POP MUSIC REVIEW : 2There’s Not Very Much Belew the Surface After All : For all the time he has spent with such artists as Bowie, Byrne and Fripp, the guitarist’s work lacks passion and depth.

Adrian Belew’s show at the Coach House on Wednesday began with a demonstration reel, as it were--a taped resume of the guitarist from Kentucky’s career on his own and as a sideman to such notable leaders as David Bowie, Talking Heads’ David Byrne, Frank Zappa and King Crimson’s Robert Fripp.

Maybe all those creative figures liked having him around because he didn’t have any ideas to confuse them.

Like his current album “Inner Revolution,” Belew’s hour-plus performance showcased a technician whose craftsmanship strains mightily for personal expression but who lacks passion and depth. For all the flashy playing and inventive arrangements, Belew’s music ultimately was lighter than air.

Participation in such challenging projects as Talking Heads’ landmark “Remain in Light,” Byrne’s “The Catherine Wheel,” Paul Simon’s “Graceland” and Laurie Anderson’s “Home of the Brave” obviously is no guarantee of creativity, but you’d think some of those works’ probing qualities would have rubbed off on Belew.

No such luck. Even his most structurally adventurous selection on Wednesday, “I Am What I Am,” juxtaposing the recorded preaching of the Prophet Omega with rock instrumentation, lacked the tension and textural intrigue of its obvious model, Byrne and Eno’s “My Life in the Bush of Ghosts” album of sound-and-music collages.

If Belew isn’t inventive enough to attain prominence in the progressive/experimental realm that would seem to be his natural destiny (his audience cheered mightily when he mentioned prog-rock avatar King Crimson), how about his pop side?

That dominated the show, which was mainly a parade of catchy tunes propped up by Belew’s formidable guitar technique. As executed by Belew, drummer Michael Hodges (Belew’s bandmate on Bowie’s “Sound + Vision” tour), guitarist Rob Fetters (a member of Belew’s recent pop-rock band the Bears) and bassist Brian Lovely, the best songs rocked nicely in a Paul McCartney vein, their technical sophistication yielding simplicity of effect.

But Belew (who plays at the Variety in Los Angeles tonight) has nothing to say. He’s insipid in a well-meaning, Genesis-like way, offering environmental laments, inspirational self-help anthems and introspective ruminations with a sappy sincerity. Belew is no ironist--which is ironic, considering how much he’s picked up from Bowie in terms of structure and voicing. As a stage figure, he was a genial, unpretentious host, but also terrifically uninteresting.