Ho-Hum? Certainly Not Hoey

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO — Gary Hoey is one cool Southern California dude.

On Friday night at the Coach House, with his face frequently behind a curtain of curly locks, the tanned rock guitarist performed in a white tank top, faded jeans and tennis shoes. It was easy to imagine him hanging out under the sun at his home in Venice Beach.

But Hoey is no beach bum, at least when it comes to making music. He has released five albums since 1990, including the excellent “Bug Alley,” his latest for the Encinitas-based Surfdog Records. He also gained a bit of notoriety in 1993 with his Top-5 radio hit of Thijs Van Leer and Jan Akkerman’s “Hocus Pocus,” as well as for producing and performing each selection on 1994’s “Endless Summer II” soundtrack.

In concert, Hoey’s mostly instrumental brand of blues-, metal- and surf-tinged rock was delivered with enough flash and firepower--and well-placed solos--to elicit repeated chants of “Gar-eee!” from the guitar worshipers in the two-thirds-full house. What made Hoey’s impressive performance transcend an exercise in stylish note-spinning was an emotionally charged foundation.

On the slow-paced, intoxicating “Coasting,” with eyes closed and head tilted back, he played some Jeff Beck-like fusion that was warmly embracing and marked by rich, vibrant tones.

Then, later in the 90-minute set, drummer Glen Sobel, bassist Ray Riendeau and Hoey hit their peak with a masterful rendition of “The Deep,” one of five songs drawn from the “Endless Summer II” soundtrack. Introduced by Hoey as a song “trying to capture the mood of a slow-motion underwater scene,” this multilayered, evocative piece built from a slow, jazzy opening to a trippy, almost spooky soundscape of intertwining instrumentation. It was a wonderful, exploratory sojourn by the power trio.

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Other selections were lighter-weight but just as enjoyable. Displaying a knack for catchy tunes, “Desire” and the set-closing “Hocus Pocus” were feel-good, toe-tapping rockers. (Who needs lyrics and choruses with melodies like these?) And a revved-up, instrumental rendition of War’s “Low Rider” jump-started the Top-10 single from 1975 with its faster pace and harder-edged guitar textures.

The guitar slinger misfired during two other covers, failing to match the spirit behind the originals. His vocals fell flat during a thick, fuzzy version of Santana’s “Black Magic Woman,” a song defined by, and robbed here, of its sweet soulfulness. And disappointingly, “Misirlou”--the 1940s Greek pop standard made famous here in ’62 by Dick Dale--was marred by technical glitches.

Nevertheless, Hoey is attuned to the expressive possibilities within his collection of Fender guitars, which, by the way, he just signed a contract to endorse. In coloring his work with shifting dynamics and using his instrument as an emotive vehicle, the 37-year-old is more than just another cool-looking surf dog.