KROQ Spreads Holiday Cheer

Joy to the KROQ world. And it’s about time.

Faith, hope, home and, yes, joy--elements often lacking from the semiannual concerts held by KROQ-FM (106.7)--were in abundance Saturday on the first night of the station’s 11th annual Almost Acoustic Christmas concerts at the Universal Amphitheatre.

Last year’s Christmas show at the Arrowhead Pond was an unfocused event, with cartoonish aggression (Rob Zombie) and ironic clownishness (Blink-182) at the fore. The summer’s Weenie Roast at Edison Field was dominated by the petulant rage of Limp Bizkit and Korn. And both events are now more about selling records than community spirit or sense of true occasion.

Saturday, though, with a return to the Universal after two years elsewhere, there were plenty of reasons for the season on display, even if there were few specific references to Christmas. There were faith and celebration in electronic-rocker Moby’s ecstatic, emotional mix--given an extra boost with a guest appearance by No Doubt’s Gwen Stefani on the duet “South Side.” There was No Doubt’s own obvious gratitude for its rise from a little-known Orange County ska-pop band opening the same show five years ago to main attraction now.

There was generosity of spirit from Incubus, transforming its blistered rock (which opened the Weenie Roast) into something new with acoustic instruments and an 11-piece string section.

There was hope in the winning arrivals of young bands At the Drive-In and Coldplay.

And there was even a sort of second coming in the return of Weezer, embraced by the audience six years after its only hit album.

It all added up to a whole that was, wonderfully, everything that is not Limp Bizkit. In fact, it was the pummeling-in-the-abyss sets by Deftones and Papa Roach that seemed out of place Saturday, even if they were compelling.

Moby and No Doubt, whose sets at the summer show provided needed contrast to the raging testosterone, were on this night the spiritual centers. With Moby it was literal, since an implicit Christian spirit imbues his music. With No Doubt it was more figurative, in Stefani’s maturation as both female icon and well-rounded entertainer. The addition of playful choreography with two female dancers on “Bathwater” confirmed Stefani’s evolution into the Ann-Margret of rock--with ska and feminist twists.

Calabasas-based Incubus’ set was both a true gift to fans and an inviting gesture to those who may not have responded to its more aggressive music. Singer Brandon Boyd emphasized the nuance of emotion in his lyrics, newly underscored by the string touches.

Weezer, meanwhile, has picked up where it left off, with leader Rivers Cuomo’s brand of power-pop balancing bright melodies with brooding lyrics, refreshed and renewed after the hiatus.

Most encouraging were the spirited sets of newcomers At the Drive-In and Coldplay, neither of which fall into the common rookie categories of novelty or trend-hopper. El Paso’s ATDI is pure, kinetic passion, with singer Cedric Bixler careening around the stage. But it channels the passion into poetry and commitment, manifest in guitarist Jim Ward’s reminder to the crowd that some of the show’s proceeds go to charity and that in life, “if you see someone falling, stop and pick them up.”

Coldplay, among England’s most acclaimed new bands, made its U.S. debut Saturday, and singer Chris Martin seemed as excited as, well, a kid on Christmas morning. The entrancing music was, by KROQ standards, calm and subtle, with the hit “Yellow” especially evoking a romantic joy echoing U2.

On the other hand, Pennsylvania-based Fuel failed to transcend a generic blend of Stone Temple Pilots and Metallica. But they fared better than Mississippi’s Three Doors Down, the evening’s Grinch, who stormed off after just two songs due to frustration with poor sound on stage. ‘Tis the season to rise above such things, isn’t it?