Music Review

WILCO

At Orpheum Theatre, Friday

Sometimes the sheer breadth of what Wilco is able to accomplish in two hours and change is mind-boggling.

Friday, in the first of two sold-out shows at the Orpheum Theatre, the Chicago sextet — now going 21 years strong, 12 with its current lineup — barreled through 28 songs with a kind of kinetic energy that was as bracing on the old-school alt-country ballads as it was on the tripped-out flights of psychedelic fancy and the winsome roots-pop numbers. They veered from density to sparseness, from frenzied-yet-controlled guitar pyrotechnics to gentle acoustic strums, from dark dirges to bouncy bop.

The group’s ability to juggle all of those sonic interests and more, and make them work side by side, often without a breath between, was exhilarating.

Leader Jeff Tweedy — sporting a white cowboy hat and in a buoyant but not particularly chatty mood — and the crew opened the show by playing the entirety of Wilco’s latest album “Star Wars.’’ It is itself a study in contrasts as vibey jams bled into crunchy rockers with the rhythm section of bassist John Stirratt — a steadying hand and ace harmony vocalist — and wildly gifted drummer Glenn Kotche holding it all together. (You could spend a whole show watching Kotche do his thing and be entertained, whether clattering up “Via Chicago’’ or laying back in the groove on “Heavy Metal Drummer.’’)

Tweedy is the focal point but every member had moments in the spotlight with guitarist Nels Cline in particular dazzling as he moved from tension-building solos to weeping lap steel interludes. Utility player Pat Sansone got gritty on guitar one minute, nimbly picked a banjo the next, and even gleefully plined away on a xylophone at one point. And Mikael Jorgensen colored it all in with flourishes that proved both grounding — smoky organ fills — and ethereal — as the purveyor of the the wild and woolly keyboard squiggles.

Following “Star Wars,’’ Wilco jammed in a clutch of classics from across the catalog including the beguiling ambler “Jesus, Etc.,’’ a rousing take on “I’m the Man Who Loves You,’’ and the Beatles-tinged pop of “Hummingbird.’’

An acoustic set closed out the night in grand fashion with the crowd — most of which was adoringly on its feet for the whole show — gamely singing along to, among others, the tuneful “Misunderstood,’’ the winsome Billy Bragg/Woody Guthrie collaboration “California Stars’’ and rousing closer “A Shot in the Arm,’’ with that last tune proving an apt description of the night.

WILCO

At Orpheum Theatre, Friday

Sarah Rodman can be reached at srodman@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @GlobeRodman.