O.C. POP WEEKEND : Robinson Woos Crowd With Hits

For 30 years, Smokey Robinson has held the public’s attention without resorting to most of the proven grabbers that everyone else from Shakespeare to sitcom writers finds indispensable.

Noise, tumult, spite, torment, sarcasm, obsession, arrogance, eeriness, evil, violence and villains virtually are banished from Robinson’s floating world. Sweetness and light and gentle romance prevail. Heartbreak enters, of course, but it’s tender and wistful, not depressive. The sad yearners of such gorgeous teardrop ballads as “Ooo Baby Baby,” “Tracks of My Tears” and “Since I Lost My Baby” plead so beautifully that it’s hard to imagine their prayers for reconciliation not being answered.

Consequently, when Robinson goes on stage, the building blocks for an emotional and psychological roller coaster aren’t there, although an arsenal of memorable hits certainly is. Friday night at the Celebrity Theatre, Robinson tried to carry his two-hour show with a tenor that remains creamy and rich, a song catalogue that has placed him in both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters’ Hall of Fame, and a stage manner that was warm, humble, and extremely solicitous of his full house of fans.

Those qualities carried him about halfway there. But after hitting an early peak with a stunning “Ooo Baby Baby,” the show wound through a pleasant but too-placid second half.

Robinson began with a fine idea: He’d do the ultimate crowd-pleasing show, encouraging fans to shout requests, then singing their favorites on demand. With a long list of hits dating back to “Shop Around” with the Miracles in 1960, he wasn’t about to run out of good material.

“All you gotta do is say it, and we’re gonna play it,” Smokey promised. The deal proved profitable for all concerned, as long as he kept to it.

“Tears of a Clown” turned up right away, followed by another Miracles hit, “I Second That Emotion.” At 50, Robinson’s voice has developed a bit of a grain that’s a natural result of age, but he still rang pure and clear on all the soaring choruses. The ultra-romantic “Quiet Storm” jumped the show ahead to Robinson’s post-Miracles career with a lush, enveloping whoosh of strings and shimmering flute and piano lines.

Next on the request list was “Going to a Go-Go”--up-tempo party music that was just the right pickup following a sultry ballad. For all of the informality of his method of song selection, Robinson gave everything a fully engaged treatment, culminating in that “Ooo Baby Baby,” which was like a soft, refreshing breeze until he built to a climactic, soaring “ooh” that won a standing ovation.

But then he abandoned his say-it-play-it rule and began following his own plan. A long medley of great songs he wrote for the Temptations began to stall the show, despite the excellence of the material. That’s the problem with medleys: By singing abbreviated versions for the sake of inclusiveness, Robinson lost some of that sense of full commitment to each song that had marked the early going.

From there, the show continued on a pleasant, even pace, concentrating on more recent material. Robinson’s rendition of the theme from “Lady Sings the Blues” got back some dramatic intensity. But instead of building from there to a forceful ending, he marked time with such numbers as the laid-back “Cruisin,’ ” which stretched into a long contest to determine which side of the hall could sing the chorus the loudest.

Robinson’s amiable refereeing made the friendly showdown as interesting as such time-killers can be. But it would have been much better if he had used energetic songs, rather than a crowd-participation gimmick, to get the house on its feet and roaring. In a show that omitted stuff as strong and lively as “Being With You,” “Mickey’s Monkey” and “You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me,” one couldn’t help thinking it would have been better for Robinson to keep following his fans’ lead as to what to sing, instead of trying to lead them in a sing-along.