By Paul Robicheau

Seasoned fans were most likely to appreciate My Morning Jacket’s generous — if imperfect — sprawl.

Patrick Hallahan and Jim James of My Morning Jacket at MGM. Photo: Paul Robicheau

Nobody knows quite what they’ll get from My Morning Jacket on a given night. Sure, there’ll be some mountain-scaling vocals from Jim James, mane-wagging dual guitar flights and pounding drums, elements that keep the Kentucky rockers in the conversation around today’s most exhilarating live acts. But, for each show, the group also changes up its selection of stylistically schizophrenic songs from all 10 of its albums.

That means some of My Morning Jacket’s biggest songs get skipped. And on a rainy Monday at MGM Music Hall at Fenway, seasoned fans well versed in that catalog were probably more patient and satisfied with the group’s 23-song, near-three-hour offering than passing fans.

The band began modestly with “Lowdown” and “The Way That He Sings” (both from its 2001 second album At Dawn) before guitarist James and bassist Tom Blankenship faced off with stick-raising drummer Patrick Hallahan for a demonstrative jam amid blasting backlights. “Anyway” added a more straightforward rocker from 2005 breakthrough Z. The group’s been toasting the 20th anniversary of that celestial record, which reflected the influence of Pink Floyd more than Crazy Horse, by playing it in its entirety for a handful of dates, though not in Boston.

Carl Broemel of My Morning Jacket at MGM. Photo: Paul Robicheau

At MGM, My Morning Jacket dug into more obscure tracks through the set. “War Begun,” from the band’s 1999 alt-countryish debut The Tennessee Fire, began in a mellow mode that built into neo-psychedelic guitar tradeoffs before a segue into the dreamy “I Will Sing You Songs,” which slowly rewound the dynamic cycle into woodsy grit. More deep tracks surfaced in the darkly riffed “Wasted,” the punchy “Big Decisions” (apparently for only the third time since 2015), and the stutter-stepping “Aluminum Park,” where James sang “Got no lack of frustration, got no lack of disease, but c’mon, it’s a big, big world now, you got to like what you see.”

But the singer’s positive outlook brightened to a whole other plane in four songs from the band’s new album Is, a smooth, succinct, and commercially slanted effort inspired by the singer’s self-love recovery from alcoholism and depression. The tone was set early with the light, breezy soul tune “I Can Hear Your Love,” before its songs cut in and out of old favorites for stark transitions that disrupted any flow to the set. The soaring “I’m Amazed” gave way to new relationship tune “Lemme Know” (a perky glide one could almost snap fingers to), which was followed by the slinky, falsetto-driven groove of the go-to “Holdin’ on to Black Metal” (topped by its recorded children’s chorus), only to see that momentum curbed by the new keyboard-sprinkled ballad “Time Waited.”

Jim James of My Morning Jacket at MGM. Photo: Paul Robicheau

Granted, My Morning Jacket pulled out some popular nuggets to balance the set. A piano interlude from Bo Koster led into “Golden,” James playing acoustic guitar over Hallahan’s soft shuffle and Broemel’s aching steel guitar under colored spotlights. And “Spring (Among the Living)” broadened the set with a brush of prog-rock, starting with liquid chords over a funky drum chop and dipping into an ad-libbed moment where James sang of “Singing in the rain in beautiful Boston.”

His mic seemed slightly off in the night’s somewhat rough sound mix when he first broke into the newer “Love Love Love,” but its mantra-like pulse blossomed to an undeniable peak, fueled by guitars as the characters LOVE! were spelled across five lighting blocks behind the band. And you can’t go wrong with a My Morning Jacket set that ends with the reliable Southern rock-styled bang of “One Big Holiday,” its coiled guitar harmonies erupting into power chords over a massive beat before slipping into guitar harmonics and cymbal taps until a final flourish.

But again, oh why (even though it’s smart to vary dynamics) did the band kill the buzz left by “One Big Holiday” to begin a four-song encore with James on acoustic guitar for an awkward, love-struck stroll through little-known rarity “Librarian.”

Nonetheless, for the finale, James put his guitars aside to roam the stage and unleash ecstatic howls in the electro-R&B “Wordless Chorus,” the group’s most streamed hit. A pyramid of spotlights formed under a mirror ball as the singer turned into the pied piper, rewarding those who stayed despite the meandering journey, which had already paid off for seasoned fans who could appreciate My Morning Jacket’s generous — if imperfect — sprawl.

Paul Robicheau served more than 20 years as contributing editor for music at the Improper Bostonian in addition to writing and photography for The Boston Globe, Rolling Stone, and many other publications. He was also the founding arts editor of Boston Metro.