POP MUSIC REVIEW : THOMPSON MAKES MAGIC

Critics have bestowed so much praise on English singer-songwriter Richard Thompson that a lot of people must be wondering if anyone can be that good.

Yet Friday at the Palace, the lanky, bearded musician and his five-piece band demonstrated once more the measurable range of his talents: the incomparable guitar playing, the emotion-drenched songs and the exotic blends of classic rock elements and Celtic modality.

However, even these definable elements don’t fully describe the essence of this extraordinary artist. There’s an elusive, even magical quality about some special artists--Van Morrison comes quickly to mind--that somehow can’t be reduced to tangible terms. Thompson, too.

The nearly two-hour show sported tight ensemble playing, a good balance of material (some gloomy, some uplifting, some of both at once) and Thompson’s understated, shy playfulness and warmth. Bonuses came via solo turns from singer-guitarist Clive Gregson, whose out-of-love song was nearly a match for those Thompson writes, and background vocalist Christine Collister. The biggest plus, however, was button accordionist John Kirkpatrick, who contributed equal measures of haunting and joyous atmosphere to the rock and folk mix.

The capper came in a midnight encore. While the Palace’s post-concert disco patrons chatted noisily up at the bar, Thompson, alone with just his electric guitar, movingly sang “The End of the Rainbow,” the bleakest song in his often doom-laden oeuvre . It was a poignant reaffirmation of his position as a special artist, but one most definitely--and willfully--outside the mainstream.

Eliza Gilkyson (sister of guitarist Tony, the newest member of X) and her five-member group opened the show. Gikkyson’s best material is spunky, contemporary guitar-based rock with just enough of her Austin, Tex., home in it to provide a country kick. Her lesser material, however, bears an unfortunate resemblance to the recent mainstream, assembly-line sound of Heart.