kept all of the focus on the band members since it was quite stationary during the songs themselves.

Really it was all about focusing on the songwriting. With Howl‘s laid back instrumentation, the focus on that evening was purely the emotion that Peter Hayes, Robert Levon Been, and Leah Shapiro led the audience through a soulful performance.

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