Jenny Lewis with the Sadies - Wexner Center, 6-6

Before Jenny Lewis played the Black Box on the Mershon stage at the Wexner Center on Saturday, the venue screened Welcome to Van Nuys, a documentary about the making of Lewis’s most recent album, Acid Tongue. Much of the doc focused on guests who contributed to a track or two. There was Elvis Costello lending his scruffy vocals to “Carpetbaggers,” M. Ward playing some moody guitar on “Pretty Bird” and actress/musician Zooey Deschanel—who, with Ward, make up 2008 breakout duo She & Him—singing all sorts of oohs and ahs. There were some fun fly-on-the-studio-wall moments, but it also conveyed the feeling that these big names were an essential part of the songs.

The live show proved that isn’t the case at all. Lewis doesn’t need any help. She certainly has a terrific, talented backing band, but her shockingly strong voice carried the show. In fact, I’d take Lewis any day over Deschanel. Even when she’s singing in a low whisper, this redhead’s got soul.

The former child actress also has charisma to spare, hopping back and forth between playful dork (wearing her own shirt) and sensual diva (flaunting her curves). The crowd was putty in her hands, especially drooling fanboys, whose occasional between-song shout-outs (“You’re amazing!”; “How do you do that?!”) were some of the few low points.

Lewis got her start in indie-pop act Rilo Kiley, but her solo projects have found her pursuing a much rootsier vibe that, to my ears, fits her voice and songwriting style more comfortably. When the band left the stage to allow her to tackle some songs on her own, Lewis played an acoustic version of the Rilo Kiley tune “Silver Lining,” a song she said she has recently “reclaimed,” and it’s all the more gorgeous for it. Most of the songs came from Acid Tongue and Rabbit Fur Coat, the 2006 album Lewis put out with the Watson twins. Drummer Barbara Gruska and singer/guitarist Danielle Haim were more than capable of handling the country-style Watson harmonies and backing vocals from Acid, sounding especially nice on the gospel-tinged “Trying My Best to Love You.” And Lewis’s beau, guitarist and oft-songwriting collaborator Jonathan Rice, played the Costello role just fine on “Carpetbaggers.”

I’m not sure why the band chose to have its sound tech onstage during the entire performance—tuning guitars, scribbling things and looking awkward—but that was the only distracting element. The band buoyed Lewis superbly, from the loud, stompy blues of “The Next Messiah” to the backing choir effect on “Acid Tongue.” Columbus also got a taste of two new songs. “Just Like Zeus” was “kinda” about Lindsay Lohan (“Outside of Silver Lake, I am the biggest fake”), and “Big Wave” was the most epic rocker of the night. Both got me excited for what Lewis has in store for the next record, with or without high-profile guest spots.

Openers the Sadies from Toronto were impressive, too, though not quite as much as they were a few weeks ago playing with John Doe at the Rumba Cafe. While the Wex is a great place to have crystal-clear sound and a mostly quiet crowd, some bands just look and sound more at home on a cramped stage in a sweaty, crowded bar. Brothers Dallas and Travis Good’s virtuosic guitar skills still blew me away, especially Travis’s lightning-fast licks and liberal use of tremolo, which gave even his most country licks Dick Dale surf-rock overtones. His throaty singing was cool, too, but Dallas’s delicious baritone trumped it on “Anna Leigh” and “The Story’s Often Told.” In general, though, the Sadies let the guitars do the talking, throwing in lots of short-and-sweet instrumentals and approaching it all with ferocity.

It was the Sadies’ last night on this tour, and they were very gracious, thankful dudes. Hopefully next time they come through town it’ll be in a setting a little less stale.

mp3: Jenny Lewis - Silver Lining (solo live 4-13-09)