POP MUSIC REVIEWS : Mannheim Steamroller

Mannheim Steamroller, the Nebraska group featured in the remarkably successful Fresh Aire audiophile recordings, began its annual Los Angeles run Thursday night at the Wiltern Theater in the first of a three-night set of sold-out concerts.

The program was almost identical to the one performed in the same venue a year ago, but seemed to have lost some of the spunk and energy of the earlier version.

The Steamroller’s basic ensemble--led by composer/drummer/leader Chip Davis--once again appeared on a darkened stage, surrounded by banks of synthesizers, drums and percussion, and topped by three large video projection screens. They were accompanied by a small pit orchestra, with the entire complex array of audio and video held together by click tracks fed to the musicians via headphones.

A bit artificial? You bet. And it showed in the rigid precision of the performances. But it was an impressive display of contemporary electronic technology, nonetheless.

Most of the music was drawn from the six Fresh Aire recordings, with a finale in which the Steamroller joined a collection of costumed musicians to play period versions of English Christmas carols.

Davis undeniably has a knack for composing appealing modal melodies, sometimes with startlingly unexpected interval choices. But too often his melodic gift was abandoned in favor of tediously repetitious rhythmic vamping.

The net result was that many of the lovely video projections of wild animals and birds, the Challenger and Apollo space spectaculars, exotic scenery, etc., were trivialized by the music’s rhythmic superficiality, as well as by its tendency to Mickey Mouse virtually every visual change.

Given Davis’ obvious musical and organizational gifts, one can only hope that the next West Coast trek by Mannheim Steamroller will be driven by the energies of a more intriguing, and more demanding creative vision.