Attending The Hold Steady concert at The Square Room in Market Square on Monday was surprising in a few ways.

Anybody who has heard the Brooklyn-based rock band probably thinks of lead singer Craig Finn’s voice as something oozing of manliness, evoking this feeling of a resigned, tortured city guy who has been through a few too many parties, hangovers and heartbreaks. His bass voice from the CDs, in the mind’s eye, reminds of one of those singers who spurts out the lines at concerts seemingly out of obligation, never moving and never looking at anything but the ground.

Then somebody sees Finn jump up on stage at a concert, and he looks about the least stereotypical “rock ‘n’ roll” of anybody in his band. Wearing just a solid-colored shirt and dress pants, he bounced around the stage as if he was not going to get paid in full for the gig unless everyone in the crowd was completely 100-percent engaged with the experience.

Finn had this excited, nervous energy coursing through his veins the entire night. His eyes, wide and lit-up behind his glasses, begged the audience to join in. He grinned broadly, seemingly without ceasing throughout the roughly two-hour set. Often he would sing a line of a verse then mouth it away from the microphone right after, hurriedly and to no one in particular.

On the very first song of the band’s set list, “The Sweet Part of the City” — also the first song of the band’s latest album “Heaven is Whenever” — Finn started smiling to himself as if he was answering a question that everyone already knew the answer to.

“The Sweet Part of the City” was an apt opening for many reasons. Firstly (and this is probably true for a lot of The Hold Steady venues), but the concert was taking place in “the sweet part of the city.” As the song tells us, that’s “the part with the bars and restaurants.” That’s Market Square and South Gay Street to college kids. (Really, are any college kids going to answer that question with “The Strip”? Didn’t think so.)

Plus, what makes “The Sweet Part of the City” a great way to open the band’s latest album makes it a great way to open the concert. The song ends with Finn admitting that they got so bored that they decided to start a band. “We’d like to play for you,” he says.

As the night went on, it became more and more clear just why The Hold Steady is such an enjoyable band for a concert. They have so many songs that encourage audience participation. Whether it’s wailing during “Chips Ahoy” or “Stay Positive” or yelling out “double whiskey, Coke, no ice” during “Constructive Summer,” there were plenty of moments for the audience to feel like they were part of the experience. Perhaps the best opportunity for this was during the audience shoutbacks in “Constructive Summer” of “this summer” and later “get hammered.”

Plus The Hold Steady even offered us Tennessee folk some chances at yelling for our state. When Finn sputtered out, “she always claimed that she was from Tennessee,” a state-pride cheer went up from the crowd. And, of course, the band played its 2008 hit, “Sequestered in Memphis.”

But it was not all shouting and blaring music. The Hold Steady worked in its more mellow sounds as well. It was odd because the set list did not really follow any rhyme or reason for this. There was no “slow” set of songs, followed by a “loud” set of songs, which was the philosophy The Whigs singer followed before The Hold Steady took the stage. Instead, The Hold Steady would just throw in meandering ballads like “Lord, I’m Discouraged” and “First Night” in between the rocking bar songs they’re known for. Then again, this also follows the way the band does its albums.

Perhaps the funniest part of the experience were Finn’s introductions to a few of the songs. He claimed that it’s obvious girls have all the power to lead into “You Can Make Him Like You.” Later he said his father gave him some important advice for life: guys like looks, but, as the song goes, “Girls Like Status.”

The Hold Steady worked in much of its new material — playing at least five of the 10 new songs — but it also made sure to play all of its hits that long-time fans would enjoy.

Long story short, even though Finn looks more like someone’s dad than a man that’s ready to party, he has all the makings of an exquisite showman. And The Hold Steady have all the makings of an excellent concert.