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RALEIGH — The only Elvis that still matters gave one of the few truly memorable concerts of the summer season at Walnut Creek Amphitheatre Saturday night.
It was like a punk-rock homecoming for those who spent their college years merrily thrashing along to Costello's splenetic fits and rages.
With his three-member backup group, the Attractions, back in tow and Elvis sounding and looking like his rampaging old self, the high-energy show was truly a fan's dream.
The concert started out at a manic clip, explored some more varied tones and shadings toward the middle, and then returned to a gallop for a slam-bam finale. Costello was in ebullient spirits, owing to Ireland's victory over Italy in a World Cup Soccer match earlier Saturday.
He and the band have so much to get off their chests that they barely pause for breath between songs.
The segues were tight, and the show barreled forward with a momentum that kept the crowd on their feet for all but a few songs.
Costello's opening volley consisted of material from the golden era of This Year's Model, including versions of "No Action" and "On the Beat" that were rushed together into a jam sandwich.
The group added filigree to freneticism on "Beyond Belief," a cascading swirl of classically tempered keyboard arpeggios and driving rhythms joined by Costello's ever-more-assertive guitar playing. Steve Nieve rotated among a phalanx of keyboards, serving as a veritable one-man keyboard symphony.
His strongest performance as a singer came during "Deep Dark Truthful Mirror," a scarifying song about self-reflection that reverberated with the authority of the Band's strongest material.
The band displayed its ensemble virtuosity in "Clown Strike," a song that bounced along to a beach-music beat before evolving into a jazzy ride-out.
Costello quoted the standard "My Favorite Things" during that number. In a similar vein, he broke into "On Broadway" during "Clubland."
"Veronica," a song Costello co-wrote with Paul McCartney, revived and readied the crowd for the furious final stretch.
He worked the moody, reggae-fied rhythms of "Watching the Detectives" with a surgeon's precision, and then proceeded to jack up the tempo for a sprint to the finish line that consisted of a frenzied old song, "You Belong to Me," an equally compelling new one "13 Steps Lead Down," and one of his all-time anthems, "Radio, Radio."
Never have the lyrics of the latter song — an indictment of rock radio's treasonous mediocrity — seemed more apropos than this moment, some 16 years after they were written.
As for Elvis, he appears to have aged not a whit.
He was short-haired and angry back then, and, after some detours along the way, he appears to be much the same now. After giving the audience 90 minutes of nonstop energy, he returned to the stage for three lengthy multi-song encores. Long may he rant.
Costello was preceded by the Crash Test Dummies, a Canadian band led by one Brad Roberts, who sang his off-kilter pop songs in an intriguing lower register. The material was brooding and interesting, particularly the unlikely dada-es-que hit "Mmm-Mmm-Mmm-Mmm." The band won the crowd over by the end of its smart, concise set.
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