The most unique thing about Friday night’s Lifehouse show was the venue. Surrounded by back-lit globes and historic space vessels in a cavernous, warehouse-like chamber aboard the newly refurbished USS Intrepid, this understated AOR-radio band threatened to be upstaged by its surroundings.

Luckily, between the tepid sing-along singles and painfully earnest near-acoustic ballads, they occasionally let some surprising influences shine through, filling the makeshift auditorium with lengthy instrumental passages and washes of reverb-soaked distortion. These moments, accompanied by banging heads and stage acrobatics, showcased Lifehouse at their most absorbing—and demonstrated a rawer, jam-influenced side of their sound that’s rarely heard on their overproduced studio albums.

The audience knew the score. Their choruses were sometimes as loud as those of frontman Jason Wade, whose laid-back demeanor and friendly patter make him resemble Charlie Pace from Lost’s fictional band, DriveShaft. Throngs of adoring fans lined the front of the stage with cell phone cameras, adding their own constant camera-flash lightshow. The feel of the show was steadfastly civil and polite, a rock gig devoid of all negative power or edginess.

The squeaky-clean arpeggios and lovey-dovey lyrics crooned with closed eyes sparked a passion in the audience that seemed largely missing from the band’s own staid presence. It was only when they cranked up the distortion and stepped away from the mics that they really got invested, whipping up the audience into near-frenzy before soothing them back down to that steady, civil hum. It makes this reviewer wonder what kind of band Lifehouse could be if they abandoned the firewall and gave into that wilder, more aggressive sound. Could they bring the rock if they wanted to?

But then, they don’t claim to aspire to that, and their many fans like things just fine the way they are. After four chart-topping studio albums and hundreds of successful radio-sponsored shows, you can’t blame Lifehouse for resting on their laurels.

Tracks to try: “Broken” (Who We Are, 2007), “Blind” (Lifehouse, 2005)