"Well, it's official," said Jeremy Enigk between songs at the Paramount on Friday night. "We are Sunny Day Real Estate, back from a long sleep." It had been 15 years since the band last played Seattle with its full original line-up, the quartet responsible for the band's landmark mid-90s albums Diary and LP2, and they seemed genuinely happy—and humbled—to be there onstage again. This was the final night of a warmly received reunion tour, and the band were in fine form, sounding like they hadn't aged a day since their sudden split in 1995. Enigk greeted the crowd with just a "wow, hello," before the band launched into "Friday" and "Seven," the opening tracks, respectively, of their sophomore and debut albums. It was a hell of a way to start the triumphant homecoming show.

The concert concentrated on those two records, those featuring the "classic" line-up, although the band also made room for material from their late-90s incarnation as a trio as well as a pretty stunning new song written since the band's regrouping this year. Throughout, they proved themselves to still be masters of that old loud-quiet-loud, of contrasting and conflating emotions—a kind of ecstatic sadness alternating with rage and calm. They're also clearly a product of their time and place, though, as much textbook emocore as they are at times almost "grunge" or "alternative rock," Enigk's voice approaching the dreaded "yarl" when he really strains it screaming.

Enigk didn't speak much between songs (he’s always been a dramatically soft-spoken, often unintelligible frontman), but when he did, he was both exceedingly gracious, thanking the crowd (and saying cheers) repeatedly, and businesslike about guiding the crowd through the set: “This song is called ‘Grendel.’” “How about a song from How it Feels to be Something On? A’right, cheers.” “So, we’re gonna go back to Diary for a bit. Cheers, thanks.” Guitarist, vocalist, and co-lyric writer Dan Hoerner—whose big smile throughout the show made him look like the happiest guy on that stage—was more effusive: “I have to ask myself, is this really happening? It is; it’s amazing.”

But the band were plenty emotive in song. Enigk gently swayed as if tethered to the microphone or contorted his (weirdly delicate) face with screams during the band’s many climatic crescendos. SDRE may cite U2 as a significant musical influence, but there's a world of difference between the bands' live personas—whereas Bono goes for outsized messianic poses; Enigk comes across as a penitent disciple, almost monkish with his bald-shaved head. Backing him, William Goldsmith pounded and reached behind his drum kit, Nate Mendel swivelled a little stiffly at the hips (a move you may recognize from a few Foo Fighters videos), and the whole band rocked out, head-banging or at least nodding hard on the heavier riffs.

About their new song: It featured a bright, arpeggiated guitar line (maybe a little reminiscent of “Baba O’Reily”?), a slow-churning rhythm that erupted into a huge drum roll, and Enigk singing lines about “falling out of grace,” “falling deeper,” and finally, optimistically, “crawling out hell,” with Enigk concluding, as if to sanctify the band’s reunion and hint at more new material to come, “it’s getting sweeter, I can tell.” It was a truly promising new song.

Things peaked with the epic "In Circles," the first song of the band's (obviously obligatory) encore. Enigk sang, "sincerity/trust in me," and it really felt like this was a band unfrozen from a time before irony—they're a big, shamelessly emotional band, and you really get the feeling that they believe every word*. "Running down," maybe, but this was without question a victory lap.

Here's the set-list:

1. "Friday"
2. "Seven"
3. "Shadows"
4. "Song About an Angel"
5. "Grendel"
6. "Guitar and Video Games"
7. "Iscarabaid"
8. "Theo B"
9. "47"
10. "5/4"
11. NEW SONG
12. "Spade & Parade"
13. "Sometimes"
(encore)
14. "In Circles"
15. "48"
16. "J'Nuh"

*Speaking of belief (and Segal has written about this before), whatever religious convictions Enigk may express in song, Sunny Day Real Estate's music is strong enough to not only bear them, but to even sort of translate them, at least on some kind of emotional level, to a godless heathen such as myself. This is the difference between these guys and, say, Owl City.

Photos by Blush Photo; more after the jump.