Kurt Vile set the pace early Saturday night at the 9:30 Club, eschewing the typical thunderous roar of guitar, drums and bass of a rock show for something a bit more subdued.

If you’ve been following the steady rise of the Philadelphia singer-songwriter, this isn’t news. Vile is fully committed to his vibe, opening the show with an extended take of “Wakin’ On A Pretty Day,” a song that already is 9-minutes plus in length. The guitars snake through the music, but never demand your attention. The rhythm section keeps time, rarely stepping out of line. It’s the type of music that perfectly complements living under a Heat Dome — a sweat-filled fever dream where everything feels enveloped in a thick haze.

Now five albums into his solo career, Vile has outgrown each room he’s played on each stop in D.C. As the room filled during the night, so did the audience voices that dominated the quieter parts of his 90-minute set. Songs like “Peeping Tomboy” and “Snowflakes Are Dancing” found Vile, who performed solo reworkings of these numbers by himself, battling to be heard with the restless 9:30 Club crowd.

But for every slow burn of a “Ghost Town” or “On Tour,” there was the swagger of “KV Crimes” and “Hunchback.” Or the colossal Krautrock-infused “Freak Train,” which included a surprise saxophone skronk in the chorus that wouldn’t have sounded out of place at a Colin Stetson show. It was those extra little bits of flair — the aforementioned saxophone, the “woo!” on “Shame Chamber”, the accompanying click track of “Baby’s Arms” — that stuck out.

On his albums, from 2008’s tape recordings of Constant Hitmaker to the warmth of this year’s Wakin’ On A Pretty Daze, the staring at the clouds and daydreaming feel is wonderful. Vile has perfected that move over the years, but when it’s the only one you have it leaves something to be desired on stage.