Seal: Most ‘Alive’ When Singing : Pop music review: With Des’ree opening, the bill offers two performers of restrained gestures but powerful and emotion-filled voices.

The headliner wore black and barely cracked a smile in his hourand a half on stage, but he left a roaring crowd clearly uplifted. British vocalist-songwriter Seal didn’t need to make any happy talk to keep his audience engaged Monday at Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre--the soulful grooves of his music and his openhearted songs of love, loss and redemption communicated powerfully enough.

The show was the first of several that bring Seal and opening act Des’ree back to the Southland. The bill’s double helping of exceptional singing, gentle vibes and thoughtful song craft was a satisfying treat in the open-air environs of the amphitheater on a cool summer night.

Looking casually dapper in a black silk suit and untucked black shirt, Seal was a commanding presence on stage from the moment his four-man band powered into the opening crescendo of “I’m Alive.”

Seal doesn’t waste any gestures as he performs and maintains a rather stoic countenance even as he belts out tunes full of heated emotion, such as “Dreaming in Metaphor” and “Don’t Cry,” both from last year’s eponymous sophomore album.

But all that emotion is made clear in Seal’s remarkable voice--a husky, expressive tenor that can work warm, mellow melodies in the manner of a soul giant such as Sam Cooke but can also exhibit some chilling power when the music gets tougher. The curious tension between Seal’s cool composure on stage and the intensity of his vocals actually makes him more interesting to watch than many more theatrical performers.

He wasn’t perfectly still throughout the set. He occasionally picked up a guitar to strum left-handed along with the band and, very occasionally, when the band’s beat became irresistible, executed a few restrained dance steps. When he finally cut loose at the end of an amped-up “Bring It On” and swiveled his hips with abandon at the edge of the stage, the crowd bellowed its approval.

His talented, rock-solid band (bass, drums, guitar and keyboards) did a fine job of keeping familiar arrangements fresh and vibrant and matched Seal’s dynamic vocals with nuanced, textured playing. This was especially true when Seal reached back to perform a few songs from his 1991 debut album. “Future Love Paradise” and “Killer” have evolved into even stronger songs than they were on that record and, with accompanying smoke machines puffing and laser lights flashing, became energetic high points of the show.

The wistful, waltzing “Kiss From a Rose,” featured on the “Batman Forever” soundtrack, was one of the more affecting highlight’s of the set, with Seal giving the song a more straight-ahead soul groove than the somewhat grander recorded version. By the end of the song, Seal had accumulated a healthy bouquet’s worth of roses, tossed to the stage by some of his more infatuated fans. He also received a brassiere, which elicited one of his rare, wide grins. “Well, somebody out there’s getting cold,” he quipped.

Noting that it was “time to let it all go,” Seal steered the show toward a final peak with a funked-up, rousing rendition of “Crazy,” a 1991 hit. When a thunderous ovation from the less-than-capacity crowd brought him back to the stage for an encore, he looked genuinely touched and almost a little bit embarrassed.

“Ah, California,” he said. “Somehow it feels like I’ve come home.”

He had saved his most powerfully emotional work for that moment, the stirring “Prayer for the Dying.”

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While Seal’s music often sketched out an inner life of mystery and melancholy, opener Des’ree simply beamed forth warm goodwill. She’s a gifted vocalist and a coolly graceful performer, and her music’s soft, jazzy grooves are a perfect support for her enticing melodies and passionate lyrics, which often ache for either romantic or spiritual fulfillment.

Her playful rendition of her hit “You Gotta Be” had the crowd on its feet and dancing in the aisles, and it was on its feet again for the sensuous rhythms of her set-closer, “Feel So High.”

Like Seal, Des’ree is a composed, restrained performer, but she’s not afraid to let her emotions show. Whereas Seal’s facial expression was often blank, Des’ree generously displayed what must be one of the pop world’s most brilliant smiles.