Mason Jennings took the stage at the Pabst Theater in quite a different light than his previous trips to Milwaukee. In fact, I can remember watching Mason play at the Vox on Prospect to about 40 people only a few years ago. The days of small venues has changed with Mason finally signing to a record label that he felt comfortable with, Modest Mouse frontman Issac Brock’s very own Glacial Pace, a subsidiary of Epic.

The first time I saw Mason Jennings was about 5 years while he was still holding down his weekly show at the 400 Bar in Minneapolis. Despite signing to a major label, Mason’s sound has remained relatively the same, while continuing to draw larger crowds in bigger and better venues.

The concert opened with the new single, “Be Here Now,” a tune that draws its lyrical content from the Ram Dass book of the same title. While the concert highlighted the songs on his most recent effort Boneclouds, Mason and his band treated fans, both casual and fanatic, to an hour and a half set.

The obvious highlight of the night was Mason’s take on Neutral Milk Hotel’s “King of Carrot Flowers, Pt. 1.” Prior to beginning the song, Mason spoke about the power of hearing the album, and that track in particular for the first time, and how influential and moving it was. “Killer’s Creek,” the story of a motorcycle ride gone wrong, ended the main set of the performance and appears on my favorite Mason Jennings album today, Century Spring includes a high energy rocking outro that brought the crowd to their feet and prepared them for the encore and overall crowd favorite, “Butterfly” off his self-titled debut album.

Mason Jennings continues to evolve as a songwriter and performer. There is a drastic difference in his comfort and stage presence since first seeing him a half decade earlier in a small club. As his fan base continues to grow it’s assured that his album sales and tours will begin to gain momentum and accreditation of a much higher level.