Savage Garden Indulges Itself in Classic Pop and Lively Setting

With its flashy set and torchy tunes, Australian duo Savage Garden indulged in some classic pop spectacle for a packed Universal Amphitheatre on Friday. But, even by the forgiving standards of feel-good dance-rock, they came up short.

Offering hits and favorites from last year’s “Affirmation” album and their self-titled 1997 debut, singer-lyricist Darren Hayes and songwriter-guitarist Daniel Jones, along with their backing sextet, performed on a two-tiered stage that rather resembled a giant, colorful bug zapper, with its panels of thin, tubular lights arranged in patterns. But the show rarely was as fun as sitting home watching mosquitoes fry.

The live setting should have enhanced the sporadic charm of the pair’s recordings, which were overwhelmed by slick modern production. Yet, though Hayes played the enthusiastic cheerleader and Jones the more enigmatic artist, the band’s mechanical execution was further hampered by a tendency toward U2-style bombast.

Suggesting a lighter touch may be in order, the notable exception was a subdued interlude showcasing Hayes’ bittersweet vocals on ballads such as the domestic-violence tale “Two Beds and a Coffee Machine,” accompanied only by pianist Jones.

Opening act Kina shared Savage Garden’s positive vibe and fondness for Edge-style ponderous guitar, but the L.A.-based R&B-pop; singer and her quintet proved more engaging than her own overly polished self-titled debut album. Still, although she sang in a voice faintly resembling Tina Turner’s honeyed growl on such numbers as “U Don’t Know,” her trifling material carried little emotional weight.