Wallflowers enjoyable, but offer few surprises

The phenomenon that is the Wallflowers rolled into Alfond Arena in Orono last night, and the crowd of slightly more than 5,000 got what they came for.

Introducing the band was Bangor’s most famous part-time guitarist, Stephen King, who said that his band, the Rock-Bottom Remainders, had been playing the Wallflowers song “Ashes to Ashes” for a couple of years. He came back, this time with his guitar, to join the group during the encore.

With only two albums under their belts, the Wallflowers’ set offered few surprises. The bulk of the songs came off the double-platinum “Bringing Down the Horse”; a couple were from their debut album, now a cutout bin relic.

The audience responded strongest to the hits, especially”Sixth Avenue Heartache” and “One Headlight.”A few in the crowd nodded along to some of the current album’s lesser-known cuts, while most just shifted from foot to foot or in their seats. Jakob Dylan was a charismatic frontman who did his best to play to the crowd, which responded strongly. A regular addition was solos by guitarist Michael Ward.

A pleasant surprise was the band’s choice of covers, by singers around the same age as Dylan’s dad, Rod Stewart’s”Tonight’s the Night”and Smokey Robinson’s”Tracks of My Tears.

The Wallflowers are a band of promise. Since the current lineup has been together for only a few years, it’s going to take time for them to reach their full potential. Friday’s show provided a tantalizing glance at that future.

Opening the evening was Los Angeles-based Maypole, which was created by former Wallflower Tobi Miller.

The set, heavy on hard rock, featured six songs from the quintet’s debut album on Sony,”Product.”They capped their set with a heavy-metal version of”Sloop John B.,”which sounded like the Beach Boys on acid (if that’s not redundant).

New up was the Minneapolis-based Jayhawks. Since the departure of singer-guitarist Mark Olson, the band’s sound has evolved from the country-roots music for which it has been critically acclaimed to an edgier pop sound.

With jangly guitar still wafting through the air, the quintet unveiled its new direction with songs from its current”Sound of Lies”album, including”The Man Who Loved Life,”Big Star”and”Haywire,”which dominated the 10-song set.

Singer-guitarist Gary Louris, who resembled “My Three Sons”‘ Ernie Douglas gone to seed, was an amiable frontman and a dynamic guitarist throughout the set.

All told, the Jayhawks provided some stellar musicianship, although they weren’t exuberant enough to be appreciated fully by the young crowd, which offered often lukewarm applause.