Three songs into the opening concert of his “What Matters Most” tour at the Garde Arts Center last night, an admittedly anxious Ben Folds asked a crew member for a bit of liquid fortifier. When Folds was presented with a water glass full of tequila, he held it up so the crowd could appreciate the perhaps overly generous serving, then said, “If I drink all of this, ask for your money back!”

Let it be reported that, 100 minutes and 18 songs (and an estimable amount of tequila) later, not one person in the mostly full theater would have dreamed of asking for a refund.

Folds and his superb five-piece backing band delivered an exhilarating set that presented the bulk of the recently released “What Matters Most” album, plenty of popular selections from his 2001 “Rockin’ the Suburbs” album, and a choice few favorites from the rest of the pianist/vocalist/songwriter’s sophisticated alt-pop catalog. The depth and textures of the ensemble and arrangements — with glistening harmonies from cellist Paul Wright and guitarist Tim Harrington — brought fresh color and dimension to the artist’s musical visions.

In a way, it was like watching and listening as a once-precocious (but gleefully self-aware) child prodigy walked across the stage to get his advanced degree from Brian Wilson University. Summa cum laude.

Folds, now 56, is indeed a gifted and distinctive songwriter whose perspective and real-time exposure to music across the decades means he’s sopped up all sorts of disparate influences in refining his own sound. His melodic and structural acumen recalls Burt Bacharach or Jimmy Webb, and a sense of narrative/lyrical irony, which can be almost cruelly funny and simultaneously vulnerable, is as sharp as the work of Randy Newman and Fountains of Wayne.

Onstage in jeans, a T-shirt and a dark sport coat, Folds was in great form. His voice has an eternally boyish quality, particularly when he slides to falsetto notes, and his piano skills are subtly impressive. He never blasts into virtuosic solos, but there’s plenty of Elton John or even Jerry Lee Lewis when the situation calls for it.

As one not particularly familiar with Folds’ body of work — although “What Matters Most” has been in heavy rotation on my headphones since it was released — I couldn’t discern any weakness or “I’m gonna go get a beer” moments the entire night. Folds top-loaded the set list with material from the new album and the crowd responded as though they were old favorites. Indeed, they’re already NEW old favorites.

The last quarter of the presentation featured high-momentum versions of “You Don’t Know Me” (with the audience lustily providing the parts Regina Spektor handled on the recording), “Not the Same,” the live highlight and e’er-morphing “Rock This Bitch” (with plenty of New London references) and “Moments.” Encores were ”Still” and, of course, “Zac and Sara.”

I can’t say enough good things about the band. In addition to Wright and Harrington, who solidly and seductively opened the show in their full-time guise as the Boston act Tall Heights, Folds’ unit includes bassist Derrick Wong, multi-instrumentalist Ross Garren and drummer Paul Dumas (also from Tall Heights).

Folds is a witty and charismatic host, with plenty of entertaining and enlightening between-song anecdotes, quips and observations. Behind-the-scenes accounts of how certain songs came to be — the genesis and weird journey of “Kristine From the Seventh Grade,” for example, or the transition of a weekend self-pity to the sudden shock of genuine tragedy in “What Matters Most” – added even more dimension to a wonderful night.

There were a few miscues — an errant note here, a skewed harmony part there — but that’s to be expected on opening night; Folds and company embraced the humanity of the situation with good humor. It’s worth noting that the band set up camp in New London to rehearse for the tour on the Garde stage. It seems an increasing number of touring acts are recognizing the facility’s many qualities.

Similarly, in welcoming remarks before Tuesday’s show, Garde executive director Steve Sigel shared that, based on ticketing data, almost half of the audience members were visiting the renowned theater for the first time. This in part reflects an evolving booking policy — one that brought Folds and has confirmed dates for such diverse artists as They Might Be Giants, Amos Lee, Steve Hackett and Kurt Vile.

r.koster@theday.com