Folky or hokey, Lavender is sweet

Becky Stark was born four decades too late. As lead singer of the Los Angeles-based band Lavender Diamond, she crafts folk-pop songs about peace and love that feel like time capsules from the Summer of Love and the folk- festival haunts of Joan Baez and Bob Dylan. Stark's sweet soprano voice is reminiscent of Baez, but her optimistic message -- which one reviewer described recently as "hokey, hippie idealism" -- may be unfathomable to today's cynical audiences. With song titles like "Open Your Heart" and "Dance Until It's Tomorrow," it's easy to wonder -- is Stark seriously so naively pacifistic, or is it all just a Borat-style alternate persona?

Lavender Diamond's somewhat uneven performance at the Museum of Fine Arts on Friday evening didn't answer this question, but it did prove that, acting or not, Stark is wholeheartedly invested in the band's flower-child image. Galloping from side to side in glittery silver shoes, cheering after each of her own songs, and repeatedly reminding the audience how excited she was to be there, Stark was like an eager teen in the school talent show, charismatic and oozing with stage presence. This comes as no surprise, given that she got her start training as an opera singer growing up in Maryland, then writing and performing punk operettas as an undergrad at Brown University.

Lavender Diamond's sparse, hymn-like arrangements of piano, guitar, and drums seemed toned-down, as not to engulf Stark's sweet voice in the spacious auditorium (which was only about half full), and the result was a bit lackluster -- how many slow love songs can one audience endure on a Friday night? The Diamonds shined brightest on up-tempo songs such as "Oh No," the first track from their recently released debut album, "Imagine Our Love" (Matador), and the absolute high point was their dynamic performance of "You Broke My Heart" -- their final song before the encore. Steve Gregoropoulos pounded away on piano, and Stark's vocals transitioned from meekly polite to bold and emotive, crescendoing as the song bordered on dissolution. The school talent show was over -- here were four talented adults collaborating. It was a welcome, though overdue, change.