By: Jon Bream

The Wallflowers always seemed an apt moniker for the Grammy-winning rock band fronted by Jakob Dylan. Despite making impressive mainstream-rock albums, the Los Angeles band, like its leader, always seemed a bit reserved onstage.

Not on Friday night at the sold-out Historic Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis. Musically, the Wallflowers were more assertive, redefining their themselves as the Wall of Sound, moving the guitars, instead of the organ, up front. Moreover, Dylan, though he sang with his eyes closed, was a more emotional singer and a more talkative if sardonic frontman.

He's clearly not comfortable being a rock star. He certainly heard all the girlish screams during his 75-minute performance Friday at the Orpheum. But he harked back to the time he was 12, a true fan attending the concert of one of his heroes, Elvis Costello, at the Orpheum. Dylan, who turns 31 next month, tried to explain this to a 12-year-old sitting in the front row on Friday. "What Fred Durst [Limp Bizkit's singer] might be to you," Dylan told the young fan, "Elvis Costello was to us."

Call Dylan cynical, call him honest, just don't call him Bob's son. He addressed that issue Friday -- ironically in a theater his father owned for a while in the '70s and '80s. Much has been made in the media about the Wallflowers' new CD, "Breach," on which the usually vague songwriter becomes more direct and personal. He said people make it seem as if he's "gone through some kind of emotional train wreck. This next song isn't half as personal you might imagine -- or maybe more." He tore into "Hand Me Down," his most passionate vocal of the night, about dealing with parental expectations.

While "Breach" might have led fans to expect more personal lyrics, the record didn't suggest how the Wallflowers would recast their sound. With guest Ben Peeler (formerly of the Mavericks) on various lap steel guitars, there was a fuller sound, marked by a newfound guitar splendor, with Michael Ward's leads and rhythms defining most songs. (His riffing turned the hit "Three Marlenas" into a Lou Reed-like rocker.) Rami Jaffee's organs, which used to fuel the Wallflowers' sound, dominated only on "One Headlight," one of the band's biggest hits and the first song on which Dylan -- any Dylan, for that matter -- has been heard belting.

Still, the younger Dylan remains a limited singer, and his band, though improved, could pursue more dynamics in its sound. But at least these once-shy guys have found a way to have more fun onstage, whether it be Dylan goading the laid-back fans for being "comfy" ("can we get you a blanky? ... Can't find the clicker?") or doing goofy covers (Blur) along with the expected ones (David Bowie, the Who).