Polyphonic Spree a Hallelujah Good-Time Treat

Most bands want to make new converts at their concerts. When the Polyphonic Spree made it’s California debut at the Fold in the Derby on Friday, it seemed there might be some real conversions.

“Where do we sign up?” shouted one fan as the scruffy, sprawling Dallas ensemble--two dozen singers and musicians, all cloaked in white robes and ecstatic joy--brought its sunny, apostolic pop into a gloomy world. Indeed, it wouldn’t have been surprising if half the audience spontaneously donned robes (they were on sale in the back), joined the choir and at the end got on the bus as one of the flock.

It was “Godspell” minus the messianic angst. It was (in the words of one fan) “the Muppets get stoned and go to church”--though not specifically religious. It was the Brian Wilson Glee Club and “Tommy” and “All You Need Is Love” rolled into one. And it just may be the antidote to, well, whatever is bugging you.

A cynical observer could project a certain dark potential in the evangelical zeal of curly-topped, mutton-chopped leader Tim DeLaughter (formerly of the more conventional band Tripping Daisy) as he leapt and pointed upward, singing such lines as “Hey, it’s the sun and it makes me shine.” Talk about your cult bands.

But the music, bubbly ‘60s English flower-pop with percolating French horn and piccolo and tubular bells and tympani joining more standard instrumentation with perhaps more spirit than precision, is guilelessly disarming. It’s easy to see how this group has become the hipsters’ pick of the moment, making true believers of such notables as David Bowie, who took the band to London recently for the Meltdown Festival he curated. (Bowie’s “Five Years” was Friday’s encore.) And the smiles of the musicians and fans alike were undeniable.

Let it all shine on.