Review of concert from 2002-09-12: Birmingham, Academy - with Imposters
- Malcolm Jeffrey

 

Mesmerising, incisive, compelling.

Elvis Costello and the Imposters
12th September 2002 Birmingham Academy

As a staunch, life-long Costello enthusiast (if that’s not a veiled warning, I don’t know what is), I buy his new CD “When I Was Cruel” on the morning it’s released (of course…), find its contents to be rather splendid (goes without saying…) and watch the unfolding world tour like a hawk for the UK leg, and I am eventually rewarded to find that Elvis Costello is stopping off in Birmingham. I try and persuade my sister Sylv to go but she resists gamely, so, come gig night, I arrive in Brum along with Bob and Ben and am thoroughly looking forward to hearing The Voice again, on the evidence of his most Attractions-like recording since “Blood And Chocolate”.

Squeeze’s Chris Difford is tonight’s support and he’s already on, delivering “Pulling Mussels” and “Tempted” with that distinctively deep, gravelly voice : as I get the “beer” in (no bitter at all for me - or coke or lemonade at all for Bob the driver), I think to myself “that guitar’s pretty good” and am quite appreciating the dual harmonies Difford’s doing with a lady singer. Jostling for position to see the band, Difford’s supporting cast seem very familiar : ah ! - it’s Francis Dunnery, Dorrie Jackson and Matt Pegg, Grass Virgins all, and my sister’s favourite live act ! I was only watching them a few months ago and I do remember that Frankie is a friend and current collaborator with Chris Difford. A strong temptation begins to gnaw at me - I am a recent defector to the ranks of Mobile Phone Owners and I have my Devil’s Box in my pocket. Shall I ring Sylv from the gig and tease her for not coming ? Caught in this moral dilemma, I turn to the evil Ben Smith for advice : with a mischievous Welsh leer he instantly counsels me to ring her and tease away ! Sadly, there is no signal in the bowels of the Academy, so I am not fully lured from the straight and narrow by Lye’s finest…

More beer and chat swiftly while away the interval and soon a looped, remixed fragment of “Dust 2…” from the new CD is played over the PA, and with sprightly speed dark figures don their instruments and take their positions on stage. What on earth is big Elvis going to do tonight ? I’ve been checking his setlists out on various websites and he’s been doing 27-song sets taken from every stage of his 20-album career. Bob has only enough time to mention, seemingly disappointedly, that Elvis looks “only slightly portly” when, with a confident “Oh, I just don’t know where to begin…” Elvis Costello and the Imposters bost off with “Accidents Will Happen”, the straight Attractions live arrangement : although all lighting is focussed on a dapper, dark-suited EC, you can dimly make out the Imposters behind, with new bass-boy Davey Farragher sporting a pork pie hat and a disturbingly open-neck red shirt. Elvis is already at full throttle, spitting out the words and little hands of concrete stabbing at his guitar, which nostalgically seems to be his old red Fender Jazzmaster - and barely have we had time to applaud this ferocious opener when he’s straight into “Waiting For The End Of The World” with equal venom. It still sounds a tight Attractionesque sound, and Elvis has clearly brought his legendary throat with him tonight,- he sounds clear, powerful and downright magnificent, even this late into a world tour. This being the second “oldie” of the night, I do start to begin to notice something Costello will continue to do all evening : the older the song, the more Elvis will prolong notes so he’s singing behind the beat, almost like Eric Bristow’s “dartitis” when he couldn’t let go the arrow. It’s almost as if Elvis is unconsciously attempting to fit his now more mature, mellow voice into the phrasing of his earlier material… discuss (mind you, at least one can understand and recognise Elvis’ reworked earlier material, eh, Bob Dylan…). Still, it’s a fierce rendition of “Waiting…” and the crowd are audibly singing along already.

They’re in a hurry tonight ! Elvis swaps guitars with a roadie at precision speed, and our applause spills over into Pete Thomas’ familiar drum introduction to “Watching The Detectives” - the stage lights have spread back to allow us to see the Imposters, and Pete Thomas is hunched over his kit generating a bewilderingly intricate drum pattern. I seem to remember Davey Farragher having some sort of fuzzy teenage beard thing on Jools Holland’s show but it’s gone now (or too wispy to see), whereas, stage left, Steve Naïve is sporting a tidy, narrow beard which gives him the air of Reggie Perrin’s David Harris-Jones (super !). Following the tight, faithful “Detectives”, Elvis finally allows us to clap properly, which we do, and says hi : he then introduces the first number from the new material as a song about a sleazy guy lusting after his protégéé - we’re an intelligent audience, he fawns, so we’ll know that means “a girl who spends all your money”, and they play us a fine, lecherous “Spooky Girlfriend” before blasting the cobwebs off a spiteful “(I Don’t Want To Go To) Chelsea”, with Farragher easily duplicating a tight Bruce Thomas sound on bass. This is followed by a ebullient “Green Shirt” (uh-oh ! I’m singing the harmonies already, this early in the set…) and a high-speed, urgent version of the new single, “45”, Davey Farragher especially jaunty on his own bassline and tonight’s stalwart on backing singing. Then, sportingly for any old country fans in the audience, we get a crooned, schmaltzy “Good Year For The Roses” - was this really his last number 1 ?

Ah ! Next up is the bitter, spiteful “When I Was Cruel No. 2” from the new CD, driven by a densely complex Pete Thomas beat, that tape loop of what Bob calls “the ‘Uuuhhnn’ woman”, and some of Elvis’ most invective-fuelled punk lyric delivery this side of “Blood And Chocolate” : it’s a model display of classic Costello nastiness, and over the end section he adds snatches of “Gloomy Sunday” while Steve Naïve solos on a melodica (?) and Elvis himself tinkers on a small keyboard. It’s very well received by the Academy faithful (though, before a roomful of Brummies, Elvis’ geographically-challenged quip about “you Black Country” attendees might not quite have gone down so well…:D) and next up is a pretty damn tight “Shabby Doll”, with Farragher skilfully dispatching Bruce’s chord basslines with aplomb. Following this, I get a personal treat of “(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes” (the first real bass line I ever played on a guitar, fact fans), featuring tight Elvis fiddly bits on guitar : although it’s played at gig volume, the audience can be audibly heard cheerfully singing the “oh why’s that ?” responses.

Then Elvis launches into a dramatic, moody “Tart”, beautifully played and sung (I’ve always felt that this one isn’t really finished though…discuss) and then a splendid, sensitive reworking of “Shipbuilding”, both enthusiastically responded to by the audience. Next up we get a manic, grungy “15 Petals” with a realistic brass sound from Steve’s keys, a glorious “I Hope You’re Happy Now” which ends using the “Radio Radio” finish, and then the first set is brought to a close with a raucous and nippy “Tear Off Your Own Head (It’s A Doll Revolution)”, featuring Steve’s new toy, a keyboard-top Theremin, at the end before Elvis and the Imposters sprint off, at a pace belying their collective age, for some towelling down, leaving the Academy attendees enthusiastically baying for more. But we all know the set’s not over yet, and it’s not long before Elvis and co return for the first encore : this opens with a pared-down, stark “Alison”, which Costello bookends with Jim Reeves’ “He’ll Have To Go”, continues with the bouncy, confessional newie “My Mood Swings”, the splicing together of “Dust 2...” and “...Dust” from the new CD and an intense and moody “Uncomplicated” from “Blood And Chocolate”, and thus having titillated us even more, they pop off again…

…and, hardly do they seem to be gone when they’re back again (why go in the first place ?) for a blistering “Radio Radio”, a magnificent “Oliver’s Army” and a jaunty “(What’s So Funny ’Bout) Peace, Love And Understanding ?”, and, following this injection of nostalgia, Elvis thinks we’re ready for arguably the darkest, most sinister track from the new CD, “Alibi”. This is delivered with a sneering, venomous passion by big Elvis, and builds into an epic audience participation, with the attendant fans happy to sing along to the punctuating title : EC puts all of his post-punk angst and disdain into the performance, and it’s a vintage effort, with no-one surprised this time when they leave the stage, presumably to allow Elvis to calm down by disembowelling a small mammal or something ;}. Finally, they return for the last segment of the night, beginning with a manic, completely Attractions-authentic “You Belong To Me” and continuing in the same eagerly-applauded vein by a driving, urgent “Pump It Up”. Then, to round off the evening, Elvis goes for the jugular with “I Want You”, love song crossed with toxic, doomed obsession, with Elvis pinned in the spotlight, almost screaming the lyrics at times and, at the coda, plaintively repeating “I want you..” whilst gradually stepping back away from the mike into the shadows. Mesmerising, incisive, compelling. And that’s it. The lights are on and you don’t know what’s hit you.

Verdict time then. Was he any good ? How were the band then ? Can he still sing ? Chaps, Elvis is still the business. Buy his stuff, go and see him, and keep the other, real Jubilee spirit alive.