TURGID TWINS

“The next song has sort of a message,” said Thompson Twins co-leader Tom Bailey in introduction to “King for a Day” Saturday on the second night of the English band’s two-night stand at the Greek Theatre. The “sort of” message? Nothing more than “love is all we need” to buck up against . . . well, they never actually said against what.

This platitudinous ambivalence was also reflected both in the music and performances. For what seemed an eternity but was actually less than 90 minutes, Bailey, who did most of the singing, and partner Allanah Currie, who played various percussion instruments, skipped around to often turgid new wave beats and gestured appropriately to emphasize their lyrics. But they seemed completely uninvolved with the music, as if just going through the motions. A two-woman, two-man backing group did little to add any thrills, with things livening up only when ex-Twin Joe Leeway joined in for a couple of encore numbers. The result was sort of . . . boring.

In an odd pairing, Chris Isaak openned the show with a half hour of his haunting Roy Orbisonesque pleas, plagued only by some equipment problems and the young audience’s apparent indifference.