Spirited Thomas keeps it smooth in satisfying performance

November 11, 2009|Sarah Rodman, Globe Staff

Rob Thomas is a believer.

Monday night at the Citi Wang Theatre the once and future Matchbox Twenty frontman exhorted the packed house to surrender to the moment and to the power of music and community in a spirited two-hour performance. It’s partially that sincerity that has elevated a likable average guy like Thomas to pop stardom.

The other booster has been Thomas’s own songwriting gifts, which got a top-shelf professional workout by his seven-member backing band.

Although Thomas’s tunes occasionally flirt with romantic insight and poetry, he mainly sticks to the satisfying nuts and bolts of construction. Like a turn-of-this-century Lionel Richie, he may not be the hippest dude around but he’s a strong pop craftsman who’ll have you singing along despite yourself to one of his three basic kinds of songs.

First and best are the dynamic, beat-driven rockers like “This Is How a Heart Breaks’’ and “Give Me the Meltdown’’ that drive forward with full-tilt, fist-pumping momentum. Unsurprisingly these were the most exciting interludes Monday thanks to the rumblings of drummer Abe Fogle and Thomas’s emphatic sing-shout.

Second, and also satisfying, are the straightforward pop singles like “Her Diamonds’’ and “Lonely No More’’ that showcase his ability to wed yearning and melody. A stripped-back, slowed-down take on his Santana collaboration “Smooth’’ - with intricate Spanish guitar work from Zach Filkins of opener OneRepublic - revealed a song sturdy enough to stand without the polish, as did the tender “Ever the Same.’’

The only stumbles came with the third category. Drab songs like the title track from his sophomore release “cradlesong’’ or the piano ballad “Someday,’’ find Thomas shifting into earnest balladeer mode and sometimes lose the grasp on hookiness and groove. Live, Thomas sang them with passion, helping to offset the more plodding passages.

A couple of joyful covers, including Bruce Springsteen’s “Dancing in the Dark’’ and a Carolina Liar-assisted take on the Elvis Presley hit “That’s All Right,’’ also enlivened the evening, as Thomas made clear the area of pop music in which his belief system is rooted.