Your Postmaster General is still getting over the impact of this weeks shows -
The more I think about the two shows, the more I realise how significant they are. They featured songs and performance styles from all parts of Elvis' career. With the Il Sogno extracts, even his classical work was represented. Combine this with the fact that Elvis is not recording or planning to record and his impending fatherhood (on the double!) and it's hard not to think that the shows served as both a summation and (hopefully temporary) cessation of his musical career.
If so, he has gone out on a high. There wasn't a dud moment, with the second night being one of the best shows I've seen him do. From the balcony, facing stage centre, it was possible to see how confident and commanding he was on stage . Lessons were learnt from the certain aspects of the sequencing of the first night, leading to an absolutely engrossing second show.
Both nights started with two pieces from Il Sogno, both uptempo. Elvis then arrived on stage, proceeding without intro on night one into Clubland. This continuation of a hectic pace was a little overwhelming and was corrected on night two by a solo acoustic performance of River In Reverse. This served to let people, most of them rather elderly and perhaps unfamiliar with Elvis, get to know exactly who they had come to see.
Clubland ( a gaudy, magnificent beast of a song , this live setting only hinted at by the MFFB recording) we got Upon A Veil Of Midnight Blue. Night one had a a brief intro about the Charles Brown recording , night two we got the meat 'n two veg., four course version, about the Brown's editing the lyric. etc. Another cracking performance. Then Favourite Hour and on to another Il Sogno extract, Tormentress. Both nights we got a jokey intro. about the audience being able to well acquainted with someone like that etc. As the short piece played we got the only rather silly bit each night, the sight of Elvis , turning sideways, clicking his fingers and , uh, grooving stage centre. He really should have taken a note of how conductor Alan Broadbent politely sat immobile during Elvis' acoustic numbers.
The gorgeous version of All This Useless Beauty was, both nights, introduced with the story about being in Honolulu for three days and, because of continuous rain, having the time to compose an arrangement for it. It was sequenced before Tormentress on night one, it then being followed by an absolutely incendiary performance of Dust 2. Coming out of ATUB on night two, the extreme contrast proved a much more stimulating lead in to Poisoned Rose. By night two Elvis was more structured in his riffing and gave the song a decisive ending.
‘Rose was introduced with a comment about having just recorded and toured with Allen Toussaint. A tantalising comment was then made, both nights, about hopefully bringing that show to ' ...as we used to say, The Continent ' (presumably excluding the U.K. and Dublin). Allen had especially expanded, we were told, his arrangement for the Crescent City Horns bya few more scores for the Orkest. Another perfectly pitched performance was followed by more squeling electric guitar and blaring horns as Episode Of Blonde was screeched out. Yet again this was excellently sequenced. On night one it was kind of lost in the second half of the evening. On night two, as listeners recovered from the high volume, it was all the more pleasant to hear The Birds Will Still Be Singing. This was introduced the story about how when the Juliet Letters tour came to Amsterdam one of The Brodsky Quartet had a very high temperature and was out of his head on medication for the show. It was also the perfect closer for the first part of the evening.
Part two started with Still, Elvis joining the Orkest after extended intro. piece. Green Shirt was introduced with the story about this arrangement being debuted in Tokyo and special credit to the Orkest member who played the 'teepwriten' (phonetic approximation). Almost Ideal Eyes was real workout for the Orkest , seeming to involve all parts to the limit. Almost Blue had the story about being written for Chet Baker, and being borrowed back from Diana etc. The second half of the song had Elvis walk around the side of Orkest , venture in amongst the musicians and assume the seat at the piano as Steve did his Melodica piece. On night one it was clumsily done, with Steve sitting to the side by the piano and just about gasping his way to the songs end. On night two Steve stood to the side and handled things more confidently, even managing to work in a musical quote from (I could swear) My Funny Valentine (there goes another 15% of the royalties if a recording of this get released!).
Watching The Detectives was introduced with a story about it being about a lady whose extreme fondness for murder mysteries and her partners homicidal response. Yet another extreme workout for the Orkest, thrilling to behold. It was followed by My Flame Burns Blue. Both nights it was introduced with the comment about it's original composer, Billy Strayhorn, having written all his life about things he saw ( three or four titles were instanced) and how this was his final tune , and was called Blood Count because that was what he was seeing. This rather macabre talk got a few nervous laughs with Elvis feeling the need to respond by saying something like 'well that's the way it was'. Another confident performance.
She then followed. Elvis introduced it with story that he'd been asked to do it by Trevor Jones with the comment that he - Trevor- wanted to destroy his reputation. This was going to be a song that was unashamedly romantic, with no get-out clause in the third verse. It was like casting Peter Lorre in the Cary Grant role he added. On night one Elvis felt the need to elaborate this by suggesting a more modern version, offering the names Philp Seymour Hoffman in the George Clooney role. On night two, the audience being more elderly, he stuck to the Lorre/Grant line, getting the required laugh. Elvis continued that the 'damn thing' had been a hit - 'everywhere but here'. Another laugh and into to the song...to wild applause. Viewing the second show from the balcony, I saw a curious sight. Dotted throughout the darkened auditorium below me I could see mobile phones lighting up. People were either sharing this Special Song with non-attendees or were recording it. It was the only song to get this peculiar reaction.
Another confident vocal was followed by continuing right into God Give Me Strength. Both nights it was pretty straight performance, with one interesting little addition on night two. In the studio performance the song revolves around a absolutely crucial drum roll, just as the line 'I want him to hurt' is sung/emoted. This wasn’t quite carried of on night one - it rarely is in the live performances I’ve heard. On night two Elvis crudely but effectively conveyed the required sound by stamping his feet for that line, along with the Orkest's drum fill.
After leaving the stage, Elvis returned to do I Still Have That Other Girl In My Head, the Orkest adding a bit of grit but still swinging as good as the Bachrach version. After a joke about doing a song from another century it was on to Alison. The string section was just that little bit short of syrupy, aided by just-right brass sounds. Tracks of My Tears was quoted at the end. The Orkest then downed tools as Elvis 'n Steve gave I Want You a ferocious seeing too. Night two was the better. On night one someone had shouted out for the song just before Alison and, seeing as how it wasn't listed on the set list I briefly saw , it was probably a instinctive addition. I didn't see the second night's set list but I imagine it was listed this time. Certainly Elvis was more on demented mode, going all stuttery 'n Van-Morrison-'Love-That-Love's-To-Love' like, and adding some quotes at the end which I didn't recognise, something about 'magnetic' I think.
By now the crowd was on it's feet, crowding the stage front. Well those down stairs were; up in the balcony the elderly types were realising that it was nearly half eleven at night and some couples left. Hora Decubitus was fun, the brass section really getting a stretch; Elvis doing his hepcat act again, yelping along. That’s How You Got Killed Before was more of the same.
By then it was time to wind things down a bit. The Sharpest Thorn again sounded anthemic , getting everyone 'doo-dooing' along. Elvis left the stage to combined cheers and 'dooing'. As the applause continued I could see him about to return, walking out of the dark to the stage-left. The 'Doo-dooing' started up again and he slowed and stopped before coming into the full light. He let it well up and then dashed to the microphone to add 'The Sharpest Thorn' to finish up the chanting, to wild applause.
Things were then finished up entirely by the no-amplification Couldn't Call It Unexpected No.4. On night one, standing at the stage edge, it was perfectly clear. Night two, from the balcony, it was a voice in the distance that seemed to expand to fill the place. A few nervous laughs were shushed and I could see heads shaking at the audacity of it.
And then it was over. An ending in more ways than one perhaps but all the more outstanding for that.