Review of concert from 2002-10-07: Houston, TX, Verizon Wireless Theatre - with Imposters
- Daniel Wonsowski

 

A Great Show, But...

What a show. Of course, any time I've seen one of my idols, I'm obviously biased, but a great show. Our seats were amazing, 4th row, just off center. I'm still smiling.

Phantom Planet opened, and all I knew of them is that Jason Schwartzman of Rushmore fame is their drummer and Talia Shire's kid is also in there somewhere. So it was a pleasant surprise that they were very good. Maybe not enough to run out and get their CD, but it was a great set. For their last song, they had a drum solo with Pete Thomas coming on and banging on Schwartzman's set. It somehow worked. Since it was their last show with Elvis, and they definitely made converts (people went from "oh well, opening act time" to standing and dancing), Elvis let them encore with Pump It Up, with Pete coming back and playing with them on his drum set while Schwartzman played on his own kit in front of him, definitely a lot of fun.

So the Imposters come on and open with one of my all time Elvis favorites, I Hope You're Happy Now, and they are just blasting through it at light speed having a great time. They ran through some fast ones to get things started, like Doll's Revolution and 45, and then would slow it down. Last time I saw him (in 99 with Nieve), he played Little Triggers and it was one of those moments where you hear a song you've heard forever in a new way, and it's now your new favorite song. It was great again last night, but the song he did that to me again this time was Party Girl.

Now through most of the first part of the show, the crowd, being older and respectable I guess, would stand up and cheer like crazy at the end of a song, then sit back down while the band raged on. There were about 10 security guys up front and about 10 feet from front row to the stage. So during The Judgment, these 2 drunk guys just walk right up in front of Elvis and stand there, lost in their own moment. Security all looks at each other like "who's gonna move these guys?" and before they do anything, the whole first few rows gets up and walks right up to the stage like it's a club show. I somehow at one point was right in front of Elvis, 2 people back, maybe 5 feet from the guy. That was amazing for me. It's one thing to get close to a band in a 300 person club, it's another when you're 5 feet from Elvis Costello.

Inspired by the crowd getting in his face, Elvis started calling out different songs from the set (that was cool to be so close to see, him turning around and yelling to everyone what to go into next), starting with I Can't Stand Up For Falling Down, Clubland, and High Fidelity, not my favorites, but it worked, got the crowd worked up, and then without even looking at the band, he rips into No Action - "I don't wanna kiss you I don't wanna touch you" - and the band just rams in on cue. They were definitely tight, and one of the highlights for me for any show by any artist I've seen (and I've seen a lot).

Other highlights of the main set were Love Field and Chelsea. All the fast songs they'd rip through at hyper speed and the slow ones were ultra dramatic. He also did a great version of Deep Dark Truthful Mirror, the band dropped out and he did a great acoustic version of Smokey's You Really Got a Hold On Me before going back into Mirror.

Not that this was a perfect show. His voice did break a few times (though at other points would be strong & stunning) and his selection of songs wasn't as great as the acoustic show, focusing on just a few albums (the new one, the first 3 and Get Happy). And I just plain hate some of the new songs. 15 Petals on album sounds like bad Ricky Martin. He did an extended loud brash annoying version of it that never seemed to end. The Judgment, the song he wrote for Solomon Burke, works better with Elvis singing it, but it's just not a good song in my opinion. He did introduce it with a long funny tale though about how it's about being on trial in the court of love and the jury is made up of 8 women and... 4 women.

Spooky Girlfriend should've been one of the better songs of the night, but the band made this also sound like Ricky Martin, and the crowd didn't know it enough to do a sing along at his request. He did the same attempted singalong thing in Tart, another new song that the crowd didn't know enough of to sing along with. And ending the main set with Riot Act kinda left no steam going into the encores.

BUT the encores were pretty amazing. He did 2 long encores. First they did a long but really great version of When I Was Cruel, my favorite off the new album, that was like a live remix. He had the tape loop going and the whole crowd in a slow Portishead groove, while Nieve was doing weird stuff on the theramin, the drummer was doing a different beat with mallets on the toms to go along with the loop, and the bass player chugging away with Elvis on some machine taking pieces in and out at will. Went on for what seemed like ten minutes, and it was great.

Then the band ripped into Peace Love & Understanding (a huge highlight, big sing along), My Mood Swings, and a tight Watching the Detectives, using the same effects from When I Was Cruel at the end. On the acoustic tour, that song was compact and spare and dramatic. This time, it was tight and tense because of the rhythm section who knew when to play it fast and reggae-ish, and when to drop out completely, with Elvis singing the last line of the last verse slowly a capella ("it only takes two little fingers to blow you away") before they stormed back in, and even did it as a swing at one point, like a 40s noir soundtrack.

The second encore wasn't as strong, starting with a long Dust 2 Dust - he played both parts of the song, but in 3 different ways, first a bit rocking, more than the album version of Dust 2..., then mellow like the other ...Dust on the album, and then practically thrashed it with Elvis and Nieve making as much noise as possible. I didn't think it would end.

Alison was fantastic. It was pretty hilarious to see the people in the front slow dancing to it, kinda like Every Breath You Take - it ain't a love song folks, it's the anti-love song... He ended it with a long tag, singing lines of other songs to the same melody, first He'll Have To Go, and then perfectly, Suspicious Minds. Not only does that work because it's Elvis singing the other Elvis, but it works because the words are a perfect compliment to Alison - "we can't go on together". He sang 2 verses of it and the chorus, brought the house down.

Then they came back and plowed through Pump It Up, a little odd after Phantom Planet played it (couldn't they've done Radio Radio?). But the finale was everything I hoped for - I Want You. I remember thinking after the acoustic show, it was good, but didn't top the studio version. Not here. Once again the slow dancers started, thinking it was a weepy love song I guess, until he started really bringing out the sicker twisted lines, nearly screaming in a higher register just off mic the "Did you scream his name out as he held you down" lines, the band knowing when to build and drop out, until the last verses, it was just Elvis, a lonely bass note every few lines, and the high hat keeping a slow rhythm. And the final I Want You, no background, just him singing up an octave as loud as he could, trailing off mic. Pure drama, it was really really amazing. Always one of my favorites, and to hear it done so amazing was worth the price of admission...

And that was it. A good long 2 hours, not as well balanced as I'd have liked, but still a great show, and ended on a huge up note for me.....