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Perhaps someone had slipped something in his drink, or perhaps it was just that it was the last night of the tour — either way, the once retiring and shy Mr. Costello seemed unwilling and incapable of leaving the Universal Amphitheater stage once up there. In fact, the king of marathon performances himself, Bruce Springsteen, had better watch out after this impressive display of stamina from a guy who once favored 40-minute-and-no-encore-thanks-very-much sets.
Instead, Costello treated an adoring sold-out house to a virtual discography of his fairly prolific career, with two versions of the same song — the poignant "Only Flame in Town" — thrown in for good measure. Not that the singer has any shortage of material, as he happily made evident in a show that included everything from "Alison" and "Pump It Up" to a stunning version of the bittersweet "Peace in Our Time."
Strangely, and presumably intentionally, all the older songs featured vocals heavy with echo, while all the newer material was correspondingly dry, almost as if Costello was self-consciously distancing the past. More irritatingly, The Attractions were, for the most part, over-busy and anxious to fill any spaces left by Costello's spare playing and economical phrasing. Most guilty was bassist Bruce Thomas, whose if-in-doubt-play-ten-notes-where-one-will-do approach ruined songs like "Girls Talk."
However, on balance, the show was a huge success for Costello, whose third encore featured an inspired version of "I Can't Stand Up for Falling Down," tailor-made for Sam of Sam & Dave, and the crowd went home more than satisfied.
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