OCEAN’S SET SAILS INTO CARIBBEAN

Billy Ocean came on like a Trinidadian Lionel Richie at the Universal Amphitheatre--but with more of an easy, unapologetic attitude toward his middle-of-the- road love songs. It’s as if he’s saying, “Hey, I’m no trend-setting hipster, but I can still deliver the goods.” The emotional high point of Saturday’s show was “Suddenly,” a gently seductive love ballad that can win you over almost against your will.

Ocean (who plays the Pacific Amphitheatre tonight) delivered on “Stay the Night,” a steel drums-enhanced Caribbean rocker that inspired some fluid dance moves guaranteed to dishevel his designer duds. Though his hour-plus set took a while to generate steam, Ocean was thoroughly rocking and rolling by the evening’s end. Not bad for a middle-of-the-road hipster.

Opening act Meli’sa Morgan, wearing the biggest explosion of blonde hair this side of Twisted Sister’s Dee Snider, was at her best on a torrid, note-twisting version of her most recent hit, “Do You Still Love Me?”