LOS ANGELES - As the sun went down on L.A.'s Hollywood Bowl Monday night (8/4), lady-killer Jack Johnson [ tickets ], standing before a tapestry of lazy palm trees, offered a set of tunes that was all things relaxed.

For 90 minutes, the smiling former pro surfer provided the arriving crowd with mellow, upbeat waves of reggae-flavored folk. Johnson is an elegant, likeable performer, and throughout his set he aimed to please, selecting songs off 2002's "Brushfire Fairytales" and this year's "On and On." The set included fan favorites "Flake," "Gone," and "Bubbletoes," which earned Johnson and his band their biggest applause of the evening.

And as the moon rose higher into the evening sky, Johnson grew more comfortable and confident, tossing lyrics from the Cars and Bob Marley into the final few measures of some of his songs. At one point, the humble performer announced, "Hey, the moon looks really beautiful if you want to turn around and take your eyes off of us."

For his encore, Johnson played solo with just his acoustic guitar, covering Jimmy Buffet's "Pirate Looks at 40," and pretty much delivering the quietest encore ever performed at a rock concert.

After a 40-minute intermission, Ben Harper [ tickets ] and the Innocent Criminals launched into a lukewarm set that at times seemed to pale in comparison to Johnson's. Decked out in a turquoise cowboy suit embroidered with huge flowers, Harper opened his set with "Glory and Consequence," off '97's "The Will to Live." Things finally started to get rolling once Harper took his seat at the edge of the stage and pried some dirty Mississippi-style slide licks out of his well-worn guitar.

The new age-y Harper didn't do too much speaking, instead focusing on his music. When he did address the crowd, as he did before the stoner anthem "Burn One Down," Harper was downright messianic. "Everyone's destiny is greatness," he said, attempting to convince the stoners to stop smoking and the uptight jerks to start. Had the house lights gone down (they were on through the entire length of the set) Harper may have gotten the response he was expecting.

At times Harper and the Innocent Criminals, a top-notch band by anyone's standards, were able to turn a sophomoric ballad into a glorious epic, as they did with the title track off their latest album, "Diamonds on the Inside." On disc, the song is an unfocused uptight drag. But Monday night the track was big and robust, exploding with soaring guitar solos and crunchy drums.

To be sure, the five-piece Innocent Criminals are ready to provide their frontman with the perfect milieu of Motown, funk and hard rock at the drop of a cowboy hat. And despite some overwrought needless bass and bongo solos that occasionally peppered the set, the band was succinct, melodic and tight for most of the show.

Harper closed the night with his "Like A King/I'll Rise" medley, which he's been using as his finale for the last few years now. Like the rest of the night's music, it wasn't the most passionate performance of Harper's career, but it was certainly enough to send the SoCal crowd home with a smile. And sometimes, that's all you need--just ask Jack Johnson.

Click here to comment on this review.