‘Voices’ Sounds an Activist Note : The abortion-rights benefit had the folk-music flavor and attitude of a traditional fund-raiser.

Call it “Rock for Choice” for grown-ups.

Thursday’s “Voices for Choice” benefit concert at Santa Monica Civic Auditorium had the same general agenda as the recent series of noisier fund-raisers: support of the abortion-rights side in the debate.

While those “Rock for Choice” shows might be indistinguishable from a “Lollapalooza”-style rock fest (except for the campaign tables and occasional remarks from performers), the “Voices” concert had the folk-music flavor and earnest attitude of a more traditional activists’ benefit.

The focused nature of the evening had a lot to do with Melissa Etheridge, who was clearly the prime draw for many of the crowd of 2,400. The L.A.-based singer’s fans include many gay women, and the couples and groups in Thursday’s audience gave her a heroine’s welcome as she emerged from the recording studio for this brief appearance.

Etheridge responded with a searing five-song set. Restlessly stalking the stage and applying her raspy, soul-style voice to both familiar material and a couple of new songs, Etheridge added elements of humor and modulation to her distinctive style--one that is undeniably passionate but, on her albums anyway, emotionally one-dimensional.

Her set peaked with a nod to her most obvious influence, Janis Joplin. Her “Piece of My Heart” contained a long, funny narrative detailing love’s ability to drive a person nuts. Its playful allusions to the gay lifestyle drew a deafening response from an audience that’s clearly hungry for voices that speak directly to its experience.

The rest of the 3 1/2-hour show didn’t yield any other moments quite that heady, but it was fun to watch a bill of seemingly incongruous acts finally prove to be oddly compatible.

Headliners Ann and Nancy Wilson, whose profile has been fairly low since the last Heart album in 1990, played “Love Hurts,” Neil Young’s “Helpless” and a couple of songs by their old band, including “Crazy on You” and “Even It Up.”

But the body of their set was material from an upcoming album. These new songs had some of Heart’s pop-anthem grandeur, but considerably more range. Ann Wilson’s voice remains one of rock’s most powerful.

The show was opened by Shawn Colvin, whose Joni Mitchell-inspired music seemed somewhat diffuse, but was embraced warmly by the audience. In a glancing way, Colvin made one of the few musical comments on the evening’s theme of reproductive rights when she introduced “I Don’t Know Why” with the remark that it was written to a child “in the spirit of comfort and love that every kid ought to have.”

Before too long, that tender sentiment was obliterated by “Bitch School” and “Sex Farm.” Yes, it was Spinal Tap time, but Thursday’s appearance by the parody rock band didn’t quite connect.

They weren’t really tasteless enough to be bracingly offensive, and they don’t have the skills to make their musical jokes as funny as the visual and verbal jokes of their movie and their own concerts, so it was pretty much a case of borderline musical ineptitude played for mild laughs.

The concert, timed to observe the 73rd anniversary of women’s right to vote, raised funds for the Washington-based Voters for Choice organization, whose co-founder, Gloria Steinem, shared emcee duties with actress-comedian Rosie O’Donnell.

Organizers had not calculated the show’s earnings as of Friday morning, but estimated that it would be in the $15,000 to $20,000 range.

POP DATE BOOK

A limited number of tickets for the “MTV Video Music Awards” show Thursday at the Universal Amphitheatre will go on sale Wednesday at the Universal box office only. Among those scheduled to perform on the telecast (either at the Universal or live by satellite from other locations) are U2, Janet Jackson, Pearl Jam, Aerosmith, R.E.M. and Sting. . . . Jimmy Buffett will be at the Glen Helen Blockbuster Pavilion on Oct. 9 and the Greek Theatre on Oct. 12. Tickets for both go on sale Monday. . . . Smashing Pumpkins will be at the Hollywood Palladium on Oct. 21. Tickets on sale today. . . . On sale Sunday is Robert Plant at the Universal Amphitheatre on Oct. 18. . . . On sale now are six nights of Barry Manilow at the Universal Amphitheatre, Dec. 27-Jan. 1. . . . On sale Monday is the Beach Boys at the Celebrity Theatre in Anaheim on Oct. 3. . . . The Kinks’ show originally set for Tuesday at the Celebrity Theatre has been rescheduled for Oct. 17, while the band’s planned Wednesday show at the Wiltern Theatre will now be Oct. 16. Tickets for the original dates will be honored.

O.C. POP DATE BOOK

On sale Monday are Celebrity Theatre shows with the Beach Boys (Oct. 3), Grover Washington Jr. (Nov. 5) and Sammy Kershaw and Martina McBride (Nov. 27). The Kinks’ show originally set for Tuesday at the Celebrity has been rescheduled for Oct. 17, while the band’s planned Wednesday show at the Wiltern Theatre will now be Oct. 16. Tickets for the original dates will be honored. . . . The Coach House in San Juan Capistrano has added Tribe After Tribe (Sept. 21), Commander Cody (Sept. 23), Johnny Winter (Oct. 5), Robben Ford (Oct. 15) and the Chick Corea Elektric Band (Nov. 27).