POP MUSIC REVIEW : Lumps of Coal Fill KROQ’s 2nd Stocking

If the first night of of KROQ’s “Almost Acoustic Christmas” benefit on Saturday at the Universal Amphitheatre was a sweepstakes mega-winner, with such exciting and passionate acts as Hole, Liz Phair, Luscious Jackson and the Jesus and Mary Chain, the second night on Sunday, with one blase band after the next, was the cheesy door prize.

Simple Minds, Brian Setzer and Love Spit Love (with Richard Butler of the Psychedelic Furs) were able to motivate the audience only with old, proven hits, while even more recent acts--such as Sheryl Crow and the Black Crowes--rang of retro.

Weak “alternative” bands such as the Cranberries, Candlebox and Weezer sounded like diluted versions of Sinead O’Connor and Nirvana. The entire five-hour show show seemed to linger in a void of mediocrity, with no one artist ever truly hitting a nerve or standing apart.

Dinosaur Jr. took the honors for best set--a rare win for a band that’s renowned for its noisy and shapeless live shows. As the antithesis of acoustic, the trio inspired much of the crowd to plug its ears against its wall of massive guitar pop. The din eventually mutated into a hypnotic mantra that lifted rather than smashed the listener.

Second best were the Black Crowes, whose set consisted mainly of material from their 1991 debut album. The Georgia band played a strong set of Faces-inspired tunes while singer Chris Robinson hammed up each line as if he were delivering a sermon.

The worst act from the Saturday show, Live, came back as a substitute for the scheduled Mazzy Star and played one more excruciating set marked by over-dramatic vocals. Seal’s smooth R&B; was more suited to a dinner party than a rock show. Singer-songwriter Sheryl Crow, one of the year’s best-selling arrivals, turned in a set of generic adult-pop, while Setzer’s 16-piece orchestra gave the audience the tightest blast from the past: a big-band rendition of his old Stray Cats hit “Rock This Town.”

The finale came with Simple Minds--the veteran Scottish band thought to have gone the way of skinny ties--doing its 1985 hit “Don’t You Forget About Me.” That title seemed like an appropriate but futile plea for the whole evening.