Canadians Love Attention
Welcome to the new Elvis Costello: Music that's lower, slower
EXCERPTS: "One of his albums may be King of America, but Elvis Costello is now making plans to marry the Canadian queen of jazz. The 47-year-old Liverpudlian even hints at moving north, and based on Wednesday's stellar performance at the Jubilee, his citizenship should be expedited. "
But back to the main attraction. Costello, armed mainly with an acoustic guitar and a rich voice mixed with tenderness, regret and punkish brattiness, delivered a phenomenal set worthy of his Rock and Roll Hall of Fame-member status. Accompanied by Steve Nieve on piano, organ and melodica, Costello reinvented his entire catalogue -- from 1977's Alison to 2002's 45 -- into sparse guitar numbers with flourishes of classical piano stylings. Highlights included Watching The Detectives, a film-noirish romp with Nieve's cat-like piano tinklings; and God's Comic, which included a spoken-word interlude about the Almighty Being and her love of The Dixie Chicks and ended with Costello leading the crowd in a chorus of "I'm dead" and "I was scared."
"Come to think of it, Krall's presence was felt in every one of Costello's songs, old and new, particularly those on North, due Sept. 23. Not only has he adopted her lower register and slower tempos, songs such as You Left Me In The Dark and Fallen seemed to touch upon the end of his marriage to Caitlin O'Riordan and subsequent engagement. I may be reading too much into his lyrics ,but there's no denying the meaning behind the title track. North is a whimsical number about "the perfection of" Canada's treasures -- moose, ice, snow, blond jazz singers."
"I'm heading north," he sang during his second encore, to the delighted cheers of the crowd.