The greatest concerts are understood as successful because they capture the fleeting. For just a few hours, listeners can bridge the music they hold dear with the physical musician who creates it, sharing a momentary experience with fellow fans and singing together what they might typically only listen to in isolation.

On April 26, Sarah Kinsley brought the brilliance of the temporary to Boston. A master in controlling energy and atmosphere, Kinsley gave new meaning to her tour’s “Fleeting” title, delivering a largely contemplative set interspersed with moments of high energy throughout the sold-out show.

At her best, Kinsley enabled the audience to feel the music alongside her. With disjointed, unchoreographed dance moves, the artist appeared engrossed in her own music. She focused primarily on singing and playing the keyboard, speaking very little to the audience through the majority of the concert.

Though the club-sized venue of Royale offered an opportunity to bring the audience close to the artist, it felt almost dissonant to how technically complex her musical talents were. This disconnect, though, makes one hope that Kinsley eventually grows a large enough fanbase to take advantage of the more complex lighting, setpieces, and sound equipment available in a larger performance venue.

In a standout moment midway through the show, the lights faded to near-black and a spotlight settled on Kinsley standing far upstage — just a girl and her keyboard — as fog poured in and she began an intimate piano solo. It was in this environment that she played “After All,” “I’m Not A Mountain,” and “Reverie,” in what turned out to be the most stunning segment of the night. For a tense few seconds at the conclusion of these three back-to-back songs, Royale was silent. Then came roaring applause; no one wanted to be first to break the illusion of a private, soulful piano concert that the artist delivered.

Kinsley balanced out this more melancholic moment of the show with a story about a prior, rowdier trip she took to Boston, where she ended up holding the hair back of her friend — sick from a long night of drinking — as the sun set over the Charles River.

“Every time I think about Boston, I think about that sunset,” she said with a laugh. “So thank you Boston, thank you Charles River!”

The show concluded with an energetic rendition of one of her most popular songs, and the namesake of the tour, “Fleeting.” As the artist repeated throughout the song’s chorus and final lines, “It’s not forever, it’s just for now.”

For Kinsley’s standout concert, such fleeting excellence was more than enough.

—Staff writer Stella A. Gilbert can be reached at [email protected].