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Seventeen years later, looking older, paunchier and less quick on their feet, Elvis Costello and the Attractions still can work up a good head of steam.
Opening a two-night stand Wednesday at the Universal Amphitheatre, Costello and his famous trio burned through a set of up-tempo early tunes and a few ballads in a greatest-hits performance apparently designed to give alternative-rock fans who were just out of their teens the first time around a chance to soak up a little first-generation new wave.
Wearing a black suit with a red shirt and wielding his awkward-looking low-tech electric guitar, Costello was in fine vocal form, blasting through "No Action" and "The Beat" from 1978's This Year's Model as well as "Mystery Dance" and "Watching the Detectives" from his 1977 debut.
The crowd gave the band a hero's welcome, setting the stage for the expected reunion of the Clash and other punk/new wave bands that disbanded 10 years ago.
Another difference between this show and Costello appearances during the early '80s was the fact that all the lyrics could be easily discerned. Words tumble out of Costello, and on Wednesday they weren't buried in a speedy blur of noise.
Great lines like, "I don't want to be your lover / I just want to be your victim" and "She's filing her nails while they're dragging the lake" came through loud and clear as Costello made a point of accenting lyrics from classy new tunes like "20% Amnesia" and "London's Brilliant Parade."
One of the evening's highlights was "Beyond Belief," a complex number from 1982's Imperial Bedroom. The superb Attractions — Pete Thomas on drums, Steve Nieve on keyboards and Bruce Thomas on bass — pulled it off beautifully.
There wasn't a great deal of interplay between the musicians, possibly because Costello's current tour with the Attractions might represent a step backward for the artist, who previously appeared with a string quartet and sang ambitious tone poems at UCLA's Royce Hall.
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