From: "Andrew R. Neumeyer" Here's the set list for Friday's show at the Universal Amphitheatre: No Action High Fidelity The Beat Pony St. Beyond Belief Sulky Girl London's Brilliant Parade Deep Dark Truthful Mirror You Tripped At Every Step 20% Amnesia Clown Strike Kinder Murder Shabby Doll Rocking Horse Road Still Too Soon To Know Everyday I Write The Book Watching The Detectives You Belong To Me Just About Glad Mystery Dance 13 Steps Lead Down Radio, Radio 1st encore: Lipstick Vogue This Is Hell 2nd encore: My Science Fiction Twin Alison Man Out Of Time 3rd encore: All The Rage Pump It Up Wow! I had thought Wednesday's show was fantastic, so imagine my surprise when Friday's show was even better. Maybe Elvis just needs something to set him off. Right after "Sulky Girl," when he first speaks to the audience, after the usual "Hey, how ya doing," Elvis asked who had been at Wednesday's show. And then: "Did anyone read today's L.A. Times?" He was referring to a review of Wednesday's show written by Lorraine Ali (not a regular contributor to the Times, by the way). The way Elvis was acting, you'd think the review was a merciless pan. In fact, it was only lukewarm. The headline was "Elvis Costello Can Still Pump It Up," but there was still plenty of criticism -- much of it extremely strange -- which obviously bothered Elvis. Here's an excerpt from that review: "Though the Attractions played with precision and Costello hardly missed a note vocally, the music -- especially the more recent material -- seemed too sterile to stir any feelings beyond the rush of pure entertainment and the warmth of nostalgia. "There's nothing wrong with those qualities, but they pale next to the originality and daring that once were the cornerstones of Costello's work. At this point in his career, he seems like a brilliant craftsman at a time when a new generation of rockers is reaffirming that it's not just craft that makes great pop music -- it's also the raw purging of emotion. "Although the songs from his earliest albums did sound dated on Wednesday, they still had their original angry bite, and their tense edge cut through the polite atmosphere. Newer material, though, tended be subdued and finely tuned, more concerned with perfect pop lines than emotional urgency." The review concluded with this paragraph: "The few moments Costello sang alone with his acoustic guitar glimmered with personality and a sense of who he really is these days. The feeling that emerged was as powerful as his old displays of anger and bitterness, and it showed that while striking a complex musical balance is admirable, putting your unedited self in the songs is what gives them life." Elvis did not read his review out loud onstage, but he sure had a lot to say about it. There was very little between-songs patter at Wednesday's show, but there was quite a lot of talk at tonight's show. After the audience booed the mention of the Los Angeles Times and before Elvis went on to do "London's Brilliant Parade," he told the audience that they would be attempting to "only" provide "pure entertainment" this evening. Furthermore, he promised: "We'll try not to play so well." Before he sang "Deep Dark Truthful Mirror" (one of the few songs in the show where his acoustic guitar provides the main instrumental backing), he said: "This is one of those songs where I reveal the real me, apparently." Before he went on to "You Tripped At Every Step," he told the audience: "This is a new song. We apologize for the impeccable playing and the immaculate songwriting." Before "20% Amnesia," he said: "This is one of those rare songs where all the Attractions get to sing. It's our attempt to insert a little bit of amateurism into the show." (Incidentally, that was the only time in either show that he referred to the band as the Attractions.) But don't think that Elvis only spoke to criticize the critic. At one point, after asking if anyone had watched Letterman last night, he noted: "I have it on very good authority that I really know how to play this guitar." He introduced "Kinder Murder" as "a song about a new disease that's going around. I don't know if you've heard about it. It's called masculinity." In introducing "Everyday I Write The Book," he specifically said that this arrangement was how the song was originally written (although he didn't sing the bit from "Do You Want To Know A Secret" this time). He said "Rocking Horse Road" is "about a walk I took in New Zealand." Despite the somewhat mediocre appearance on Letterman last night, the band was VERY tight, even more so than at Wednesday's show. Tonight the performance of "Kinder Murder" was much, much better. "20% Amnesia" was a bit sloppy at Wednesday's show, but tonight it was just about perfect. "Shabby Doll," my favorite song from _Imperial Bedroom_ replaced "Hand In Hand," which is a fair trade, I think. Some people might be disappointed that "Party Girl" and "Puppet Girl" were dropped (too many "Girl" songs, perhaps?) in favor of "This Is Hell" and "My Science Fiction Twin." I read in reviews of earlier shows that "This Is Hell" wasn't working too well, but it sure sounded great tonight. Perhaps they revamped it a bit, because the arrangement strayed from the album version. And although I consider "My Science Fiction Twin" to be one of the weakest songs on _Brutal Youth_ (it sounds too much like "Pump It Up" for my taste), tonight's performance of it was amazing. My only real disappointment was that "Peace, Love And Understanding" was dropped from the final encore and was not replaced by anything. Elvis also got very weird at the end of the show. When the band returned to the stage for that final encore, Elvis said: "This is going to be our last one. We have to get off or else they'll send us to prison." Never mind that the next song, "All The Rage," would actually be their second to last song. What's weird is the rest of his introduction, which went something like this: "This whole world of show business has been, in the true David Letterman sense of the word, 'Madonna-ed.' I don't know if we'll be seeing you again, but I hope that we do." That's all I can remember of this strange remark. I hope someone somewhere has a tape of this show, because I'd really like to be able to make some sense of this.