Hamburger Morgenpost, Germany, 1996-07-05 Review of the Hamburg show on 3 July 1996. Translation by Paul Inglis -------------------------------------------------- "Old Men's Perspiration" at Elvis Elvis Costello & The Attractions had two problems. One was the half-empty foyer (no miracles at 50 Marks admission), the other was Costello's own past: the longer the man writes music, the clearer becomes his earlier songwriting quality. A painful circumstance. The show began solo, which was also the best part of the evening. Costello appeared fresh and well-tempered. When keyboard player Steve Neive appeared in "Pills And Soap" , all was still on the level. However, after his age old comrades-in-arms Bruce and Pete Thomas appeared in the middle of "Oliver's Army", there flowed only old men's sweat. Embarrassing highlight: an awfully staid groove-rock version of "Chelsea". ------------------------------------------------------------------ From the Hamburg based paper "Hamburger Morgenpost" at: http://www.mopo.de Altherren-Schweiss bei Elvis Elvis Costello & The Attractions hatten in der Grossen Freiheit zwei Probleme. Das eine war die halbleere Halle (kein Wunder bei 50 Mark Eintritt), das andere war Costellos eigene Vergangenheit: Je laenger der Mann Musik macht, umso deutlicher werden seine frueheren Songwriter-Qualitaeten. Ein Umstand, der schmerzt. Die Show solo zu beginnen, war dann auch die beste Idee des Abends. Costello erschien frisch und wohlgelaunt. Auch als Organist Steve Neive "Pills And Soap" anschlug, war noch alles im Lot. Nachdem jedoch inmitten von "Oliver's Army" seine langjaehrigen Mitstreiter Bruce und Pete Thomas auftauchten, floss nur noch Altherren-Schweiss. Peinlicher Hoehepunkt: eine schrecklich gediegene Groove-Rock-Version von "Chelsea"