Ellevill Elvis leverte
Elvis impressed in Oslo -
The musical chameleon Elvis Costello doesnīt give a toss what music critics
might think of his variety of musical genres. However, he does give a toss
about his fans, and last night night, a very focused and playful Costello
invited the crowd at Rockefeller Music Hall to a party. Now, Costello is a
smart guy, and even though the critics has been ecstatic about his new album
The Delivery Man, he knows heīs got a huge back-catalogue of great songs to
choose from, and last night he wisely mixed his new songs with some of his
classics, mixing the energetic and fierce rockers with the subdued and
melancholic ballads.
To those who mightīve thought that the presence of The Imposters would give
the evening a tinge of the C&W, like they do on TDM, they were proven wrong
He performed highlights from his entire career, from KOA, WIWC, and of
course from TDM. Unlike other artists, Costello saves some of the new
numbers for the encores, or should I say the "extra-set" ? Last night he
performed two extra-sets total and during the last one he did his signature-songs; "Alison", "Oliverīs army" and "PLU".
For well over two-and-a-half-hour Elvis delivers...again, and again...and
again. Thanks, Elvis !!
Translated by Sverre Ronny Sætrum , who also comments -
Extract -
Iīm not often rendered speechless. But after seeing Elvis and The Imposters
for two-and-a-half hours last night, I was completely lost for words. It is
the best EC concert Iīve ever seen, in Norway or elsewhere. I kid you not.
Elvis is more fierce than he was in the late 70īs, his singing voice is just
getting better and better, the gig was a veritable juke-box of songs from
his entire back-catalogue, and not ONCE did I get the impression that he was
going through the motions. The often tiresome stand-up comedy act of earlier
gigs are gone, he spends his two-and-a-half-hour onstage racing through his
back-catalogue like there is no tomorrow, only slowing down a bit for some
of the awesome ballads. And The Imposters are now simply one of the
tightest combos in the biz.Dave is both a brilliant bass-player AND a good
harmony/backing-singer, Steveīs theremin-doodling is kept to a minimum,
consentrating of truly awesome playing on the piano, organ, melodica,
harmonica. And Pete Thomas is the best drummer in rock and roll music, non ?
From Sverre Ronny Sætrum , eclistserv
Iīm not often rendered speechless. But after seeing Elvis and The Imposters
for two-and-a-half hours last night, I was completely lost for words. It is
the best EC concert Iīve ever seen, in Norway or elsewhere. I kid you not.
Elvis is more fierce than he was in the late 70īs, his singing voice is just
getting better and better, the gig was a veritable juke-box of songs from
his entire back-catalogue, and not ONCE did I get the impression that he was
going through the motions. The often tiresome stand-up comedy act of earlier
gigs are gone, he spends his two-and-a-half-hour onstage racing through his
back-catalogue like there is no tomorrow, only slowing down a bit for some
of the awesome ballads. And The Imposters are now simply one of the
tightest combos in the biz. I first saw them at the Royal Festival Hall
Meltdown concert in London in 2001 , then at the London Hippodrome when WIWC was released, when they sounded
under-rehearsed.They played at Rockefeller in Oslo two years ago, and had
improved much by that time, but IMO, they didnīt have as good an album as
TDM to support at that time. Besides, Elvis was also intent on playing with
his new electronic toys, and The Mad Professor really went ga-ga with his
theremin. Not to everyoneīs taste.....But this time around itīs a tight rock
and roll unit on stage. Dave is both a brilliant bass-player AND a good
harmony/backing-singer, Steveīs theremin-doodling is kept to a minimum,
consentrating of truly awesome playing on the piano, organ, melodica,
harmonica. And Pete Thomas is the best drummer in rock and roll music, non ?
I deliberately forgot paper and pencil, opting for sheer enjoyment, thus the
set-list as follows is in no particular order, but this IS all the songs
they played:
The first 5 are in correct order, though, and itīs part of why I think itīs
the best EC show Iīve been to:
BLUE CHAIR
TEAR OFF YOUR OWN HEAD (ITīS THE DOLL REVOLUTION)
NEXT TIME ROUND
BEYOND BELIEF
RADIO RADIO
(NOT A BAD OPENING-SALVO, IS IT..???)
BUTTON MY LIP
COUNTRY DARKNESS
EITHER SIDE OF THE SAME TOWN
DARK END OF THE STREET
BEDLAM
THE DELIVERY MAN
MONKEY TO MAN
NOTHING CLINGS LIKE IVY
HEART-SHAPED BRUISE
NEEDLE TIME
THE SCARLET TIDE
WHEN I WAS CRUEL
HIDDEN CHARMS
LOVE THAT BURNS
KINDER MURDER
UNCOMPLICATED
BRILLIANT MISTAKE
SUIT OF LIGHTS
HIGH FIDELITY
MOTEL MATCHES
OLIVERīS ARMY
WHAT SO FUNNY īBOUT PEACE,LOVE AND UNDERSTANDING ?
PUMP IT UP
WATCHING THE DETECTIVES
I DONīT WANT TO GO TO CHELSEA
BLAME IT ON CAIN
ALISON/SUSPICIOUS MINDS
HIGHLIGHTS:
COUNTRY DARKNESS is more guitar-driven than the album version and benefits
hugely from this. One of his best ballads EVER.
HEART-SHAPED BRUISE, Dave is singing great harmony vocals, stepping in for
Ms.Emmylou Harris (EC: "They wouldnīt let the cow-girl into this country..."
SUIT OF LIGHTS is stunning
BRILLIANT MISTAKE from semi-acoustic to electric, probably close to how it
wouldīve sounded if The Attractions had played it on KOA.
THE SCARLET TIDE Itīs the last encore and itīs the most beautiful version
Iīve heard of it so far. Again, Dave sings the harmony-vocals, Steve adds a
beautiful melodica-theme and Pete offers some gentle playing on the tom-toms
During the song, the crowd was utterly silent and the post-song roar was
thunderous. Goosebumps-time.
MOTEL MATCHES One of my favorite EC tunes. Itīs awesome.
DOWNERS:
WHEN I WAS CRUEL Not a great song to begin with, IMO, a bit better without
the samples and electronic doodling of past,but I still wish heīd drop it
from the show
NEEDLE TIME Ditto, not a great song, doesnīt work live, drop it.