NILS: ON THE BEAT

When Nils Lofgren sang “I Came to Dance” Saturday at the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano he succinctly reviewed his own performance--and his whole solo career, for that matter--when he reached the line: “I’m not Bob Dylan, but I never miss a beat.”

That Bruce Springsteen’s right-hand man remains impeccable as a guitarist was demonstrated repeatedly throughout a two-hour-plus show that touched on material from his infrequent solo records and introduced a few songs from a new album that he said will be out next year.

For this tour (which also stopped at the Palace on Friday) Lofgren moved from acoustic and electric guitars to piano and synthesizer; for most of the show he was supported by his brother, Tommy, on guitars and keyboards and guitarist Larry Cragg.

Lofgren’s lyrics, especially his attempts at Dylanesque political and social commentary, are sometimes forced and riddled with platitudes. But when he stuck to love songs and tales of personal struggles and triumphs, in his own songs and in tunes like Neil Young’s “Long May You Run,” his exuberant vocals and stunning guitar work often ran the show’s goose-bump quotient right off the scale.