The Bevis Frond & Oneida played Crystal Ballroom – 2/28

Long-running U.K. concern The Bevis Frond kicked off their first proper U.S. tour in 25 years with NYC’s Oneida last Friday in Somerville.

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To call The Bevis Frond prolific would be an understatement. Singer/guitarist Nick Saloman – who is the band, for all intents and purposes – has spent nearly 40 years producing sprawling collections of psych-rock gems at a hurried clip. It’s a staggeringly large body of work, which I’ve admittedly only scratched the surface of over the years. But even for a neophyte, the announcement of Saloman’s return to North American shores for his first full-fledged tour in two and a half decades was cause for excitement.

I last caught the band performing a one-off as an acoustic duo at TT’s back in 2014, but whereas that set leaned into the more pastoral side of their sound, Friday’s stop at the Ballroom was a fully plugged-in and cranked-up affair. Joined by an ace backing band comprised of bassist Louis Wigget, guitarist Paul Simmons and drummer Dave Pearce, Saloman dug into two hours of catchy rockers, psychedelic shredding and stretched-out explorations. The setlist cherry-picked cuts ranging from the band’s late ’80s origins all the way up through last year’s Focus On Nature, much to the thrill of a sold-out crowd that likely would’ve stuck around for hour three or four.

Experimental rockers Oneida – currently operating as a five-piece that’s just welcomed late-’90s/early-oughts guitarist Papa Crazee back into the fold – proved a perfect pairing for the night’s support. Their hypnotically hard-driving jams transfixed as effectively as ever.

Check out a gallery of both bands below.