Kevin Bronson on May 2nd, 2009

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Every once in a while, during recent shows by Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros, your postmodern cynicism kicks in, and you get the nagging notion that you’re witnessing the staging of a 1960s love-in, or a prelude to one. Then you see frontman Edward Sharpe look into his fans’ beaming faces, and so obvious is the passion and so powerful the connection that your inner skeptic goes out to lunch.

There’s no underestimating the magnetism possessed by Sharpe – the stage persona of Alex Ebert, singer for the L.A. electro-punk band Ima Robot – and his face-painted Magnetic Zeros right now. With its first EP not out until May 19 (the album is due July 14), the 10-piece ensemble has packed fans in for recent shows. Sharpe’s irony-free, almost-choral psychedelic folk-rock, and the performances’ communal vibe, hark back to a time when “hippie” was not a pejorative.

The first of the band’s three weekly shows Thursday at downtown’s Regent Theater overcame some sound problems – the venerable venue on the gentrifying stretch of Main Street is getting an interim makeover and is hosting shows booked by Little Radio – to score another victory over doldrums. Shirtless and barefoot, Ebert presided over his band’s sing-alongs like a preacher, virtually willing a rousing performance on a night when the predictable technical hiccups (old venue, new sound system, 10-piece band onstage) could have undermined the affair.

It was impossible not to join in during “Carries On,” an anthem built on the simple Scott Walker-esque croon “One love / carries on.” It will be impossible not to come back for more.

||| Live: Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros play May 7 and 14 at the Regent Theater, and May 17 at the Joshua Tree Music Festival.