Since first taking hold in Bristol and slowly working its way through England and then across the Atlantic in the early to mid ’90s, trip-hop — a hybrid genre to begin with — has cross-pollinated with almost every genre it’s come in contact with, from rap to house and techno to pop punk. Which means it’s no longer an impenetrable bastion of downtempo cool. Many of its originators — Tricky, in particular — have taken it so far from its roots in trippy, hip-hop grooves, forebodingly dark atmospherics, and lugubrious reggae-derived rhythms that the genre now hardly stands for anything.

Few of the original trip-hoppers have had as much success breathing new life into the genre’s chilled-out body as Morcheeba. First formed as an instrumental duo by the Dover-based brothers Paul and Ross Godfrey, the project took off with the addition of singer Skye Edwards in 1995. They dipped their toes into pop waters with the hook-laden narcotic haze of the 1996 single "Trigger Hippie" (included on the 1997 Indochina-label album Who Can You Trust?). By 1998 and Big Calm (Sire), the now London-based trio had shaken themselves free of trip-hop’s torpor by fusing dub, folk, and psychedelia into an explosive mix; they moved on to more soul-inflected terrain on 2000’s funkier Fragments of Freedom (Sire). Last year’s Charango (Warner Bros.) combined the best of both worlds and more, jumping from darkly debonair pop collaborations with Lambchop’s Kurt Wagner to old-school rap-soul throwdowns with Slick Rick and Pace Won.

So it’s no surprise that the catchword for Morcheeba’s packed, energetic show at Avalon last Saturday was diversity. The old-time bluesy licks of "Part of the Process" gave way to the sultry tropicália of "São Paulo," which in turn made way for the funky disco bootyshaker "Love Sweet Love" and then the jazzy "Slow Down." The band weren’t afraid to take chances: they segued from the sleek groove of Charango’s sleek "Public Displays of Affection" into a faithful rendition of Dolly Parton’s "Jolene" that ended with a "Yee-haw!" from Edwards.

Clad in a flouncy black skirt, the sassy Edwards struck a graceful serpentine pose during "The Sea," and at one point she plopped a fan’s red hat on her bald dome. Her charismatic interplay with fans and with beat scratcher Paul Guthrie was an endearing and often hilarious aspect of the performance. The band’s constant pleas for audience participation did ruin the mood when it came time for them to revisit their murkier past. Nevertheless, the somber atmosphere of newer tracks like "Otherwise" and the spacy "Undress Me Now" reminded us that Morcheeba have come a long way since their mellow beginnings.