Yorn and his band – Marc Noseworthy on guitar, Zak Shaffer on bass and Scott Seiver on drums – kicked off the night with a shocking visual display that certainly caught the attention of the audience. The group came on stage adorned completely in white, and played in front of a white backdrop illuminated by glaringly bright lights. The effect was flashy and dazzling; the purity of color symbolized the new beginning that Yorn is searching for with his new album.

Longtime fans of Yorn’s music will recognize the change in his aesthetic, which forgoes the heavy layers of orchestration, typical of his previous records. Instead, he favors a more stripped-down, candid style of songwriting. The sound is rough and guitar-driven, replacing the familiar pop sheen with gritty, raw emotion.

On stage, Yorn’s newfound edginess came across strikingly. For one thing, the volume was cranked up to a level not usually expected of a singer-songwriter – then again, Yorn has never been afraid to defy the conventions of his genre. From the beginning of the set, the impression was distinctly rock ‘n’ roll. Yorn and Noseworthy teamed up on electric guitars to create a wall of distortion behind Yorn’s soaring vocal melodies. Shaffer and Seiver anchored the sound with pounding, hard-driving rhythms.

Yorn opened with “Precious Stone,” the first track off of the new album, and continued with “Bad Man” and “Always.” On the fourth song, Yorn donned an acoustic guitar for “Strange Condition,” his first hit single. The song appeared on the soundtrack for the Farrelly Brothers’ film, “Me, Myself, and Irene,” a film he additionally scored. He followed with a mellow rendition of “Just Another,” from “Musicforthemorningafter.”
Yorn came back strong with “Rock Crowd,” one of the best tracks on the new album, and a highlight of the set. With Yorn playing acoustic, Noseworthy’s lead arrangement had amble room to breathe, and his subtle melodic riffs shined through. The song featured a climactic build-up to the final chorus, aided by the energetic participation of the crowd.

Yorn closed with several more songs from the new record, along with his biggest hit, “Life on a Chain.” He finished the set with the crowd singing along to another old favorite, “For Nancy.”

Based on Monday’s performance, Yorn’s transformation is apparent. He has come a long way since his debut album, “Musicforthemorningafter,” with which he achieved initial critical and popular success. Since then, his sound has evolved over several records, including “Day I Forgot” and “Nightcrawler;” his new album culminates 10 years of personal growth and songwriting maturation.

However, commercial success has eluded Yorn in the decade since his first big break. It is not clear if this new record has what it takes to recapture audiences. He has a lot of things going for him, like catchy melodies and easily relatable lyrics, but this has been the case throughout his career. Even with Frank Black at the helm, Yorn’s new record is not exactly a radical departure.

If nothing else, Yorn will maintain his devoted following of long-time fans, and his rocking stage show is definitely a good time. His sound is just aggressive enough to distinguish him from the deluge of other popular rock artists, and his occasional harmonica reminds us of his folk-singer-songwriter roots. Even if Yorn never finds true mainstream success, his music is solid enough to still be heard.

Andrew Cogan can be reached at [email protected].