POP MUSIC REVIEW : Neville Brothers Lay Down an Irresistible Beat : Wiltern Theatre concert shows that the real star of the long-admired band is its polyrhythmic underpinnings.

Dueting with Linda Ronstadt (and winning a Grammy for it last year with the delicate “Don’t Know Much”) has made Aaron Neville something of the star of the Neville Brothers band, which had always been an equal partnership of him and Art, Cyril and Charles.

But the group’s concert Friday at the Wiltern Theatre served to remind that there’s only one true star of the Nevilles: the beat . . . or more accurately, the polyrhythmic beats.

On this evening, even Aaron’s indescribably angelic voice was subservient to the New Orleans “second line” voodoo funk that the Nevilles have had custody of for more than 30 years as the Crescent City’s musical first family.

The only times the beats retreated was for Aaron’s 1966 soul plea “Tell It Like It Is” and his encore of “Amazing Grace.”

Otherwise it was Mardi Gras mambo from the opening “Hey Pocky A-Way” (from their work with the Wild Tchoupitoulas “tribe”) to the closing medley of Bob Marley’s “One Love” and Curtis Mayfield’s “People Get Ready.”

Despite a horrible sound mix, the irresistible beat made it impossible not to dance, even in the stately Wiltern.

For the first portion of the show, however, the rhythms virtually obscured the scope and ambition of the Nevilles’ most recent albums.

The latest album, “Brother’s Keeper,” is, for instance, a virtual summary of the African-American experience--its music and lessons about the value of community and family--from a New Orleans perspective.

But even that kicked in, implicitly if not explicitly, when Aaron’s son Ivan joined in the festivities mid-show.

Though Ivan’s own music hasn’t yet fulfilled his heritage, his presence alongside father and uncles seemed to bring a fresh spirit to the sound. And the proud themes came to the fore then, too, notably in the new album’s “Brother Jake” and “River of Life” and the older Nevilles/Meters “Africa,” which this night incorporated rhythmically and lyrically appropriate quotes from Sly Stone, the Isley Brothers and War.

The message was inescapable: Even beats as great as the Nevilles’ are not enough. When combined with the group’s other gifts, however, there’s little that compares with an evening with this American institution.