Pop Music Reviews : Focus on Shamen, Utah Saints at Rave

As raves go, the one at the Park Plaza on Friday was pretty low-techno, at least in terms of the trappings. The focus was on live appearances by English acts the Shamen and Utah Saints, with few of the diversions that normally mark these events. There were no laser-light assaults, no trippy projections, no Lidsville-like playgrounds, not even much in the way of goofily dressed rave fans.

So the music, for the most part, had to stand on its own, which was a problem. Reliant on digital reproduction, techno is not really a live musical form. The Shamen, with roots predating the rave wave, offered some stage personality in the form of frontman Mr. C, but his stiff Scotsman’s hip-hop delivery grew old quickly. Only when soul-leaning singer Jhelisa Anderson took the lead on a few songs was there much to grasp.

The Utah Saints, with a younger, scruffier manner and more imaginative songwriting, fared a bit better in a brief opening set. Again, though, women’s voices saved the day via the sparkling songs “Something Good” and “What Can You Do for Me,” built on vocal samples of Kate Bush and Annie Lennox, respectively. But when samples provide most of a show’s character, something’s wrong.