Usually, listening to a band’s recorded work is a good indication of how they might play live. For sisters Sierra and Bianca Casady, better known to the world as the freak-folk group CocoRosie, replicating their unique blend of vaudeville opera and modern day indie pscyhedelia presents something of a challenge.

As such, the duo’s live set last Thursday night was livelier and more condensed than much of their studio work, with slow, dreamlike tunes from earlier albums like Noah’s Ark and La Maison de Mon Reve put to live drum beats and a nearly full live band, featuring a synthesizer player and perfectly synchronized beatbox percussion from Gael Rakotondrabe.

Around 9:15 p.m., backstage crew brought out a harp and turntables to the rousing applause of the heavily female crowd, and by 9:30 the circus was in town, as a visualizer displaying neon rainbows, a carousel and oversized photos of children came up and the band came out.

The performance drew heavily from the sisters’ most recent release, last May’s Grey Oceans. The opener was no exception, as Bianca (Coco) played flute early on, while Sierra (Rosie) crooned to the crowd with her deep, operatic vocals. The opening track, “Undertaker,” featured drum beats combined with Rakotondrabe’s heavy vocal percussion, lending the piece a deeper, richer feel than the recorded version.

The sister-sister vibe was instantly noticeable, as the pair fed off each other throughout the night, bouncing off each others’ energy and bopping around the stage in the early going. While the two are known to dress experimentally, to be mild, they appeared comparatively normal Thursday, with Coco sporting a purple dress and Rosie in an off-pink robe.

Next up was the title track to Grey Oceans, “Trinity’s Crying.” The song features sampling which wails like a siren leading into a slow, cerebral synth line and Rosie calling out in rich, theatrical tones. The song feels like it has more in common with CocoRosie’s earlier work, as it progresses more slowly and crafts a more haunting, eerie ambiance.

Third was a logical progression from “Trinity’s,” as they followed with the next track on Grey Oceans, “Smokey Taboo.” Featuring heavy beatbox percussion, the track came out faster and more up-beat than its recorded counterpart, as Coco broke into her singsongy hip hop tone, squeaking and cooing.

Next came an old favorite, the opening track to 2005’s Noah’s Ark, “K-Hole.” This was a prime example of how the duo’s tempo and rhythm changed from the studio to the stage What is normally a sleepy, faded track featuring faint samples and an ethereal synth line built to a thumping climax pulling together drums, beatboxing and a more energized synthesizer, all of which made the song feel more like a dance beat than a piece meant for staring out the window on a rainy day.

After “K-Hole,” the duo gave the audience their first taste of 2007’s The Adventures of Ghosthorse and Stillborn, with the double track “The Black Swan / Promise.” This featured a whirring synth with prominent beatboxing and waves of sampled electric sound. Coco set the cadence and measure for the tune, with flowing breakdowns featuring Rosie crowing theatrically.

Next was an impressive, several minute beatbox breakdown from Rakotondrabe, followed by the third track to Grey Oceans, “Hopscotch,” which features a honky-tonk synth leading into a dreamy vocal sequence from Rosie with an ominous drumbeat. The track is certainly one of the hits from Oceans, as it manages to harp back to CocoRosie’s earlier work while still finding a more complex, nuanced identity.

The pair followed with the b-side “Turn Me On,” which featured Rosie on the harp and Coco singing, rather than rhyming.

Next was “Animals” from Ghosthorse, a reminiscent track featuring Coco rapping to a slow keyboard and samples of birds chirping. This was one of the hits of the evening, as it perhaps reproduced best the particular fusion of the classical and the postmodern which CocoRosie represent. The lyrics are slightly grotesque, the beats fuzzy and fragmented, but somehow it is beautiful high theatre, something more transcendent and artistic than much of what is currently being produced.

They followed with another louder, quicker song from Grey Oceans and then segued back to Ghosthorse with “Rainbowarriors,” a haunting, liminal work with Rosie setting a gaunt tone with an initial vocal line followed by Coco’s faster chattering. Again the contrast between Rosie’s theatricality and Coco’s modern angst and attitude make the song.

Last in the initial set came another piece from Grey Oceans, the protracted, high-energy “Lemonade.” The entire band was vivacious and involved on this track, as the song seemed to grow legs of its own and transitioned into a flowing, arcing track, topping off the set with an extended synth solo.

The group then took a bit of a breather and came back for a two song encore, featuring “Beautiful Boyz,” from Noah’s Ark and then a song from Grey Oceans.

While CocoRosie’s live set felt markedly different from what some fans may have come to know them as, it was still high performance art. Grey Oceans is a departure from some of their gloomier, more baroque work, and perhaps their live sets have evolved with the trajectory of their recordings. One thing is for sure: CocoRosie write some incredibly nuanced, intricate material and find a way to make it compelling and astonishing to watch reproduced live.

Sam Butterfield can be reached at [email protected].