Modest Mouse August 20, Brooklyn Bowl.

Modest Mouse live can be an unpredictable proposition, as many fans who’ve seen the band more than once can surely attest. Last time I caught the indie-rock titans, for example, their meandering Coachella set was an unmitigated disaster, memorable only for leader Isaac Brock’s between-song rambling and because the fest cut power midway through “Float On,” after the frontman’s many mini-spiels had pushed the band beyond its allotted time.

Thursday night’s Las Vegas tour stop, the first here in eight years, renewed my faith in the Mouse’s live power. Brock brought laser-beam focus to the show, searing through 21 songs in 90 minutes. His intensity felt pronounced from the outset, his head punctuating the forceful moments of throwback opener “Dramamine” as he led an eight-musician phalanx from his spot at stage left. A heavy version of the creeping “Out of Gas,” another ’90s cut, followed, setting the tone for a show that would see the band successfully shift pace—breakneck to measured and back again—the way its best albums always have.

For me, March’s Strangers to Ourselves didn’t ascend to that level, but most of the material drawn from it—bouncy single “Lampshades on Fire,” the menacing, slow-building “Of Course We Know” and especially the six-plus-minute “The Ground Walks, With Time in a Box,” which capped a four-song encore in epic pedal-to-the-metal fashion—seemed at home among the classics. Only the sedate title track lost the sold-out room’s attention completely, though ensuing ’07 hit “Dashboard” picked the pace right back up.

“Float On” also got the crowd singing, of course, but the best stretch of the night came next: a sweaty, super-sharp run through “Doin’ the Cockroach,” one of the band’s longtime jaw-droppers, and a gorgeous rendition of “Custom Concern,” a 19-year-old song that showcased Brock’s still-primo pipes. When he’s locked in like that, few bands can come close.

Setlist:

“Dramamine”

“Out of Gas”

“Bury Me With It”

“Lampshades on Fire”

“Of Course We Know”

“3rd Planet”

“Satin in a Coffin”

“The Devil's Workday”

“King Rat”

“Bukowski”

“Strangers to Ourselves”

“Dashboard”

“The Tortoise and the Tourist”

“Float On”

“Doin' the Cockroach”

“Custom Concern”

“A Different City”

Encore:

“Fly Trapped in a Jar”

“Sugar Boats”

“Grey Ice Water”

“The Ground Walks, With Time in a Box”