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CHICAGO — Three years ago it was David Bowie who reunited with guitarist Adrian Belew for a continent-spanning series of "greatest hits" concerts.
This summer, it's another generation's Scary Monster, Elvis Costello, who's resurrected his best backing unit, The Attractions, for a tour that celebrates the tunes that broke the crest of the '80s new wave.
The backing trio of Steve Nieve on keyboards and the rhythm section of Bruce Thomas and Pete (no relation) Thomas resumed their former collaboration this year on Costello's latest album after a decade's divorce.
But I could hear no domestic discord as the quartet rocked through a three-hour set Saturday at suburban Chicago's World Music Theatre. Costello and The Attractions kept some 10,000 devotees pogoing throughout, despite the outdoor amphitheatre's cavernous setting.
"No Action" from Costello's second album This Year's Model and "High Fidelity" from 1980's Get Happy opened the show in an incandescent glare.
Temperatures cooled for "Deep Dark Truthful Mirror," from 1989's Spike, and the new "You Tripped at Every Step."
It was the one of many tastings of Costello and The Attractions' new Brutal Youth album, including "Clown Strike," "London's Brilliant Parade," "13 Steps Lead Down," "Sulky Girl" and "Kinder Murder."
The latest album's rave-up, "Just About Glad" even turned up among the evening's three encores, fitting into a near-medley of such vintage efforts as "Lipstick Vogue," "Party Girl," "Alison," "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding" and a turbulent, climactic "Pump It Up."
Whether Costello was deliberately sizing his show to the venue or not, the concentration on his crowd-pleasing early material slighted such albums as 1983's Punch the Clock and 1984's Goodbye Cruel World.
Among the evening's brightly shining moments were Costello's "Shabby Doll" and "Man Out of Time" from the '82 Imperial Bedroom album and "(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes," "Accidents will Happen" and "Watching the Detectives" from Costello's 1977 classic, My Aim is True.
Canada's Crash Test Dummies opened the evening's entertainment with a well-received 45-minute set drawn from their two albums, The Ghosts That Haunt Me and God Shuffled His Feet.
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