Pop Music Reviews : Armatrading Conducts Her Familiar Ritual

Sneak into the Wiltern Theatre today and you may still be able to see Joan Armatrading’s smile hanging Cheshire Cat-like, left over from her concert on Wednesday. Her grin is one of the brightest around, an infectious display of pearly whites that opens up at the slightest show of affection from her fans.

And Wednesday--as usual--the affection for her poured forth freely. Her cult following, built through an 18-year recording career, is among the most loyal and appreciative in pop, even if it hasn’t expanded. That underscored the pluses and minuses of this show. On the up side, Armatrading treated her fans to a greatest-hits selection of quality material. On the down side, it was pretty much the same concert experience she has been offering for the last decade.

Such thematic touchstones as “I’m Lucky,” “Love and Affection” and the standard show-closer “Willow” are indispensable, but they’ve become predictable and ritualistic parts of the show. Songs from her fine new “Hearts and Flowers” album were relegated to secondary status in the two-hour-plus set. And most of the older numbers were played by her five-piece band in soul-reggae-folk-rock arrangements hardly varying from the original recordings.

What could Armatrading do? First of all, play more electric guitar. The few times she strapped on her Stratocaster the music really came alive, especially for the rocking encore one-two of “Me Myself I” and “Ma-Me-O Beach.” But more to the point, she has got the kind of audience that will follow her anywhere; she should take more advantage of that opportunity.