“When I was a kid, I always saw Athens as a sort of music mecca,” said Decemberists frontman Colin Meloy.

The band has been on tour for two weeks with their second album, “Her Majesty, The Decemberists.” On Monday night, the band visited the Classic City for the first time.

Monday night’s stop at Caledonia Lounge turned out to be one of the most eventful nights of their short East Coast jaunt.

“I think Athens has jinxed us,” Meloy said in response to the bevy of technical problems hurled at him and the rest of the four-piece band during the course of the night.

The evening began with two of Meloy’s guitars taking a spill from the front of the stage, followed by the failure of his main amplifier and of the band’s prized “Leslie,” a 1950s-era amplifier that resembles an oak cabinet.

To top it off, Meloy’s guitar strap broke during the band’s third song.

The quartet used every spare inch of Caledonia’s small stage, filling the space with a keyboard, drums, guitars, an accordion and a full-size upright bass.

Opening with “Leslie Ann Levine,” the first track from their freshman release “Castaways and Cutouts,” the Decemberists took the stage by force and kept the audience’s attention throughout the set.

The eclectic blend of Meloy’s 12-string acoustic, Jenny Conlee’s vintage accordion and Nate Query’s upright bass filled the venue with a surprising amount of energy, despite the music’s downpaced nature.

“I hadn’t expected them to be so energetic,” said Sara Clark, a freshman from Marietta.

The band balanced slower ballads like “The Gymnast, High Above the Ground,” with louder, more energetic songs like their first single, “The Soldering Life,” to keep the audience on its toes for the 12-song set.

An encore of “I Was Meant for the Stage” ended in a Spinal Tap-style “artful noise” finale replete with frenetic drumming and Meloy collapsing into Query’s bass.

“We just came from Florida,” Meloy said after the show. “It’s nice to be in a place that has some hills.”

The Decemberists finish their tour Nov. 7, in their hometown of Portland, Ore., and have planned a West Coast tour in January.

“This is our first time to Athens, and the town seems really cool,” said drummer Rachel Blumberg. “We’ll definitely be back as soon as possible.”

– Marcus Owens