POP BEAT : MINNELLI STAGES HIGH-VOLTAGE SHOW

Bold! Bright! Brassy! Golden! Glorious! Grand! The adjectives to describe Liza Minnelli’s performances don’t exactly come in the muted colors of gaslight. Opening at the Universal Amphitheatre on Thursday for a four-night run, she generated enough electricity to light the stage, the hall, and most of the L.A. basin.

Bursting down a spotlighted ramp in a brilliant gold gown, Minnelli wasted no time in setting the energy level on high with a sparkling interpretation of “With a Song in My Heart” that whimsically tossed in bits of everything from “I Feel a Song Coming On” and “Clap Yo’ Hands” to “I Am What I Am” and “Everything’s Coming Up Roses.”

Barely missing a beat, she turned down the lights, but not the intensity, with impressive jazz-tinged versions of “My Ship” and “The Man I Love.”

Best of all were the numbers that displayed Minnelli’s versatility as an actress. Moving easily from a one-character song to another, she slipped in and out of various personas with the ease of a velvet chameleon. Among the best: “Maybe This Time” from “Cabaret,” “I Am My Own Best Friend” from “Chicago,” the gum-chewing, only-in-New-York “Ring Them Bells” and the wistful narrative of a marriage gone sour, “You’ve Let Yourself Go.”

A few clouds managed to darken the face of all this sunshine. Consummate performer that she is, Minnelli knows how to make the most of a moment, but by the time the evening was half over, at least one of her methods for doing so was too glaringly obvious.

More than half her numbers started soft, gathered steam quickly, built to a high-stepping, audience-rousing half-time climax, and slammed out on a high note. Exciting? Yes. Interesting? Only up to a point. Even the blandishments of Disneyland begin to pale with too much exposure.

Another problem was the thin and cheesy sound of the ensemble backing her. The three brass and three woodwind players, good as they were, seemed to be struggling with charts conceived for a larger group. And even when the arrangements sounded appropriate for the instrumentation, they lacked the character and personality one would expect for a singer of her stature.

But Minnelli is too good at what she does to be distracted by anything. Looking mature and self-confident, and well past the time when she sounded like an immature version of her mother Judy Garland, Minnelli generated the bigger-than-life energies of the world-class entertainer she has become.

LIVE ACTION: Tickets go on sale Monday for Chicago’s Universal Amphitheatre shows Nov. 25, 26 and 28 (an incorrect date is printed in this Sunday’s Calendar ad). . . . Tickets will also be available Monday for Journey’s Dec. 26 appearance at the Long Beach Arena. . . . Fela Anikulapo Kuti will make his local debut at the Olympic Auditorium Nov. 15.

Neil Young and Peter Gabriel have added a show to their previously announced engagements at the Universal Amphitheatre and the Forum, respectively. . . . Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds will be at the Variety Arts Center on Wednesday. . . . Coming to the Roxy: Timbuk 3 (Nov. 14), Smithereens (Nov. 22) and David & David (Dec. 16-17).