POP MUSIC REVIEW : D’Arby Showcases Powerful Voice

The amps had hardly heated up at the Park Plaza Hotel on Friday when Terence Trent D’Arby and his band executed a heart-stopping drop-down, from the martial-tempo storm warning of “Rain” to the elongated lament of Smokey Robinson’s ballad “Who’s Lovin’ You.” In that one bravado stroke, the London-based American staked out the breadth of his emotional and musical spread and forged a firm link with his audience.

There was one problem though: Rather than riding a triumphant crest, the man with the million-dollar voice is battling to keep his head above water. Radio isn’t playing his new album “Neither Fish nor Flesh,” people aren’t buying it, and instead of moving up from the Palladium to amphitheaters or forums, he presided over a handful--fewer than 1,000--in the ersatz Egyptian splendor of a ballroom at the old hotel.

That could be demoralizing for someone as insistent on his own importance as D’Arby, but he responded with a charged, intensely personal performance. It was like a leader and his loyal troops huddled in there against the puzzling indifference outside, and it yielded a different kind of triumph.

The concert took its main cues from the spirit of the old soul revue: playful, split-second stops and starts, gospel-derived pressure and release, volcanic ballads. Throw in James Brown splits, a David Lee Roth toe-touching leap, and a rubber-legged brand of dancing that’s calculated enough to be sharp but instinctive enough to be loose.

Decked out like a rock ‘n’ roll privateer, D’Arby was sweet and playful, and imperial without being arrogant--he seemed to take true joy in spanning the front of the stage, crouching down and clasping hands with the fans.

Mainly, though, there’s that voice, from raspy roar to piercing wail to agile scatting. It’s a wonder of nature and a sacred trust not to be used lightly. The vision thing will either come together or it won’t, but as long as he can sing like that, you have to listen.