Lauper's color lifts KISS show

MANSFIELD -- For the first three hours of this year's KISS Concert, it seemed as if the most inspired moments might come from those in the crowd concocting creative ways to stay warm in the unseasonably cold temperatures.

Just as it appeared that T-shirts worn as mufflers and sweatbands swaddled around frigid sandal-clad feet might provide Saturday's most memorable images, Cyndi Lauper hit the stage with a fury and reminded everybody what this daylong show is supposed to be about -- great performances.

Lauper, whose popularity peaked years before many in the audience were born, displayed more vigor and enthusiasm than the day's seven previous acts combined. Technical problems threatened to undermine Lauper, but once things were straightened out, she tore into "Shine." She went straight into the audience, singing a good part of the song standing on a chair, and was the first performer to get most of the audience on their feet.

Sounding great and looking better than ever, Lauper closed her set with an exuberant "Girls Just Want to Have Fun," yet the high note was her emotional reading of her 1986 hit, "True Colors." She dedicated the song to all the gay couples who were married in Massachusetts last week. When she reached the line, "So don't be afraid," the music stopped, and she thrust her fist in the air for 30 seconds, as the audience cheered.

Lauper made the most of her 30-minute set, which wasn't necessarily the case for all of the artists. Teenage angst has paid off well for Avril Lavigne, but onstage, she seemed bored and old. She sang several songs from her new album, "Under My Skin," due out Tuesday, and though her songs come across with more muscle live, Lavigne displayed all the joy of someone awaiting a root canal. Sure, bratty indifference is part of her act, but only on "Sk8er Boi," a hit from her 2002 debut, "Let Go," did she seem to enjoy being there. Can a 19-year-old barely two albums deep into her career be that jaded?

More engaging was Maroon 5, the soulful rock quintet, and it didn't just score with hits "Harder to Breathe" and "This Love," from the album "Songs About Jane." With his Stevie Wonder-style inflections and convincing falsetto, singer-guitarist Adam Levine turned lesser-known tracks such as "She Will Be Loved" and especially "Sunday Morning" into crowd pleasers.

The band was introduced by the Backstreet Boys, who made a surprise appearance and sang an a cappella version of "Moving On," a song from their upcoming album. They were warmly greeted, but it was a long way from the reception they would have received five years ago. The same could be said of JC Chasez who, unlike his fellow 'N Sync member Justin Timberlake, has yet to achieve breakthrough solo success. He performed four songs, three from his solo debut, "Schizophrenic," and though he works hard singing and dancing, Chasez can't overcome such dull, forgettable songs as "Some Girls (Dance With Women)" and "All Day Long I Dream About Sex."

Chasez's 20-minute performance was delayed because stage hands had to mop up after reggae artist Sean Paul. Someone should have told the reigning dancehall king that spraying water on crowds shivering under blankets probably wasn't a great idea. Still, Paul gave an energetic performance, though his bounding across the stage often left him with barely enough breath to sing his hits "Like Glue," "Get Busy," and "Gimme the Light."

With his gyrating dancers, Paul upped the adult-content quotient of the day, but certainly not more than rapper Ja Rule, who was joined by singer Ashanti and Irv Gotti, founder of Ja's label the Inc. (formerly Murder Inc.). With Ja dropping as many profanities as hits, including "Holla Holla" and "Livin' It Up," Gotti offered an apology: "To all the parents out there, we're sorry for cursing, but we love the music, and we gotta do what we do."

Predictably G-rated, Jessica Simpson finished the day, and if nothing else, she has just enough Southern charm to sell such bland songs as "I Think I'm in Love With You," "With You," and her cover of Berlin's "Take My Breath Away."

Since the runaway success of MTV's "Newlyweds: Nick & Jessica," Simpson has become a mini-corporation. As if commercials capitalizing on her now-legendary cluelessness weren't enough, now her little sister Ashlee is vying for her own music career. With rocker pretensions, and looking less like Jessica and more like Joan Jett, Ashlee also performed Saturday. Yet she was so comically bad one hoped that Simon Cowell of "American Idol" would magically appear to put an end to the whole sorry mess.