Hello, It’s Not Todd

Todd Rundgren, the man whose pop savvy has influenced Ben Folds Five and other contemporary acts, was sadly missing in action Monday night at the Galaxy Concert Theatre in Santa Ana.

OK, his body was there. But it’s simply baffling how little of his heart or imagination were in his performance, a maddening affair that stretched to 2 1/2 hours.

For 30 years, Rundgren has dabbled in a variety of styles, including rock, pop, prog-rock and blue-eyed soul. The results have been wildly uneven, but his most appealing songs--”Want of a Nail,” “It Wouldn’t Have Made Any Difference,” “Can We Still Be Friends” and “Hello, It’s Me”--show his gift for irresistible tunefulness.

But conviction, color and finesse were sorely lacking Monday. During the first of three sets, Rundgren and his band--lead guitarist Jesse Gress, guitarist-keyboardist John Ferenzik, bassist Kasim Sultan and ex-Tubes drummer Prairie Prince--cranked the volume to produce sludgy, generic-sounding slabs of noise. They seemed to have little interest in communicating real ideas or feelings.

Instead of ambitious artistry, Rundgren and Gress were peeling off indulgent guitar solos like ‘70s arena rockers. Making matters worse were Rundgren’s scratchy vocals and continual technical glitches that prompted him to quip sarcastically: “We have a little Y2K problem here--give us a couple of weeks and we’ll straighten it out.”

Following a brief but enjoyable interim set by Sherman Oaks-based jazz singer Julie Christensen, Rundgren and his band returned for what was billed as “the lounge portion” of the evening.

In support of his latest album, “With a Twist,” Rundgren performed about a dozen of his better-known songs bossa nova style on a stage newly outfitted with tiki torches, palm trees and totem poles.

Gimmicks are nothing new to Rundgren, but milking the lounge and unplugged fads is but one more uninspired move by someone who’s been creatively adrift for most of the ‘90s. Although a pair of songs--an extended version of the Zappa-esque “Born to Synthesize” and the uplifting “Love Is the Answer”--fit well in their new surroundings, the majority were sabotaged.

The music’s breezy vibe stripped both “Can We Still Be Friends” and “It Wouldn’t Have Made Any Difference” of their inner complexity and tension. Appearing uninterested, Rundgren seemed more intent on refilling the martini glass he was holding than plunging into each song’s thematic core. (Perhaps this lightweight, boozy style is best left in the hands of Jimmy Buffett, the master of turning bad news into one big party.)

There were times Monday night when it was difficult not to long for the Utopian pleasure of Rundgren solo, just the Runt singing and playing the piano. Maybe hearing a gem like “We Gotta Get You a Woman.” Or “Tiny Demons.” Sweet and simple.

But Rundgren thrives on confounding expectations, and he’s done it yet again.