I walked in to The Decemberists concert at the Uptown Theater Wednesday night as a reporter and a somewhat objective critic. In the name of full disclosure, I am a pretty big fan of the Portland-based literary folk rockers. But by the time it was over, I ended up being a camel for approximately three minutes. I'll explain later.

As for the show itself, it was over two hours and two sets that equally showed off material new and old with equal strengths in execution and playfulness.

In touring to support their prog-rock magnum opus "The Hazards of Love," the group entered the stage to play the album's 17 tracks, which cover ground as varied as acoustic serenades, anthemic rockers, Black Sabbath stomp and alt-country, from start to finish. It was a smart move. Given the album's exercise in musical theater and narrative structure with a cast of characters, they would sound a bit out of place in the set without the whole. But it didn't keep the crowd from cheering especially louder on sing-alongs like "The Wanting Comes in Waves" or "The Rake Song," where most band members wielded mallets to band toms set up around the stage to rumbling results.

With the exception of a small technical glitch with one of frontman Colin Meloy's guitars before "Margaret in Captivity," the execution was flawless. The swift instrument changes was near choreography and in the spirit of theatrics, The Decemberists were joined by Becky Stark of Lavender Diamond and Shara Worden of My Brightest Diamond in full costume and character. Stark, draped in white in near constant sway, brougnt the innocence and whimsy. Worden, with smoky and powerful warhorse vocals, complemented with twitchy dancing and enough ferocity to send the crowd into a frenzy.

At the album's conclusion, Meloy said they would take a short break and come back for another set. It was here that The Decemberists that these fans are used to emerged, playing older material like the catchy crowd favorites "Billy Liar," "We Both Go Down Together" and "O Valencia." It also gave Meloy a chance to step away from his "Hazards" character, joking with the Missouri crowd about playing "Oceanside" for people who hadn't seen the ocean, breaking up the crowd into sections for vocal arrangements and letting fans hear the self-proclaimed worst song Meloy's ever written in "Dracula's Bride."

They threw the audience something a bit unexpected by covering Heart's "Crazy On You," giving Stark and Worden a chance to trade verses and further show off their vocal prowess.

For a three-song encore, Meloy returned for an acoustic version of "Red Right Ankle," where he flubbed a line only to receive redeeming applause. They closed with "A Cautionary Tale," where half of the band roamed the Uptown's floor banging drums, tamborines and cymbals. It gave Meloy the opportunity to stage an impromptu version of "Lawrence of Arabia," where he asked the audience to do everything from fan sultans to allow people to mount them like horses or camels. As it turned out, guitarist Chris Funk tapped me to be one of those camels that would lead a charge against the "British" side of the crowd that ended in a heaping pile of fans.

It seemed like a pile of fans was what was primarily in attendance this evening, willful puppets for Meloy and Co.'s musical and theatrical ambitions as they play for the audience, at the audience, with the audience. I didn't need to be a camel to know that I saw one of the best shows I've seen all year.

Opening act: It's also worth mentioning that fellow Portland band Blind Pilot put an impressive show of their own. A largely acoustic sextet with accents of trumpet, xylophone, a ukulele/banjo player and a frontman that could be John C. Reilly's stunt double, they earned plenty of fans with their smart and charming mix of rootsy folk and bluegrass that occasionally sounded like Ryan Adams, Iron and Wine or Matt Costa. It was mellow to the point where you could hear people shushing others to be quiet, but still good stuff.