If Travis’ show at Webster Hall seemed like more of an event than merely another night of live music, it is perhaps with good reason. As Fran Healy explained during the Scottish band’s set spanning the entirety of their career, raising families had kept them from traveling to this part of the world for awhile. It was evident that their fans, many of whom greeted the group in front of the club when they pulled up in a British cab from A Salt and Battery, had missed the band, as they packed the venerable village venue to capacity.

I personally hadn’t seen the band play live since they knocked my socks off opening for Oasis some 13 years ago, when they were a more ragged live act than the band that led off their show with “Mother” tonight. Indeed, as evidenced by the subsequent rendition of “Sing” from their breakthrough The Man Who album, these days the band more capably conveys the nuances of its recordings. As such, the bittersweet reveries of “Pipe Dreams” were as stirring as the sonic escalations of a song like “Moving” from the band’s latest release, Where You Stand. And each time one thought that the band couldn’t best itself, they found room to go to another haughty level. With it ringing guitars, “Love Will Come Through” was spellbinding, while the sweep of “Re-Offender” was absolutely sublime.

Naturally, the band played a good portion of Where You Stand, and the strength of that record was exposed, with cuts like “Warning Sign” and “Reminder” on par with anything else on the setlist. The latter, in particular, possessed that special mix of pop hooks and melancholy undercurrents for which Healy has a knack; he explained that the song was meant as a message to his kids for when he’s not around. Of course, the older cuts were appreciated, especially the trio of The Man Who tracks that closed the set proper:  “Slide Show,” “Blue Flashing Light,” and “Turn,” which was positively majestic.

But one good turn deserves another, and Travis returned for an encore that included a couple songs from the band’s debut, Good Feeling, as well as an acoustic run through “Flowers in the Window.” But it was “Why Does It Always Rain on Me?” that brought down the house. Travis took advantage of the crowd’s fervor to film a video for “Mother,” ending the show the way they began just as strongly.