Dave Matthews Band’s Back in Comfort Zone

Dave Matthews can pretty much do anything he wants. As perhaps the current role model for how to build a hugely successful and enduring pop music career, he looks to remain one of the most successful recording and touring artists for years to come, despite the shakiness of the pop landscape that has tripped up so many others.

So he can, say, address his fans in baby-talk-like gibberish between songs if he wants, which he did a couple of times Wednesday at the sold-out Staples Center.

But apparently what the South African-born, Virginia-based musician wants to do most of all, artistically speaking, is simply play with his bandmates and revel in the security that brings him.

It may not be the splashiest of career arcs, but it’s fitting for a man who carries himself with earthy humility (he’s the Tom Hanks of rock, both in manner and appearance) and whose songs often convey muted emotions--heartbreak giving way to acceptance, celebration often taking a back seat to calm consolation. And with violinist Boyd Tinsley, saxophonist Leroi Moore, bassist Stefan Lessard and drummer Carter Beauford, Matthews shows ambitions with the band’s signature tricky rhythms and tempo shifts, but seems loath to disturb the intra-group balance and musical even-temperedness.

That stability was in some doubt last year when the DMB suddenly swerved from what had been a steady (read: predictable) course to work with very hands-on producer Glen Ballard. The resulting album, “Everyday,” was a shift from the ambling shuffles for which the band had been known, with Matthews strapping on an electric guitar for the first time and arrangements reflecting Ballard’s polished pop-rock stamp more than the generally democratic ensemble’s folksy approach.

Wednesday, though, it was clear the band is firmly back on its old path. Several songs previewing the upcoming album, “Busted Stuff,” most of which are actually re-workings of pre-”Everyday” material that was scrapped in favor of the Ballard sessions, fit seamlessly with the bulk of the DMB catalog. The “Everyday” side trip was hardly for naught, though.

The concert highlights were actually the songs that carried residual--if not outright--Ballard influence. Frisky from the opening “Too Much,” Matthews and his associates (augmented by keyboardist Butch Taylor) showed new textures with the upcoming album’s title song, which featured an Al Green-like falsetto soul scat from the leader and an atmospheric, jazzy instrumental interlude.

Next, “You Never Know,” also from the new record, evoked both Peter Gabriel (an increasingly frequent reference point in Matthews’ writing and singing) and R.E.M. with its art-folk-rock tones.

And following a hearty guest appearance from Benin-born world music star Angelique Kidjo on “Satellite,” Matthews once again took up the electric guitar for what proved the most dynamic music of the night--another “Everyday” song, “What You Are.” With Tinsley’s violin and Moore’s sax teamed to build a quasi-mystical slink and intensity, the song echoed Led Zeppelin’s “Kashmir”--a vibe that returned later with the older song “Don’t Drink the Water.”

In some ways, however, these flashes made other moments of the more than two-hour set frustrating. The band’s instrumentation remains distinctive, and the musicians are all fine players, but there’s little actual musical conversation or exploration between them (belying the DMB’s tangential association with the jam-band scene). And the overall tone of contentedness may exude a communal warmth, but it’s a fine line between that and stagnation.

Matthews seems to possess the abilities to be seen as an explorer, like Gabriel. Often, though, it seems he’s more interested in being reliable, like James Taylor.