Pop Music Reviews : Carlisle’s Smart Sock-Pop on Display at Universal

The people who think Belinda Carlisle can be a bit ditzy would’ve had to concede she was very smart Wednesday at the Universal Amphitheatre, for at least two reasons:

She was sharp enough to rely quite heavily on vocal support from her singer-keyboardist and two backup singers, neatly neutralizing the fact that she’s no great shakes as a vocalist.

And the former Go-Go was shrewd enough to rely almost as heavily on material from her old band--devoting nearly half the set to cool dance-floor faves such as “We Got the Beat”--offsetting the fact that most of her solo work has been a little too disposable pop.

So while Carlisle performed all but one song from her current “Heaven on Earth” LP, the show consistently jumped a notch in both quality and audience response anytime she dropped in a Go-Go’s tune.

The set absolutely soared when she sang “Our Lips Are Sealed” and “Vacation” back to back: Rising to its collective feet, the young-ish crowd went absolutely ga-ga for these Go-Go’s classics.

Through it all, Carlisle--still slightly uncomfortable (but quite endearing) after all these years--roamed the stage with her distinctive dance steps, occasionally moving toward a video screen, which displayed a few pointless clips.

But some weak video touches certainly didn’t prevent her from turning the Amphitheatre into one big sock-pop extravanganza. And she kept the concert very short, which may have been the wisest move of all.