BY ZACHARY HERRMANN

From the second the concert was announced, something about Devendra Banhart playing the Electric Factory just didn't seem right. Whether or not he could bring out enough of an audience to fill the notoriously awful Philadelphia venue was one worry, especially when many of his free spirit demographic would be across town seeing Phish at the Wachovia Center.

But the bigger issue would have been one of sound and scope. Banhart - despite having a real kicking live band, dubbed the Grogs - started his days as a solo acoustic act and still devotes a great deal of his set to those songs. The cavernous design of the Electric Factory doesn't really cater much to intimacy, and frankly, the result probably would have been somewhat disastrous.

As luck would have it, a water main break forced a last second venue change to the much smaller, better-suited Theatre of Living Arts (TLA). In concert, as on album, Banhart requires some patience and sifting through, especially of late. Not surprisingly, his live show is very much a reflection of that. You have to get past some lightweight hippie-dippiness, but when you do, the guy has some real gems in his catalog.

In this sense, Banhart's music is a pretty accurate reflection of the musical era he most channels: the late ‘60s and early ‘70s. His stage persona is loose and spacey, which belies his more complex, darker sensibilities. Maybe it's just a matter of personal preference, but "Long Haired Child", "Rats" and "A Sight To Behold" have a lot more going on lyrically and musically then his lighter fare.

Critical consensus has been sort of lukewarm on Banhart's latest, What Will Be, and not completely without reason. The album tracks "Baby" and "Angelika" slowed things down early after the opening buzz of "Long Haired Child". "First Song for B" put even the most zealous Banhart followers into a lull.

Banhart certainly didn't help his case by taking the album's best pure pop song, "16^th & Valencia and Roxy Music", and grinding it to a barely mid-tempo halt. Similar to the way Ryan Adams started playing a slow-build version of "New York, New York", Banhart's shift sapped the number's potential as an early-set crowd pleaser.

Eventually, Banhart acquiesced to a lot of what the cat-calls were crying for - "Little Yellow Spider", "Seahorse" (silly, but well jammed) and several others that were in highly audible demand. Oddly enough though, Banhart and the Grogs had some of their best moments playing the non-Banhart tunes, which carried the band into the late set highs ("Lover", "Carmensita").

In addition to all being extremely versatile musicians, the four members of the Grogs are all fairly talented songwriters in their own right. Noah Georgeson's "Find Shelter" fit naturally into Banhart's set, while drummer Greg Rogove's "Diamond" displayed a dirtier, thrashing blues buried under the group's Tropicalia/neo-psychedelia. Ever the gracious band leader, Banhart stepped back to handle bass duties at one point, encouraging his band members to step up and take the spotlight.

As much as the group gives up a clear communal hippie vibe, the Grogs are an incredibly tight and disciplined band. And Banhart - who came on in a bowtie and jacket and left the night shirtless - may not look the part, but he is every bit the serious musician. His guitar work - acoustic and electric - is both clever and tasteful, referential (Nick Drake and The Electric Prunes both come to mind) but independently wrought. 

With or without the Grogs, Banhart got the best out of the sound at the TLA, the crowd mostly hushed in the quieter moments, even when everyone had cause to get a little restless. "16 & Valencia and Roxy Music" aside, the weaker moments had everything to do with the material, not the performances.

A couple years from now, it would be nice to see a few of those What Will Be numbers drop out of the set list rotation. But for now, as long as the guy offers up 105 minutes of music, we can let a few indulgences slide.

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Set list:

1)      Long Haired Child

2)      Baby

3)      Shabop Shalom

4)      Angelika

5)      16^th & Valencia and Roxy Music

6)      Little Yellow Spider

7)      A Sight To Behold

8)      I Remember

9)      First Song for B

10)   Charles C. Leary

11)  You Can't Put Your Arms Around a Memory (Johnny Thunders cover)

12)  How's About Tellin' A Story

13)  Maria Lionza

14)  It's Gonna Take Some Time To Get Alone With You (The Pleased)

15)   Foolin'

16)  Find Shelter (Noah Georgeson)

17)  Seahorse

18)  (Rodrigo Aramante song)

19)  Lover

20)  Diamond (Greg Rogove)

21)  Carmensita

22)  Rats

23)  Chinese Children/ I Feel Just Like a Child