Pop Music Reviews : Richard Thompson vs. Great Expectations

Richard Thompson’s virtuoso guitar playing and two-decade-deep catalogue of bewitching folk-rock songs have earned the British musician a dedicated cult following and brought him to the edge of widespread recognition.

The burden of such stature can be great. Were expectations not so high, Thompson’s performance at the Wiltern Theatre on Tuesday would have been richly rewarding, a feast of whirligig guitar and sublime singing.

To the more critical ear, the intensity of the guitar was often lost in a miasma of instrumentation from a slightly below-snuff touring band, and occasionally Thompson’s solos sounded almost obligatory, as if he were afraid to let some of his compositions rest on the strength of their melody and verse. He shouldn’t be: The songs on his latest album, “Rumor and Sigh,” are as compelling as any of his earlier work, especially the brooding “I Misunderstood.”

Only accordionist John Sherman, whose playing masterfully framed Thompson’s, noticeably contributed anything special to the mix. Singer-guitarist Shawn Colvin was more appealing backing up Thompson than in her own opening set, where her songbird voice and sometimes pretty tunes were eclipsed by the triteness of her lyrics.