Review of concert from 2002-04-16: with Imposters; London, Astoria
- Bill McClelland

 

Elvis spat fury

It's always a drag when you go to a concert that's promoting/performing a new album and said album has only been released the day before. You have to zip to the shops after/during work and rush home and try and play it at least twice so that the concert really means something and doesn't just become a wash of new songs that you can't quite hear the words of and all sound a bit samey. This concert was typical of that situation - Elvis played almost the whole new album and naturally it was hard to be as enthusiastic as one would like to be. Which songs will have staying power and will be being performed by Elvis in 25 years time (like some on the set-list have been)? Which will have (hopefully) gone the way of "20% amnesia" and "He's Got You"?

Elvis had a new bass player, Bruce Thomas having presumably blotted his copybook once to often - you couldn't really have told the difference, which is a compliment of a sort. Pete and Steve were as solid as ever. The sound was pretty good, if a little muddy. The set was well-balanced and Elvis spat fury and, well, spit, from start to finish. Good versions from the new album included a rocking "Tear off your own head" (though perhaps that's because I'd bought the single the week before and had heard it more than the others), Tart, Dust (Number 2 or un-numbered, couldn't say, what's that about Elvis?), a funny almost Gilbert and Sullivan "Episode of Blonde" - has he been taking "patter" lessons - , a great "45" (probably the average age of the audience), and a spooky "Spooky Girlfriend". Whether you like "When I was cruel no 2" depends on your predilections - I did, though the words were muffled by the sample. "Alibi" is not a favourite on 2 (now 3!) hearings - it's too like "I want you" (see below).

Naturally for the reasons in the first paragraph the crowd really responded to the oldies. For me the "non-hits" favourites were a perfect choice. Waiting for the End of the World, Man Out of Time, a blistering Lipstick Vogue (which I remember hearing across the road at the Dominion in the 70's) were superb. Of course we also got Pump it Up and I don't want to go to Chelsea. Thankfully no Bacharach!

Elvis finished with Blood and Chocolate's savage masterpiece "I want you". This was as intense an experience as anything you could see in "rock" music. Fantastic, though some of the (few) younger audience members looked bemused....and "Up Yours" to the tossers whose phones were going off in the quiet bits...Come back soon Elvis - with a longer set.