Back in Bloom

With its blend of R&B;, rock, gospel and folk, Hothouse Flowers created a buzz in 1988 when it hit American shores for the first time. The Irish group, led by charismatic singer-songwriter and keyboardist Liam O’Maonlai, was a rousing live act touring in support of “People,” its spiritually tinged debut recording, which featured the hits “Don’t Go” and “I’m Sorry.”

Hothouse Flowers, with its potent mix of Springsteen-like anthems and soulful Van Morrison-influenced ballads, seemed a sure bet to enjoy commercial and critical success. It often was compared to U2 and the Waterboys. However, that promise has gone largely unfulfilled in the 1990s.

When the band plays tonight at the Galaxy Concert Theatre in Santa Ana, it will be its first local stopover since opening for Midnight Oil nearly six years ago at Irvine Meadows. Not coincidentally, the group’s last domestic release was 1993’s “Songs From the Rain.” (Last year’s “Born” was released only in Europe, on London Records.)

Following a massive 1993 world tour in support of “Songs From the Rain,” the weary Dublin-based band took an extended break from the grind that ultimately proved a turning point.

“Our lives were serving the band instead of the band serving our lives,” O’Maonlai said by telephone on a tour stop in Boulder, Colo. “We’d never taken much time off before, and we wanted to see what life had to offer. Peter [O’Toole] and Theresa had their first baby. And I fell in love, got married and started a family, too. It gave us some much-needed perspective.”

Their pace slowed as various side projects emerged for several band members. Guitarist Fiachna O’Braonain and O’Toole played on Michelle Shocked’s “Kind-Hearted Woman” and joined her touring band in 1994. O’Maonlai teamed with Andy White and Tim Finn to form Alt, an Irish-Australian rock trio that released one album, 1995’s “Altitude,” and toured behind it.

When Hothouse Flowers finally reconvened in late 1995, O’Maonlai said, the members sat down to discuss their future.

“I knew there were unresolved tensions within the group that we just hadn’t faced,” he recalled. “We weren’t firing on all cylinders. . . . My father had been after me for some time to address it, and it wasn’t until he passed away that I finally did something about it.”

During some emotionally draining discussions, drummer Jerry Fehily and saxophonist Leo Barnes were told there was no longer a place for them in Hothouse Flowers.

“It was a difficult but necessary decision to make in order for the group to survive and move ahead,” O’Maonlai said.

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After working for a while with two temporary players, O’Maonlai, O’Braonain and O’Toole decided to carry on as a trio. O’Toole switched from bass to rhythm guitar, bouzouki and mandolin. The changes appear to have fostered a healthier, more intimate spirit of camaraderie and trust, band members say.

“It’s just a blissful experience now because the communication--both silent and spoken--is so much stronger and honest,” O’Maonlai said. “We can be much more impulsive than ever before. We’ve reclaimed the liberating aspect that’s been missing for so long. . . . We’re focusing on making music once again.”

So far, O’Maonlai said audiences are responding with enthusiasm to both old and new selections during a tour that began July 29 in Alexandria, Va., and ends next week in New York City.

The band is debuting several songs, including “Leave Your Troubles Behind,” which O’Maonlai describes as an “uplifting, Sly Stone-influenced, dance-y kind of thing.”

He’s also excited about showcasing material from the import-only “Born,” which he believes deserves to reach a wider audience.

“It’s loud and certainly is more aggressive than our earlier work,” O’Maonlai said. “It’s our first recording as a trio, too, and we just kind of let loose with a sound that really has a feeling of power behind it.”

Band members say they’re grounded and ready for whatever comes.

“I’ve learned an awful lot about myself from all that’s happened with this band,” said O’Maonlai, who plans to record a solo album of traditional Irish music sometime next year. “I know what’s important in life now, and that’s my wife [Aoife] and 3 1/2-year-old son [Cian]. Family is what matters. We don’t know what’s around the corner for Hothouse Flowers. But I won’t be manipulated into doing anything that threatens my life at home, I can tell you that.”

* Hothouse Flowers plays tonight at the Galaxy Concert Theatre, 3503 S. Harbor Blvd., Santa Ana. 8 p.m. $23.50-$25.50. (714) 957-0600. The band also appears Sunday at the House of Blues, 8430 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood. 9 p.m. $23.50. (323) 848-5100.