At some point in the future, 2024 might come to be known as Sarah Jarosz’s pop ’n’ roll period.

It began with the January release of Polaroid Lovers and continues on the tour of the same name, which pulled into Cincinnati’s Memorial Hall OTR April 26 for a sold-out gig that found Jarosz and her three-piece band culling 10 of the evening’s 19 selections from the LP.

Opening act Le Ren thus carried most of the roots on this evening, turning in a well-received opening set accompanied by lap-steel or hollow-bodied electric guitar and singing songs by George Jones (“The Day I Lose My Mind”), Townes Van Zandt (“Colorado Girl”) and her own compositions, which revealed the Canadian to be an acolyte of Joni Mitchell in the lyrics and singing department if not in the guitar-playing sphere. Her 30-minute performance set the table for Jarosz, bassist Daniel Kimbro, drummer Fred Eltringham and guitarist/harmony vocalist Seth Taylor and their 90 minutes of Jarosz present and past.

Jarosz kicked off the show with four Polaroid cuts that established the theme of the evening. Kimbro provided an early highlight with an exquisite electric-bass solo on “The Way it is Now.” The frontwoman played octave mandolin almost exclusively; however, she abandoned all instruments to show off her powerful voice on a late-show cover of Massive Attack’s “Teardrop” and played banjo only once, on “Green Lights.” 

“Even Beyoncé’s doing it,” Jarosz said of the five-stringer. “I’m here for it.” 

Jarosz’s solo-acoustic rendering of “Jacqueline” and a trio rendition of “Morning” were sweet, while Eltringham used his hands and/or brushes to color the stunning country ballad “Days Can Turn Around”—a Polaroid highlight.

Nods to the back catalog, including “Maggie,” on which Taylor handled the Herculean task of playing John Leventhal’s acoustic solos on electric guitar with aplomb; “Build Me up from Bones;” and Jarosz’s famous cover of Bob Dylan’s “Ring Them Bells” reinforced the fact.