MORRISSEY SPILLS HIS SOUL FOR FANS

If Ray Davies and Peter Allen had a baby, he might have grown up to be Morrissey, the frail young thing who leads the English group the Smiths in their crusade for individuality. Flitting, swooning, prancing and grimacing all over the Universal Amphitheatre stage Monday night, Morrissey spilled his soul and the fans ate it up.

Life is tough for a sensitive specimen like Morrissey, and his melancholy expressions of estrangement make him a hero to his adherents. They take heart from his refusal to buckle under and conform, and solace in the music’s alternating surges of reassurance and despair.

That side of Morrissey and the Smiths makes them one of the more intriguing arrivals of the last few years. But with his utter self-absorption, Morrissey can also come off as petty and petulant, like a neurotic fop with a crucifixion complex, a Christ figure in white denim. That side was in evidence as well Monday, and it neutralized the show’s impact.

The group’s anthems of individuality--cooked up mainly by Morrissey and guitarist Johnny Marr--can be really inspiring when the two guitars, bass and drums set up thick, tightly stitched patterns behind Morrissey’s loose vocal lines, which meander like an old stream.

His sing-song warble can be wearing, but when he hooks into a phrase and turns it into pure emotion he’s as expressive as a blues singer. It’s a bad sign, however, that the recent album “The Queen Is Dead” doesn’t advance the group musically or commercially.

Phranc’s appearance in the opening spot was an inspired pairing, because the local folk singer also deals with displacement and isolation.

Her topical broadsides were amusing as usual, but at the heart of her set were disarmingly candid, funny and touching songs about facing life and fitting in. While her set was basically the one she’s performed around town countless times, she was delivering it to a broader audience than usual, and the strong response made it seem especially stirring.

The Smiths and Phranc will also be at Irvine Meadows on Thursday and San Diego State on Friday.