Pop Music : Scots’ Debut Reveals Depth on the Nile

“Turn off your mind, relax and float down stream”--John Lennon’s invitation from the ‘60s--applies nicely to a trip down the recordings of the Blue Nile. But the Los Angeles concert debut of the Scottish group at the Wadsworth Theater on Friday proved a surprisingly mind- on affair.

The strikingly unique, largely electronic textures of the music--as distinctive as, say, Peter Gabriel’s--were quite floatable at the concert, warmly and invitingly so. Yet the show was curiously involving.

In fact, on one level, curiosity played a role: the how-would-they-do-it-live factor. The studio work of the trio is so finely sculpted that even given the state of technology and the assistance of three augmenting musicians, it was fascinating to see it come alive.

But there was much more to it than that. It’s not as if the Blue Nile has, as singer Paul Buchanan joked, a “polished stage act.” The band’s personable reserve, and especially Buchanan’s endearing nervousness, only added depth to the full emotions of the songs and served to draw the appreciative audience even more into the music.