With the audience in a quiet drone of conversation, Bob Mould took to the stage in a somber fashion.

“Don’t let me interrupt your conversation,” Mould said just before he plugged in his 12-string guitar.

Without another word, Mould began his performance at the Maintenance Shop on Monday as the room sat still and listened.

His bare-bones performance gave a chance for people to listen and see his songwriting skills, which have undergone conscious evolution during the years.

Casting out the typical sit-down acoustic method of performance, Mould stood towering above the audience, something that would later give him more freedom on the stage.

The first half of his set was characterized by his older solo works, from “Black Sheet Rain” and “Workbook” in the years before Sugar to “The Last Pony and Dog Show,” his last effort with a backing band.

At times angst-ridden and somewhat angry, and at other times melancholy and cathartic, to even a bit playful, Mould ran the M-Shop crowd through a gauntlet of emotions and themes that have characterized his style from his earliest days in Hsker D.

Moving quickly from song to song, Mould hardly gave the audience enough time to applaud after a song — however, he did not alienate his fans.

At one point, Mould did stop briefly to express concern about the Washington-area sniper, especially since the sniper had just relocated to the Beltway area.

In another moment, Mould stopped to talk about former ISU wrestler Cael Sanderson, and how he feels empathetic to anyone who has to face off against Sanderson, since they know that it’d be easier to give a bye and save the embarrassment of a loss.

The latter half of Mould’s set was characterized by works from his new albums on Granary Music, the live album “Live Dog 98” and a few non-acoustic songs from “Module.”

With the newer material, Mould was able to physically express what the music reflected. Wrought with emotional intensity, Mould began to pace around the stage.

Once he switched to an electric guitar, Mould expanded his movements.

While his material from “Modulations” was more forced than the organic feel of his other solo works, the intentions behind it still stand as an artist working toward progression.

Opening for Mould was Jason Narducy, a Chicago artist with the band Verbow. His portion of the night was a rather broad contrast to Mould’s straightforward approach.

Even though Narducy struggled with tuning issues through most of his set, he still persevered. Playing songs he had written with Verbow and by himself, Narducy created a soundscape littered with emotion, humor and politics.

“Just act like it’s an encore, and I’m doing really well,” said Narducy before he ran to grab a different guitar.