The warm, clean tone of a Fender strat, the sharp staccato of a mandolin and the heavenly tone of Margo Timmins’ voice assured the crowd of around 1400 at the Des Moines Hoyt Sherman Theater that this was going to be a special night.

The Cowboy Junkies opened Wednesday’s set with a gorgeous version of Neil Young’s “Powderfinger.” The band’s biggest commercial hit was a cover of Lou Reed’s “Sweet Jane,” and they have proven they know how to interpret another artist’s work.

The song eased in with a long, gentle instrumental, and when Margo joined in with “Look out mama/There’s a white boat coming up the river,” cheers of recognition and appreciation erupted.

The mood for the evening had been set. This was going to be an intimate evening with the band, where the audience was not merely watching the show, but emotionally involved in it as well.

Margo was in a cast for a broken ankle, and she used a cane to get on stage. As the show progressed, however, she seemed to forget about the injury and danced and swayed across the stage.

Joining Margo and brothers Michael and Peter (on guitar and drums, respectively) and bassist Alan Anton were two members of the band Over the Rhine on keyboards and backup vocals and frequent Junkies collaborator Jeff Bird on mandolin, harmonica and just about everything else.

Between songs the auditorium fell completely silent while Margo talked with the audience. Unfortunately, what began as a few clever exchanges between the audience and the band eventually became an awkward chorus of “Sweet Jane” and “Misguided Angel.”

Margo promised both songs were coming and suggested that if they played “Sweet Jane” first everyone would get up and leave.

Most of the fans, however, were there to hear more than just a few hits. Songs such as “Ring on the Sill” and “Anniversary Song” were greeted with cheers of endorsement.

A wave of excitement washed over the crowd when Margo announced that the band would be playing two new songs. Like most Cowboy Junkies songs, the new ones were marked by a clever blend of sparse guitar, organ and harmonica parts with reach-out-and-take-you-by-the-hand lyrics from Margo.

Junkies classic “200 More Miles” was prefaced by explaining that in the early days of the band, they often arrived in a town for a show without a place to stay. One audience member took the opportunity to shout, “You can stay at my place!”

The band took it all in stride and rolled through the song. Margo seemed close to tears while recounting the story that inspired “Five Room Love Story,” off the band’s latest independent release, “Rarities, B-sides, and Slow, Sad Waltzes.”

As promised, near the end of the set, the band launched into “Sweet Jane.” They began the number much like the original Velvet Underground version and actually played the entire first verse the same way.

Just as dedicated fans were beginning to enjoy the re-working, the band paused before continuing with their signature, slower version of the song.

At the end of the set the band departed a bit from the sound they had established for the evening, with a fairly heavy version of “Miles From Our Home” and an all-out rocking version of “I Saw Your Shoes.”

For “I Saw Your Shoes,” Michael departed from his clean tone and switched to a thick, grubby distortion. For some time he and Bird traded experimental, feedback-laden solos. Several audience members began looking around, as if to ask, “Who let Sonic Youth in?”

The band sounded just as good when they rocked as when they crooned, and it would have been nice to have heard a little more of the rock earlier in the show.

Before the last song of the set, Margo promised fans that even with her bad leg, if they waited around after the show, she would come out and talk to them.

The encore featured the promised “Misguided Angel” and ended with a fun version of Dylan’s “If You Got Go, Go Now.” Timmins belted out, “If you gotta go/Go now/Or else you gotta stay all night.”

Many audience members wished they could stay all night.