AJR performs at Chase Center in San Francisco on April 29, 2024. Steve Carlson/STAFF.

SAN FRANCISCO — AJR concerts are experiences apart from the music, and the brotherly pop trio, which wouldn’t want it any other way, brought a spectacle, full of love and lots of dancing to Chase Center on Monday.

Adam, Jack and Ryan Met jumped right into “Maybe Man,” the title track of their latest album and their current tour. The stage was filled with performers dressed just like Jack Met, but with their backs turned to the audience so you could never quite tell who was the real one. For “I’m A Mess,” the band members walked along a treadmill as the screens showed images to make it look as though they were moving through a scene. This set design had bifurcated screens that often separated and raised or lowered based on what was showing. At one point, Jack was atop one of the lower screens and looked liked he was skiing, bicycling and even driving a car—in a callback to past tours.

The set featured a combination of past hits and new songs; 20 in all over roughly 90 minutes. Half came from The Maybe Man, while the other 10 were split between 2019’s Neotheater and 2017’sThe Click. While each album is decidedly different, both in subject material and sound, AJR did a good job of blending the albums together. One highlight was a mid-set mashup of all three versions of “Turning Out,” which Ryan Met performed solo at a piano. There was also a fan-created YouTube remix of the band’s new song “I Won’t” over the beat and melody of “Birthday Party.”

AJR performs at Chase Center in San Francisco on April 29, 2024.

AJR spent the weeks leading up to the tour teasing planned surprises on social media, with each city getting something different. A little over halfway through the performance at Chase Center, the band climbed all the way to the third level of seats, toward the back of the room, to play fan-favorites “World’s Smallest Violin” and “Steve’s Going to London,” both of which have bridges that encourage fan involvement. The crowd didn’t disappoint.

While surrounded by fans, either singing or sticking their phones at the brothers, AJR, a tour drummer and trumpeter played in a spotlight beam. They even brought a couple of “fans” (from their entourage), who provided percussion by striking the railing with drumsticks.

AJR loves fan involvement and another, unplanned highlight came when one attendee, dressed like Deadpool, threw his mask up on stage. It made its way to Ryan Met, who trie it on, before reporting that, “It smells like I died in a swimming pool.”

A recurring theme in the band’s shows over the years has been the “How We Made…” segment, where they deconstruct songs to their various parts. Toward the latter third of the show, the band did this with Neotheater favorite “Way Less Sad,” with Ryan Met taking the lead. He started by by explaining how the trio elected the kick drum it wanted to use, to the sound of a plate being set on a restaurant table. AJR actually had restaurant scene set up on stage. The layers continued to pile on, even including home videos playing on a screens behind the band, before each part of the song came together.

Then, AJR broke into “Way Less Sad.”

Dean Lewis performs at Chase Center in San Francisco on April 29, 2024.

After a number of the hits from The Maybe Man, the night took a decidedly melancholy turn as the brothers played an abbreviated version of “God Is Really Real,” about the sudden passing of their father in 2023. Jack then spoke about how their father always told them to be the biggest version of themselves and not to let anyone make them feel small.

As they closed out the show with a mashup of “2085” and “Weak,” a giant version of Jack’s head, swiveling an moving its eyes, filled the stage.

Singer-songwriter Dean Lewis opened the concert, backed by a couple of musicians. He spent most of his set on piano-led ballads from his two ballad, such a “Half A Man” and the somber “How Do I Say Goodbye.” Lewis also took on a couple of covers, including Taylor Swift’s “Cruel Summer,” which garnered less enthusiasm than one might have expected, and the Goo Goo Dolls’ “Iris,” which brought a singalong.

Follow writer Piper Westrom at Twitter.com/plwestrom. Follow photographer Steve Carlson at Instagram.com/SteveCarlsonSF and Twitter.com/SteveCarlsonSF.