Long before the days of Sheryl Crow, Liz Phair and Jewel, the Indigo Girls were writing lyrics and playing their guitars for anyone who would listen. Now, everyone is listening to the folk-rock duo.

Touring in support of their latest release, “Shaming of the Sun,” the Indigo Girls performed in Stephens Auditorium Thursday night for a sold-out show.

The girls took the stage in a pure and simplistic way — Amy Ray in her jeans and Emily Saliers wearing her “Rage Against the Machine” t-shirt and a hat — which made them seem tangible to the audience.

However, the simplicity of the stage setup and the lack of elaborate costumes were by no means a reflection of the duo’s music.

With the help of drummer Jerry Morano and Sara Lee on bass, piano and vocals, the concert was a variation between an all-out rock jam to laid-back folk ballads as the Girls moved easily between the two extremes without taking a break or skipping a beat.

About halfway into the show, there was a moment during which Ray played so hard and sang with such emotion that it was amazing her fingers and lungs weren’t bleeding. After five minutes of this pure performance, she was able to leap directly into another song with the same driving force.

Ray and Saliers harmonized instinctively as they sang about freedom, invasion of privacy, intolerance and illegal immigration. However, their lyrics were not the only thing that captivated the audience.

Although the slower songs were sometimes musically dull and monotonous, the Girls sparked life into the crowd with Saliers’ piano string plucking on “Cut It Out” and their combination of the banjo and mandolin on “Get Out The Map.”

The Girls also got the audience into a massive frenzy with a hardcore sound of “Shame On You,” which was definitely not the version played on Top 40 stations.

The audience constantly kept changing moods between “Hey Kind Friend,” “Everything In Its Own Time,” “Cara Mia” and “Scooter Boys.” But the Indigo Girls did not stop with their latest release as they played favorites from “1200 Curfews,” “Swamp Ophelia” and “Rites of Passage.”

But before the Indigo Girls took the stage with their soulful lyrics and folk picking, the two person act of Vanda Sheppard and Val McCalab had the stage.

Sheppard’s lyrics of love, life and loss could easily be likened to the music of Sarah McLachlan and Crow. While playing the acoustic and electric guitars and keyboards, she filled the auditorium with her vocal variations. From a low bass to a high soprano, Sheppard seemed to be able to do it all and make it look easy while McCalab kept the harmony.

Towards the end of Sheppard’s set, she invited Saliers to come on stage. This was by far the most captivating performance that Sheppard gave during the night. The vocal harmonies were indescribable, and they seemed to touch the very core of almost everyone in the audience.

Although Vanda Sheppard and the Indigo Girls put on exceptional performances separately, it was the end of the show where the two acts combined with the addition of Gabe Allison on harmonica that the show had the most life and ingenuity.

As part of their final songs, the Indigo Girls played one of their first hits — “Crazy Game.” Ray and Saliers commented at their amazement that the audience still remembered their 1985 hit.

The last song of the evening was “Closer To Fine.” From the front row to the back of the balcony, everyone was on their feet dancing to the sounds of pure folk-rock.