‘Not So Silent Night’ Lasts a Bit Too Long

The anticipation was palpable as a capacity crowd gathered Saturday at the Wiltern Theatre to hear Smash Mouth, Bon Jovi and Hootie & the Blowfish perform during the Star 98.7 (KYSR-FM) Not So Silent Night holiday show. But the excitement slowly eroded, and less than two-thirds of the audience remained after 3 1/2 hours.

The lack of seasonal songs didn’t turn people off, nor did the hosts’ shameless shilling for the modern adult-contemporary station’s compilation charity CD. But many concert-goers were audibly disappointed at the announcement that English dance-pop chanteuse Dido had canceled at the last minute due to illness.

Nevertheless, neo-retro popsters Smash Mouth, who were introduced by Sugar Ray’s Mark McGrath, revved everyone up in 40 fast-paced minutes, capped by the hits “Walking on the Sun” and “All Star.” For most of the crowd, the high point followed, as pop-metal veterans Bon Jovi injected some arena-rock spice with an anthem-to-anthem set of hits.

Momentum flagged after that. In a brief, rambling segment, Macy Gray wandered out to help give away CDs. Then, although Nine Days had been touted as a late addition, only the band’s singer-songwriter-guitarists John Hampson and Brian Desveaux appeared, offering a short acoustic set including “Absolutely (Story of a Girl).”

Hootie frontman Darius Rucker was gamely energetic and unflaggingly earnest, but his band’s lengthy performance was still a letdown, even with guest percussionist Phillip “Fish” Fisher of Fishbone fame. The indifferent departed after about an hour, but die-hard fans enjoyed their holiday treat, grooving happily to such hits as “Let Her Cry” as well as an array of outside material, including Led Zeppelin’s “Hey Hey What Can I Do.”