Historically minded rock journalists have enjoyed comparing alt-rock darlings and Nebraska favorites Rilo Kiley to one of their musical forebears: Fleetwood Mac. And indeed, like Mac, the L.A. four-piece has always blended its folk/rock sound into incredibly radio-friendly pop gems while continuing to maintain its indie appeal.
It's certainly not an insult - nor a stretch - to say singer Jenny Lewis and guitarist Blake Sennett are the Stevie Nix and Lindsey Buckingham of their time.
But with its new album, "Under the Blacklight", Kiley seems to be shrugging off some of those Fleetwood comparisons, or at least insisting that it not be pigeonholed by them. "Blacklight" takes the listener effortlessly from a disco roller rink to a brassy blues hall to a down-home honky tonk bar, all while holding on to the laid-back West Coast sensibility that put the band on the map.
However, the good news for any change-fearing diehard fans - especially the ones who filled Sokol Auditorium in Omaha on Thursday - is that the band is just as generous and reliable playing live as it has ever been.
The Saddle Creek Records alumni packed the house Thursday, on the bill with Johnathan Rice, Grand Ole Party and Art in Manila, each with local ties themselves. Omaha natives Art in Manila managed a respectable set, despite some feedback problems with guitarist Ryan Fox's (The Good Life) amp.
Next, if the White Stripes' Meg White sang instead of Jack (and played better drums), you'd have San Diego's Grand Ole Party, rocking its garage blues/punk sound hard.
The disappointment of the evening was mopey Rice, doing his dour Pete Yorn-lite routine (although maybe you'd be moody too if your jeans were as tight as Rice's). His set did feature a bright spot, however: "End of the Affair," his melancholic duet with Lewis.
Speaking of the Rilo Kiley chanteuse, it didn't take long to cement her title as the classiest of all riot grrrls after she hit the stage with her band mates in a gold lamé go-go dancer dress. In fact, the whole group had a very dapper early 1960s look that, in Sokol's glorified high school auditorium environment, gave off a very "Back to the Future" vibe (augmented by the boyish Sennett's resemblance to Marty McFly).
Former child actors, Lewis and Sennett (she of Shelley Long's "Troop Beverly Hills", he of Nickelodeon's "Salute Your Shorts") both have commanding stage presence and incredible chemistry as performers. But Lewis is much more than slinky eye candy and Sennett more than playful energy. Vocally, few can match Lewis' unforced passion and power (not to mention her chops on keyboards, rhythm and bass guitars). Meanwhile, Sennett doesn't get enough credit for his creatively catchy licks high up on the neck of his lead guitar and his great use of harmonics.
Highlights from the night featured the band's clever choices in instrumentation. Lewis and Sennett got the whole crowd singing to just an acoustic guitar on "With Arms Outstretched," but most of the night had Art in Manila singer Orenda Fink and Grand Ole Party vocalist Kristin Gundred lending support by singing and playing everything from congas to trumpet.
Lewis pulled her weight as well, doing a sexy Will Ferrell imitation by rocking the cowbell on the very danceable new tune, "Breakin' Up".
One quibble might be the stage show's use of industrial strobe lighting (breaking it out during the chorus of one particularly raucous tune: good; continuous strobing for minutes on end while the techies set up for the next song: bad).
The Rilo Kiley faithful in Omaha were just as eager to hear tracks from "Blacklight" as from the band's previous three albums. Those tunes proved the band has as much range as it does appeal, including the jazzy "15," the fierce "Moneymaker" and the breezy "Dreamworld," sung by Sennett.
Actually, that last tune is the only one that Sennett fronts on this album, perhaps another signal that the band will not be hedged in by their similarities to a certain '70s hit-making band.
Then again, Fleetwood Mac is still selling out stadiums when it tours, and if Rilo Kiley stays as creative and resourceful on stage and in the studio as it has been lately, we'll still be talking about the band 30 years from now.
RyanKathman@dailynebraskan.com
is a member of the 
