“It’s been too long,” Protomartyr’s Joe Casey told the crowd at Bowery Ballroom on Thursday night, the first of two shows at the Lower East Side venue. “I don’t know why we haven’t been here in so long…oh wait.” Casey’s mordant humor has long been one of the Detroit band’s signatures, and it was in ample supply Thursday night, even if there wasn’t a lot of stage banter.

Also in ample supply: Kelley Deal, who is once again touring with Protomartyr as an auxiliary member, providing additional guitar, keyboards and otherworldly backing vocals. This is the most tricked-out I’ve ever seen the band; in addition to Deal, who they’ve collaborated with for nearly a decade, this tour has them playing against projections put together by Trevor Naud, who has made many of their videos (and fronts fellow Detroit band Zoos of Berlin), along with Paul Biundo. This was not something I expected to see at a Proto show, but the projections were simple but really complimented the songs, especially given the cinematic nature of the band’s just-released sixth album, Formal Growth in the Desert.

Songs from Formal Growth made up the lion’s share of their setlist, including “Fun in Hi Skool” and “3800 Tigers,” but they touched on the rest of their catalog, too, including “Scum, Rise!,” “Processed by the Boys,” “Windsor Hum,” and an excellent encore trifecta of “Jumbo’s,” “The Devil in His Youth,” and “Why Does it Shake?”

The last time Protomartyr played NYC was 2021 when most of us were still a little trepidatious about going to see or playing shows. Thursday night, however, you could feel the band and the crowd feeding off each other’s energy. (A modest pit roiled throughout the show, engulfing half the floor by the end.) It was a powerhouse performance, with Greg Ahee spinning atmospheric textures from his guitar, drummer Alex Leonard’s unique, precision drumming, bassist Scott Davidson laying down lythe, sometimes foreboding, grooves, and Deal adding those subtle textures. Casey, meanwhile, held court at the front and seems more comfortable behind the mic than I remember. Fantastic show.

Opening were Rider/Horse, the band led by Cory Plump who used to front Austin’s Spray Paint (who toured with Protomartyr a decade ago) and now runs Kingston club Tubby’s. They made a serious racket. Check out photos by Edwina Hay of the whole night, plus Protomartyr’s setlist, below.

Protomartyr play Bowery Ballroom again tonight with Ian Sweet opening.