Wallflowers cope with changing landscape

Spencer Patterson

Monday, Jan. 27, 2003 | 8:14 a.m.

Intentionally autobiographical or not, Jakob Dylan sure sounded like a man singing about himself and his band, the Wallflowers, during the opening number of Friday night's show at House of Blues at Mandalay Bay.

"I'm doing better than I thought I would, but nothing's ever as good as when you're on top," went Dylan's chorus to "When You're on Top," the first single off the Wallflowers' latest album, "Red Letter Days."

The lyric seemingly longs for the days when the Wallflowers dominated FM airwaves and MTV countdowns, when you couldn't go anywhere without hearing one of four hit singles from 1996's chart-topping "Bringing Down the Horse."

Friday night's concert demonstrated just how much has changed since. Not that Dylan's new material differs greatly from past work; it all follows more or less the same pattern of introspective lyrics and anthemic choruses.

But in the past five-plus years, the landscape of modern rock music has undergone a significant makeover, leaving the Wallflowers to contemplate their declining album sales and dwindling live audiences.

The show, which lasted a little more than 1 1/2 hours, certainly wasn't unpleasant. Far from it. The crowd of about 1,500 -- comprised mostly of thirty- and fortysomethings -- seemed generally satisfied as the house lights brightened around 10:45 p.m.

Over the course of 19 songs, the Wallflowers pumped out a succession of catchy hooks, proof that Dylan picked up a few tricks from legendary father, Bob Dylan.

Jakob's ruffled hair and leather jacket hinted at Dad circa 1966. His vocal technique, far different from his father's, projected powerfully in a live setting, and his capable bandmates occasionally caught fire with some memorable instrumental dialogue.

On the whole, however, the Wallflowers' set failed to inspire. In an era when rock music is dominated by aggressiveness and grit, Dylan's ensemble came off as borderline adult contemporary by comparison.

The show featured few surprises, with most of the 10 performed tracks off "Red Letter Days," played note-for-note like their album counterparts. In the case of such strong material as "Everybody Out of the Water," "How Good It Can Get" and "Everything I Need," that wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

When the Wallflowers strayed a bit, they picked an awful time to do so, stripping their best ballad, "6th Avenue Heartache," of its anguished feel by toning down a reworked version.

Two additional touring musicians beefed up the band's usual four-piece lineup. Yogi, formerly of hard-rock outfit Buckcherry, handled most-guitar duties, lacing several songs with an emotive countrified twang, and threatening to upstage Dylan on more than a few occasions.

Multi-instrumentalist Moe-Z M.D., a longtime member of John Mellencamp's backing band, joined Yogi to provide backing vocals and playing a smattering of keyboard. But most of the time, the energetic musician was saddled with tambourines or maracas as he bounced up and down dressed in a Superman T-shirt.

Wallflowers keyboardist Rami Jaffe contributed a few pretty lines, particularly during an acoustic take on "Josephine" played as a duet with Dylan for the first of three encore numbers.

Much like the band's albums, the show was front-loaded, with a string of its most danceable tunes coming in rapid fire succession at the start. "One Headlight" proved to be the exception, infusing some needed momentum midway through the concert.

The well-known song couldn't save the Wallflowers from becoming redundant, as one song blended into the next, leaving many in the crowd to chat, perhaps speculating on whether Dylan's band will ever find its way back to the top.