“You are extremely quiet for a sold-out crowd,” emoted Merrill Garbus, the creative force behind tUnE-yArDs. “That isn’t a bad thing,” she explained. “It means that you can see that I’m working hard.” Indeed, tUnE-yArDs songs appear to have a plethora of components; sounds quickly created and looped by Garbus for very complex and patterned compositions. Yet, but for her admission of heavy concentration, Garbus’ work appears to be second nature. Her flow from looping one instrument to another was seemingly effortless so of course the audience was quiet; they were closely following her every move.

To be fair, she had commanded that respect before she even took the stage. tUnE-yArDs’ recent release, whokill, has been one of the year’s most exciting with its combination of tribal percussion and primal vocalizations mixed with jazzy instrumentation. Yet, her stage presence was as impressive as her body of work. The audience shouted, “Love you, Merrill!” as soon as she came on with her blue streaked face and tulle-adorned dress. Was she a joyful bird or a powerful warrior? Maybe she was both: for when she asked the audience, “Will you sing?” the crowd broke into an empassioned “Ooooh!” and when she asked, “Do you want to live?” drumstick in the air, everyone shouted the affirmative. And she softened her voice for the Mariah-esque solo at the end of “Powa,” everyone fell silent.

Although Garbus started the show on her own, she was quickly joined by a bass and two saxophones that added the depth that even her meticulous looping wouldn’t achieve. The free jazz-esque saxophone intro to single “Bizness,” differed from the album version and had everyone on their toes. She even had the Arone Dyer from opener Buke & Gass join her for “Es-So,” a song that she admitted to not having practiced. She also surprised the audience by admitting that she was so scared of the prospect of the sold-out crowd that she hadn’t used the restroom ahead of time. If only all nerves turned into performances like the sleek “Doorstep” and the raucous encore, “Country.” It’s unlikely that anyone at that show would have left in a state any less than blissful.