POP MUSIC REVIEW : Night Ranger’s Saving Grain of Salt

Night Ranger closed out a 2-night stand at the Coach House on Saturday with a set that evoked the “glory” days of ‘70s radio, when corporate bands ruled the airwaves and the charts with their dual guitar assaults and arena-rock anthems.

Unfortunately, arena rock and its accouterments have not worn well: The songs still lack distinction, the soloing still sounds excessive, the emphasis is still on technique over passion and the stage patter sounds more moth-eaten than ever. These elements do not, needless to say, add up to an engrossing evening. Yet they remain the staples of Night Ranger’s act.

At least the band (unlike others of its stripe) doesn’t take itself too seriously. Bassist-singer-frontman Jack Blades was all smiles, whether tackling the crunching hyperdrive of “Don’t Tell Me You Love Me” or warming up to the almost-pop of “I Can’t Take Any More.” (Still, he should be docked 10 yards for excessive and gratuitous use of the F-word.)

Drummer Kelly Keagy, whose playing was rock solid and unobtrusive, sang with a voice better suited to the band’s relatively intimate material, such as the languid “Sister Christian” and “Sing Me Away.” Though the songs themselves are run of the mill, his emotional delivery elevated them somewhat.

Guitarists Jeff Watson and Brad Gillis prowled the stage as they reeled off dizzying solo upon dizzying solo. One wished they hadn’t felt compelled to solo quite so often: The audience might have liked a few minutes to absorb some of what it was hearing. Despite, or maybe because of that, an acoustic segment from Watson was a treat.

The show opened with a set by Dave Parker, a comedian who is a cheap imitation of Sam Kinison, mining the same turf (women, homosexuals, etc.) but with none of the insight that can make Kinison palatable.