The Wilbur Theatre is an excellent venue to see a rock and roll act, in spite of not serving alcohol. Or having functioning lights. Or booking a good rock and roll act. Such was the case last Thursday, April 2, when the Cold War Kids performed to a sold out crowd. The LA-based quartet had all the ingredients for a cool rock band: guitars, sneers, swagger, choruses, and obscure intersong stage banter, but it didn’t quite add up to what some may call ‘entertaining.’ Lead singer Nathan Willett’s shout-along melodies sound cool and weird on their debut album Robbers and Cowards, but are just weird during the live set. The tunes from the new record Loyalty to Loyalty were slightly more interesting, but mainly more of the same margarine indie pop. Multi-instrumentalist Jonnie Russell’s guitar playing, keys, and backing harmonies were very professional-sounding, as were the rhythm section, but it all added up to a stale sound; “blah rock,” if you will. There were some lighting issues that at first appeared to be an intentional grunge rock shtick, but much of the set was performed in darkness (save the glow from the cell phones and Exit signs). So perhaps the overall dull vibe isn’t entirely contributed to the CWKs, but it said their name on the marquee. Zac Taylor