Pop : Most Get in Holiday Spirit for KROQ ‘Xmas’

On the first night of the “Acoustic Xmas” concerts, KROQ-FM (106.7) gave to us:

* Stockings full of goodies from Suzanne Vega, David Byrne, the Soup Dragons, Cause & Effect, the Violent Femmes, Toad the Wet Sprocket, Soul Asylum and, yes, Duran Duran.

* And one big lump of coal from EMF.

As traditionally is the case, few of the acts in this third annual KROQ-sponsored seasonal event at the Universal Amphitheatre really adhered to the acoustic format.

But EMF, the young English hi-tech dance-rock group that scored a No. 1 single last year with “Unbelievable,” didn’t even try. More than that, the band couldn’t even curb a snotty streak, hitting a low when singer Ian Dench hurled his microphone stand into one of the Christmas trees on the stage.

Well, bah humbug to you too, because everyone else on this varied but well-balanced bill had more than enough spirit to make up for that sorry display. There was something skewed about the spirit, though.

Vega, the Greenwich Village-folkie whose recent experiments with electronic rhythms have earned her a spot on the KROQ contemporary roster, hit it on the head:

“It’s odd having an alternative-rock Christmas concert,” she dryly told the teen-dominated crowd, clearly getting a kick out of playing for such young fans. “You have a lot of festive songs about alienation and despair.”

Nonetheless, the highlights in the first of two scheduled weekend KROQ shows to benefit the Los Angeles Coalition to End Homelessness were the most genuine and least gloom-burdened moments. A surprisingly loose Byrne spiked his own idiosyncratic songs with versions of Prince’s “The Future” (from “Batman”) and Crystal Waters’ “Gypsy Woman (She’s Homeless)” dance song about homelessness.

The normally dance-oriented English band the Soup Dragons showed EMF how it should be done with a mostly acoustic, soul-gospel-rooted set including a credible “Mystery Train.” And the Violent Femmes sandwiched leader Gordon Gano’s winsome, a cappella rendition of “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” and a skiffle “Jesus Walking on the Water” between restless odes to post-adolescent confusion.

The most moving moment came from Cause & Effect, a Sacramento-based band with Depeche Mode influences, whose keyboard player, Sean Rowley, died after a severe asthma attack last month. Saturday, surviving co-founder Robert Rowe tearfully debuted a new song dedicated to Rowley.

Capping off the night was an enthusiastic return from former KROQ and MTV kings Duran Duran.

“You’ve heard of ‘MTV Unplugged’--well, this is ‘Duran Duran Undrugged,’ ” said singer Simon Le Bon, setting the tone that would have us believe that all they want for Christmas is to be part of the, as the title of the band’s new single says, “Ordinary World.”

Yeah, right. But there was an earnestness to the performance that, giving Duran the benefit of the doubt, made displays of humility seem believable.