Pop Music Reviews : Steel Pulse Serves Up a Flat Set at the Greek

When British reggae band Steel Pulse went prospecting for American gold and platinum a few years ago, its music turned to tin. On Wednesday, the first of two nights at the Greek Theatre, Steel Pulse’s reggae elements seemed bronzed: preserved mementos that took their last steps years ago.

Though regaining some of the infectiousness and toughness that has been lost on recent recordings, Steel Pulse’s performance was static and predictable, musically and thematically. The loping, bass-heavy beat, the cries against corruption and apartheid--all the right buttons were pushed to keep the crowd dancing and cheering, but they’re all things we’ve heard many, many times before.

There were a few times that Steel Pulse reached beyond its standard post-Bob Marley approach.

Brief stabs at soul vocal harmony and even a British march and New Orleans-ish jazz prefaced and punctuated several songs and/or served as humorous diversions. While preferable to the several crossover panderings found on the new “Victims” album, those moments did little to add any sense of progress or artistic resolve to the proceedings. And what’s the use of a Steel Pulse without its mettle?

The four-act bill of Steel Pulse, Special Beat, Daddy Freddy and Shelly Thunder moves today to the Santa Barbara County Bowl, next Friday to the San Diego Convention Center and July 13 to Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre.