THE tone of Luka Bloom’s show at BB King’s last Saturday was a more upbeat affair. It was a warm performance peppered with Bloom’s trademark sense of humor.

“I know Innocence is a bizarre title for a new album from a guy who is 50,” he exclaimed in front of the sold-out crowd. “I’ve been reflecting on holding onto your innocence and everything else that’s important to hold onto at this age. Like hair and teeth.”

He opened the set with “I Am Not at War With Anyone,” a controversial antiwar song from Innocence that was released around the time the Irish were protesting the use of Shannon Airport by the U.S. military at the start of the Iraq war. The song was met with warm applause. “I don’t get many f***in’ war mongers to my shows,” he replied.

Bloom has been on one of the longest world tours of his career in support of Innocence, his most engaging work to date. He told a funny story about how a Swiss promoter billed him as the Irish Bob Dylan. “Some people will say anything to sell tickets,” he joked as he launched into Dylan’s “To Make You Feel My Love” from Bloom’s excellent covers album of a few years ago, Keeper of the Flame.

Bloom was unplugged and seated for the entire set, which was a bit of a departure from the more spirited live shows of his past. His toned down performance might have been the onset of middle age or the result of some throat problems and carpal tunnel syndrome that have plagued the performer in recent years.

The reinvention of style was something heavy on his mind when he sat down with the Irish Voice on the eve of this tour and told his fans to expect a different performer. Based on the enthusiastic crowd reaction, his new laid-back demeanor has not diminished his popularity.

He threw some surprises in the set, including a new tune, “See You Soon.” He followed that with a rousing cover of the Cure’s “Without You.” Bloom described it as the perfect pop song that he sometimes sings “with my hair piled up, black clothes and makeup on in my hacienda in the bogs of Kildare,” a reference to the Cure’s goth persona.

He also turned in a stellar performance of “City of Chicago,” a song he wrote in 1984 that has been covered by half of the trad players in Ireland, “including my brother, Christy Bloom,” he said of his brother Christy Moore’s chart topping success with the song.

Goose bumps spread throughout the room as he encouraged the crowd to sing along with him on “Sonny Sailor Boy,” a classic from his classic album Turf. “That was a beautiful, magic moment,” he said. “I felt like I was in an Enya video, with the mist creeping up me arse.”

While Bloom was somewhat critical of the movement of the Irish of singling themselves out in the battle of immigration as being special during a recent interview with the Irish Voice, he lent his support to immigrants as he introduced the Middle Eastern ditty “No Matter Where You Go, There You Are,” a song about a Moroccan friend who recently relocated to Galway.

“The Irish are really good about having people feel sorry about them, and we rely on people like you to buy this up,” he joked. “Me, I’d rather stand with the Mexicans instead. We have our own immigration going on in Ireland at the moment and it is a beautiful thing. There are parts of Ireland where the gene pool is way too small.”

Bloom closed his set with LL Cool J’s “I Need Love,” before dipping into his back catalog for a spirited “Love Is a Monsoon” and “You Couldn’t Have Come at a Better Time.”

If you missed this show, you can still catch Bloom if you don’t mind a little ride. Trust me, the man is worth it! He will play Morristown’s Bickford Theater on Wednesday, May 17 (973-971-3706) before heading to Philadelphia’s famed World Café Studios (www.worldcafelive.com).