HIROSHIMA AT GREEK

How can one say anything negative above a band that tries to please as hard as Hiroshima does? Virtually everything the Japanese-American, Los Angeles-based group did at its Greek Theatre program Friday night--from featuring costumed Asian dancers and drummers to cranking up the atmosphere with hyperactive smoke machines and light-show projections--seemed to say, “C’mon, folks, please like us. Look at how hard we’re trying!”

And there was much to like in Hiroshima’s unique blending of traditional Japanese sounds (especially June Kuramoto’s plangent koto) with a crisply contemporary, dance-oriented beat. On pieces like “311” and “Go” (both featured on their new Epic album), the band vividly recalled some of the buoyantly enthusiastic jazz-based swing that characterized its work in the early ‘80s.

Several ballads, especially “Even Then” and “Save Yourself for Me,” were brought to vivid life by the smoothly sensual voice of lead singer Barbara Long, and leader Dan Kuramoto was as multifaceted as ever, bouncing around easily, and effectively, from keyboards to flutes to saxophones.

But the total effect was less than the sum of the individual parts. Too often there was the feeling that Hiroshima was relying more on presentation than substance. And, as attractive and appealing as that presentation was, it couldn’t disguise the fact that the fire and passion of the group’s earlier work seems to have been replaced by arc lights and production effects.

In a too-brief opening set, the Rippingtons climaxed with a steaming version of their signature “She Likes to Watch,” which provided the best evidence yet that the group’s brilliant collection of individual stars is finally coming together into a solid, cohesive unit.