B O S T O N   G L O B E
                    Copyright Globe Newspaper Company 1989
 DATE: MONDAY    April 3, 1989
 PAGE: 31     EDITION: THIRD
 SECTION: ARTS AND FILM                     LENGTH: MEDIUM
 ILLUST: PHOTO
 SOURCE: By Jim Sullivan, Globe Staff
 MEMO: MUSIC REVIEW
      *ELVIS*COSTELLO*-- In concert with Nick Lowe at Conte Forum,
       Boston College, Friday night.

                      COSTELLO RIDING HIGH AT THE HEIGHTS
     NEWTON -- ''You probably don't remember me,'' the bespectacled, 
self- proclaimed ''beloved entertainer'' said, upon walking on stage. 
''But I was there before you were born. I was a friend of your 
mother's.''
    Actually, Costello was plying his trade well before most of the 
college-age audience at Boston College's sold out Conte Forum had hit 
puberty. Costello is currently riding as high as he ever has; he's got 
''Spike,'' a hot new album backed by a vast cast of musicians. So what 
does he do? He plays a short, low- profile college tour pretty much 
excluding the general public -- which he kicked off at BC -- and tours 
without a backing band. Backstage, he termed it ''acoustic rock 'n' 
roll.''
    Which, except for one dizzying moment, it pretty much was. The 
moment? ''Pump It Up,'' in which Costello plugged in an electric 
guitar, a taped rhythm track kicked in and Costello played a 
screeching, careening, wonderfully disorienting version of the song 
which could only be termed Costello-goes-acid house. (He also worked a 
bit of Bob Dylan's ''Subterranean Homesick Blues'' into it.) It was -- 
literally and figuratively -- an electrifying moment, and as Costello 
keeps honing his show, he might want to include more of those. He 
reportedly has another five tunes on tap.
   Costello's always loved varying sets and rearranging songs. Friday, 
many rearrangements included snippets or whole chunks of covers. Some 
highlights: a beautiful weave of the Beatles' ''You've Got to Hide 
Your Love Away'' into ''New Amsterdam,'' a fullblown rave-up of Van 
Morrison's ''Jackie Wilson Said'' after ''Radio Sweetheart,'' and, 
most hilariously, a line from the Monkees' ''Last Train to 
Clarksville'' into ''God's Comic.'' This latter bit came just after 
Costello -- as God -- mused that He should have turned over the world 
to ''the monkeys.'' Monkeys/Monkees: Get it?
   It was quite a splendid, generous (nearly two hours) show, with 
just a rare glitch or two, such as a guitar malfunction on 
''Veronica.'' These days, Costello is every bit the showman -- there's 
some Ray Davies music-hall entertainer in him -- and mixed obscurities 
and favorites. He shifted moods from the tension-fraught ''Green 
Shirt'' to the country tearjerking of ''Almost Blue'' to the 
rockabilly-retooled ''Pads, Paws and Claws'' to the obsessive, 
romantic brooding of ''I Want You.''
   The place where the show needs some work is its second half, where 
Costello hauled out a large giant (broken) heart where various 
''sins'' were attached as rolled-up banners. The sins were for such 
things as lust, avarice, gluttony, awesomeness and, yes, Geraldo. 
Someone in a wolf's costume waded into the boisterous audience and 
selected someone to come up on stage, be blindfolded and select a 
random sin. Then, they were supposed to select a Costello song that 
reflected that sin. As it turned out, what folks selected most were 
the old staples, such as ''Alison,'' ''Less Than Zero'' and ''Watching 
the Detectives'' -- songs that had little to do with the sin in 
question. It got a little predictable. But Costello sang them as if he 
meant them -- although they're less tense and more gentle now -- and 
he delivered pretty much all the goods for which one would hope.
   Costello's pal, and new Warner Bros. recording artist, Nick Lowe 
opened with a set of his quick-witted faves and a couple of new ones. 
Lowe, who later joined Costello on ''(What's So Funny About) Peace, 
Love and Understanding,'' was as self-deprecating and engaging as 
ever.