POP MUSIC REVIEW : Chris Rea: Pub-Rocking at Roxy

“Michael who ?” quipped English pop-rocker Chris Rea, a silly grin on his face as he attempted a clumsy moonwalk on Tuesday at the Roxy. While the joke may have gone past most of the people in the crowd, in his native land it would have hit home: The album that song originally came from was kept from No. 1 honors a couple of years ago in England by none other than the Moonwalker himself.

Over there Rea’s a certified Beeg Deal; on this side of the Atlantic he’s little more than a footnote, remembered (if at all) for a few well-received albums nearly a decade ago. But the brief Roxy set made a strong case that Rea deserves at least a page of his own.

Backed by a six-piece band, Rea couldn’t have been more the antithesis of Michael Jackson. Warmly low-key with a few days’ worth of beard and a plain black T-shirt, he looked as if he just popped over from his local pub.

And indeed there were a few echoes of the English pub-rock style in his music: an attractive package of substantive emotions and playing, anchored by his weathered voice and impressive guitar playing.