Travis performs on Friday at the Lincoln Theatre.

The year was 2007, and I had just started blogging for DCist. That year’s performance by Travis at the 9:30 Club was one of the first shows I ever reviewed for the site. The concert was one of my favorites that year and remains memorable to this day. I’m not the only one who feels this way.

“We’ve got a top ten of shows over the years and it’s interesting because as each year goes by, the band gets better and better,” said Neil Primrose, Travis’ drummer. “It’s a cool club and it’s where we’ve always played. I suppose if we were a massive band in the States we’d be playing a lot bigger venues but we don’t really fit into the American format. But those of you that appreciate it have always been loyal supporters.”

There was a time, though, when Travis might have been the next big thing in the States. The 1999 single “Why Does It Always Rain on Me?” made waves on American radio and Travis was riding the Brit-pop trend that Oasis had created just a few years earlier. Bands like Coldplay caught this surge, and it’s unfortunate that Travis wasn’t able to do the same. Still, the band put out fantastic albums, among which were 2007’s The Boy With No Name and 2008’s Ode to J. Smith.

Tomorrow, Travis returns to the District, but this time as the second headliner to play The Lincoln Theatre since I.M.P. Productions was given the reins to the historic venue. The quartet, comprised of Primrose, lead vocalist Fran Healy, bassist Dougie Payne and guitarist Andy Dunlop, is touring in support of its first release in five years, Where You Stand, which the band put out last month. Perhaps in the past the band was aiming for the massive commercial success that their peers had achieved, but that’s no longer the case.

“Bands and artists and musicians, and you know, people that make movies, we are bound by our current cultural reference points,” Primrose said. “We’ve always tried to please ourselves, but also our fans at the same time, and I think we’re just getting better at that.”

Primrose points to the band’s latest album as an example of the group’s maturity, citing the simpatico among band members, their ability to collaborate and putting the final product over any sense of ego. Travis wanted to make a record that would stand the test of time, regardless of what sales or any other numeric measure might say.

“When you listen to a record that’s been done for the right reasons, it’s a record that you can listen to twenty or thirty times and you don’t get bored of it.,” Primrose explained. “In today’s homogenized culture, you’re trying to create something that lasts.”

The band employed a new approach to recording for Where You Stand. After recording a number of demos, the group took care to preserve threads from those original sketches throughout the recording process. Those seeds were the key ideas around which the songs were built. In total, the band recorded over eight hours of music and the final album was culled from those twenty or thirty songs.

As much thought as Travis puts into its recordings, the band truly exists on stage. The writing process ensures singable melodies and memorable songs, but Primrose wants the live audience to receive more than that.

“They need to go away enjoying watching a live band at work,” he said. “It’s a band that doesn’t pander to any sort of pretension. Travis is a folk band, a rock band, a pop band. It’s all things to all people.”

Travis performs tomorrow at The Lincoln Theatre with Rathborn opening. 7 p.m. Tickets $45 plus fees.