World Party returns from oblivion with cult appeal

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Karl Wallinger's World Party was more like an exclusive club Monday at the Roxy. Thirteen years ago, when Wallinger and company shared a bill with

Lenny Kravitz on a massive outdoor stage at Disney World's Pleasure Island at the National Association of Recording Merchandisers convention, both acts seemed on the verge of major success. Kravitz subsequently went on to reach platinum sales heights. World Party all but disappeared.

After surviving the death of his longtime manager, Steve Fargnoli, the closure of his American label and a life-threatening brain aneurysm, Wallinger has opted to get the Party started again. He recently gained the rights to his back catalog from EMI and signed a distribution deal with Universal's indie arm Fontana to rerelease the discs, including 2000's "Dumbing Up," which was finally issued in the U.S. this year.

Sadly, the man who makes mass-appeal Beatlesque pop has been reduced to a cult act whose handful of hits receive airplay only as wild cards on Jack FM. Still, Wallinger and company were in good spirits Monday night, even if a second date had been curiously canceled because of "a scheduling conflict," according to the Roxy's Web site. (The band was still set for an in-store appearance Tuesday night at Tower Records on the Sunset Strip.)

While his popularity might have sagged over the years, Wallinger's songcraft was still intact Monday. The band's nearly 90-minute set had the mostly middle-age crowd dancing and reaching for their cell phones to capture video of an old favorite's return.

Backed by a six-piece band that at times included fiddle, mandolin and accordion, Wallinger was a bit grayer and heavier, but his voice and knack for delivering memorable melodies was still strong.

The singer-songwriter who launched World Party after a stint in the Waterboys is an unapologetic Beatle disciple who plays guitar left-handed like

Paul McCartney and sports glasses like John Lennon. When Nathan Fisher had a technical problem with his McCartney-styled Hohner violin-shaped bass, Wallinger sat down at the piano and busted out a few verses of the Beatles' "Martha My Dear," before launching into his own "She's the One." That's the song that

Robbie Williams turned into a massive British hit that kept Wallinger afloat during the lean years.

For most of the show, Wallinger and crew stuck to a comfortable midtempo groove, but they cranked things up a few notches toward the end of the set with the Stones-like blues of "Is It Too Late?" spiced up with ex-Blockhead John Turnbull's scorching guitar licks, and "Way Down Now," with the crowd providing the "woo woo" backing vocals during a drum-and-bass breakdown.

Closing with a slowed-down and more soulful take of his signature hit "Ship of Fools," which sounded like some lost '70s classic, Wallinger reminded us why we cared in the first place, and made us wish more people would realize that this Party is still well worth attending.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter