Capturing the Hoodoo, Spirit of the ‘60s : Pop music review: The five original members of Spirit reunite in Fountain Valley, offering up commendable versions of old standbys.

The ‘60s seemed like an awfully good idea at the time--but, like a lot of other good ideas, it’s since become a growth industry.

The airwaves abound with “classic rock” radio programming and “Star Trek” TV reruns, despite the fact that the ‘90s are as far removed from that time as the ‘60s generation was from the days of big bands and bobby socks. If the nostalgia biz keeps growing at its present rate, the whole world may soon be living in the past, and CNN can just start showing old Cronkite broadcasts.

A downside in all this is the smug seen-it-all attitude that keeps the relaxed-fit-jeans set on perpetual rewind. The upside comes when the forward-looking ideas and ideals of the ‘60s are still transmitted through its works. There’s no expiration date on the soul-shaking qualities of a Jimi Hendrix solo, for instance.

The return of Spirit, one of the ‘60s’ most adventurous bands, at the 97.1 KLSX Classic Jam at Mile Square Park was about as successful as one could expect without the intervention of magic. (The free show’s other act, the Doobie Brothers, was reviewed recently.)

Between 1967 and 1971, Spirit played a challenging, sweeping blend of rock, jazz, blues and other musical strains. But the power and subtlety of the quintet’s interplay was the result of intensive woodshedding--they lived communally in a Topanga Canyon house--and of the group’s wholehearted commitment to its music.

Spirit boasted of all five original members Sunday, in the first reunion for them all--lead singer Jay Ferguson, guitarist-singer Randy California, drummer Ed Cassidy, bassist Mark Andes and keyboardist John Locke--and they did a commendable job of re-creating their old standbys.Although the members of a group might be understandably uptight doing their first gig in 15 years together before a crowd of some 35,000 people, the five clearly were having fun and enjoying one another’s musical company. They even poked a bit of fun at their ages, arriving onstage leaning on canes and wearing long gray beards.

Still, as the group had had only a couple of rehearsals for this one-shot engagement, it was unlikely that the adventurous spirit of Spirit would emerge in a cramped hourlong set in front of an oldies-expectant crowd. Indeed, there were only flashes of the old transcendence--and those were compromised by a horrific sound mix.

All 13 songs were staples of the group’s ‘60s live shows, including the environmentally minded “Fresh Garbage” and “So Little Time to Fly.” “Mechanical World,” a jarring study of emotional desolation from 1967, didn’t carry its former dark power in this presentation under bright blue skies.

“Animal Zoo” had some new vocal harmonies, and the similarly Orwellian “1984” contained one of California’s most finely crafted fuzz-toned guitar solos. In this case, the open-air setting did enhance the lyrics. As California sang, “Those plexi-plastic copters are your special friend . . . You’re never out of their sight,” a helicopter with a video crew did indeed circle overhead.

The songs that best captured the band’s old feel were the ones most compatible with the partylike atmosphere in the park. In 1968, both “Uncle Jack” and the band’s biggest hit “I Got a Line on You,” captured the ebullient mood of the time, full of sunshine and camaraderie. Sunday, the band did a fine job of summoning that mood again, with Ferguson and California beaming during their harmony vocals.

What was largely missing from the set, though, was the earlier sense of adventure. A song such as “Dark Eyed Woman” was once the take-off point for a musical exploration, but Sunday it never strayed far from the recorded version. There was only a brief, jumbled group jam on the jazzy “Elijah,” which long ago afforded each member an unfettered open-ended solo. Although California did work small twists and changes into all his melodic solos, the only musician who appeared to hold true to the band’s old penchant for venturing musicality was drummer Cassidy.

Although the 68-year-old drummer--still bald after all these years--always served the songs with his playing, he also prodded them along with his unique musical personality, hitting odd accents and rhythmic flourishes. His solo on “All the Same,” although concise, also revealed his unmistakable jazz-basedstyle--he was grimacing and grinning with each beat.

It may also be that Cassidy stood out so because he was the only one you could hear at times. The drums were over-amped throughout (with gratingly sibilant cymbals), so that even “Nature’s Way,” with guest singer Sarah Fleetwood, sounded like a drum solo. Vocals faded in and out during the set, and they nearly disappeared on “Mr. Skin.”

Although the musicians appeared to be enjoying their interplay onstage, much of that never reached the audience. It wasn’t until the second song was nearly over that the sound crew put California’s guitar in the mix, and even then it sounded as if it was coming from behind a wall of cotton. They didn’t get to Andes’ bass until several songs later, and Locke’s keyboards were all but inaudible throughout--not an entirely bad thing given the squirrelly synthesizer tones he was using.

Aside from the sound, though, the Classic Jam appeared to be an enjoyable, well-run event, and it’s one that the station would like to repeat in the years to come. Local residents might be less enamored with the idea, as parked cars were sprawling into the adjacent neighborhoods. Although the event was not quite the city-state Woodstock was, a medical crew did at one point plunge into the audience after a report, later proved false, that a woman was going into labor.