POP MUSIC REVIEWS : Lanois Shrouds His Potent Vision

Daniel Lanois brought an adult version of the power trio to the Henry Fonda Theatre on Saturday, a sort of Dinosaur Jr. for the NPR generation: melancholy moodiness encoded in aggressive guitar assault and rough-hewn vocals.

Setting up stately structures and then assaulting the frameworks with thick, clattering guitar, Lanois created richly haunting atmospheres. He also invoked a psychedelic spirit that was reinforced by the occasional amoeboid projections on the back curtain.

But Lanois should get some tips from some of the acts whose records he produces, such as U2 and Peter Gabriel, about conveying his artistic essence in concert. The current show (he also plays the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano tonight) is as confused as a whole as it is brilliant in isolated pockets.

Even if he hadn’t turned the stage over to singer-actor Harry Dean Stanton during the heart of the concert, Lanois would have had trouble integrating the atmosphere-based approach he introduced with his first album in ’89 with the storytelling mode of the new “For the Beauty of Wynona.”

The show was framed by percussion invocations, suggesting a goal of primal spirituality that Lanois frequently struck but could not sustain during the two-hour concert.

The slices of outside material, mainly some hard funk and New Orleans rock ‘n’ roll, might have been intended as statements of roots, but they diverted from his more developed, personal style. Clearly, Lanois is someone with a powerful vision and distinctive approach and only the foggiest idea of how to structure a show that conveys those qualities.