Matt Smith | For NJ Advance Media

By Bobby Olivier | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Surely this has been reckoned with before, but following the group's magnificent performance Sunday night in Philadelphia it's worth mentioning once more: Florence and The Machine, as a band name, is really quite unfair.

It’s the “Machine” part that feels most like a misnomer. It suggests there to be something mechanized, repetitive or perhaps soulless about what the brilliant British singer Florence Welch and her band have accomplished since their 2009 debut album “Lungs.” Yet that characterization is so sinfully untrue, especially on a concert stage — in this case, Wells Fargo Center in South Philly — where the nine-piece act famous for its alt-pop hits “Dog Days Are Over” and “Shake It Out” burns brightest.

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Matt Smith | For NJ Advance Media

Before a crowd of 15,000 fans, Welch and Co. unfurled an eloquent, sincerely moving and exceedingly human performance that was transportive in a way few concerts are in 2018. It was a 90-minute celebration of life and those who live it enveloped in messages of love and hope, led by an ethereal 32-year-old songstress who spent the night galloping and twirling across the wooden stage not unlike a young girl lost in her own imagination, her translucent gold dress wafting behind.

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This current roadshow promotes "High As Hope," a June LP that has furthered the band's blend of sweeping chamber pop, '80s art rock, and soul and shepherded Welch's deft songwriting into a more experimental, autobiographical format. It's a striking listen from a striking artist, though nothing in FATM's discography does proper justice to the deep satisfaction of its live shows.

Of course, the focus is always on Welch, a frontwoman whose rich contralto belts and quivering head voice are so visceral and captivating that the idea of this band cutting its teeth in the modest clubs of South London a decade ago — and was not being immediately thrust out onto the Coachella and Bonnaroo main stages — is difficult to imagine. My best comparison in terms of sheer magnetism is peak-era Patti Smith, an icon to whom Welch conveniently dedicated a booming song called "Patricia" on the new album.

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Matt Smith | For NJ Advance Media

Before any further exaltation of Welch, however, an ovation should also be directed to the dynamic band that was spread across the stage — eight pieces including two percussionists, a violinist, harpist, organist, pianist, bassist and guitarist — who provided a terrific wall of sound within which Welch was able to properly flourish. It would be sacrilegious for a talent such as hers to be wasted on a group that couldn’t keep up.

Welch shifted between two forms Sunday night; the stoic, spotlighted singer who would stand stock-still at her microphone and wail, and the manic female rock star who would leap and bound over the multi-tiered stage, uniformly paneled with polished two-by-fours, and flail wildly or rotate ever so delicately, like a hippie ballerina.

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Mode No. 1 was most effective on the cresting ballad and perhaps best track on new album "The End Of Love," boosted by an immense three-part harmony in the chorus (assists coming from violinist and pianist). But Mode No. 2 was what I suspect most fans will remember about this show, with Welch even leaving the stage and taking off running full-speed into the general admission pit — the entire arena floor was standing room, no seats — and dancing with fans during "Delilah." All night, a male fan near the back of the pit had been dancing on his own, swinging an enormous golden cape to match Welch's dress, and during this song the singer found him, took his hand, and the two jogged the floor together, both elated. It was such a real, unplanned and joyful moment at a concert of this size.

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Matt Smith | For NJ Advance Media

Though if it were to happen at any show, let it be this one, where a community was quickly built among supporters; Welch instructed fans throughout the performance to hold hands and embrace each other, to “tell look a stranger in the eyes and tell them you love them.” And people actually did, interlocking fingers held high and swaying during “South London Forever.”

Addressing the country’s current divisive state, Welch said “my heart hurts a lot at the moment for so many reasons. … I believe in love and please do not give up hope. Don’t think it won’t make a difference. Hope is an action and it will make a difference. A revolution in consciousness begins with individuals.”

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Later, during “Dog Days,” Welch made another request, as she did at her 2016 Camden concert, for everyone to put their smartphones away for a song, and again, everyone appeared to acquiesce. Instead, 30,000 hands were raised skyward and on Welch’s command, the arena jumped in time.

The venue shook. No one recorded it. And my god, what a moment it was.

If you are at all disillusioned with popular music, for whatever reason, I beseech you: go see Florence and The Machine perform. You will have your faith in the titanic power of this art form restored.

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Matt Smith | For NJ Advance Media

Florence and The Machine's setlist

Oct. 14, 2018 — Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia

"June"

"Hunger"

"Between Two Lungs"

"Only If for a Night"

"Queen of Peace"

"South London Forever"

"Patricia"

"Dog Days Are Over"

"100 Years"

"Ship to Wreck"

"The End of Love"

"Cosmic Love"

"Delilah"

"What Kind of Man"

Encore:

"Big God"

"Shake It Out"

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Bobby Olivier may be reached at bolivier@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @BobbyOlivier and Facebook. Find NJ.com on Facebook.