Pop Reviews : Less-Than-Inspired Set From Houston

You might think that Whitney Houston at Camp Pendleton makes perfect sense. Her voice is powerful, her concerts are conservative and much of her material is intentionally uniform. She even managed to revive “The Star Spangled Banner” as a commercial vehicle. You can’t get much more patriotic than that.

But Houston’s appearance at Pendleton’s Ace Bowen Rodeo and Concert Grounds on Saturday--in a concert that capped celebrations of the Marine base’s 50th anniversary--proved less than inspired. In fact, if this one were to borrow a Hollywood title, rather than “For the Boys” it would have been “Take the Money and Run.”

Houston, dressed first in a loose-fitting, shimmering mauve pantsuit, spent only about an hour on stage--the concert’s other 20 minutes being dedicated to instrumental breaks and a spotlight number for her brother, Gary Houston, who ordinarily sings backup.

There were no encores and, goodness knows, no attempts to deviate from the short, hits-laden set list. Even costume changes were eliminated (other than a switch from pants to long skirt early on), presumably because it was chilly and Houston, who is pregnant, admitted to having to take things a bit slower these days. (Husband Bobby Brown, she noted from the stage, was in New York performing on “Saturday Night Live.”)

Of course, if the crowd didn’t feel cheated by either of those things (and they didn’t appear too disgruntled), then it’s possible that they also didn’t mind the absence of genuine enthusiasm and intimacy on songs like “So Emotional” and “All At Once.”

In any case, Houston’s voice, despite intermittent cracks and some less-than-seamless passages, was its usual gymnastic self--scaling heights greater than the massive chain link fence that separates the audience from the stage here, and wrapping itself around syllables until they practically popped from her mouth.

A seven-piece band provided measured, able accompaniment and the quartet of background vocalists added some needed dimension on songs like “Saving All My Love for You.”

Houston filled about half the 25,000 seats in at the Ace Bowen venue, which began booking pop acts this year.