Expose at Universal Amphitheatre: Young Girls in Love

Expose put on an hour-plus, no-frills show on Friday at the two-thirds full Universal Amphitheatre. No fancy backdrops, no smoke bombs or lasers. The only attention-getting device the Miami-based trio utilized was skin-tight stage wear that almost diverted attention from the lightweight nature of their teen-dream songs. Ann Curless, Gioia and Jeanette Jurado sport better-than-average voices, but there aren’t many tunes or arrangements in their repertoire that fully capitalize on them. So, all the audience had to focus on was the group’s tough-girl attractiveness, and dance steps that occasionally bordered on the ambitious, street-savvy maneuvers of the Paula Abdul School.

That seemed to be worth the ticket price for the group’s fans, who were predominantly young and Latino on Friday. Long on down-to-earth charm, Expose sang their hits with young-girls-in-love conviction and pointed out their family members, who filled a good portion of the orchestra seats. Expose has racked up several hits in the last couple of years, but the best and most distinctive songs are still the early ones: the wistful, gently harmonic “Seasons Change” and the dance-oriented “Let Me Be the One,” both of which Curless delivered with real verve.