ELVIS COSTELLO & THE ATTRACTIONS
at Great Woods, Mansfield, MA
Sunday, June 12, 1994

I sat in row Y of Section 2, which is the right/center section.  During the
second encore, I managed to work my way up to the front; I could reach out
and touch the stage in front of Bruce Thomas, who stood to the right, and a
little behind, Elvis.  Pete Thomas was straight behind Elvis.  Steve Nieve
completed the diamond on the left side.  Elvis wore a red shirt, open
collared, a black vest, a black suit jacket, and black jeans.  Elvis looked
good.  He was trim and seemed in a jolly mood.  He did not engage in much
repartee, but when he did, he stuck to relatively positive witticisms.
Thankfully absent were political speeches and bitter sarcasms.

Bruce wore a tee-shirt with an enigmatic slogan that I cannot recall and
grey striped suit pants.  Steve wore a purple, possibly velour, shirt and
blue jeans.  Pete wore a tee-shirt that stated, I think, "Sun Records" and,
I think, jeans.  Steve and Pete looked wild and crazy, sung along with
certain tunes, and in general looked like they were enjoying themselves.
Bruce, wearing his bass strapped low, looked like a hurt little boy at times
and got really angry when his bass malfunctioned (he threw it on the ground
and picked up another bass; shortly afterwards, he appeared to yell at and
push a guitar technician apparently trying to remedy the situation; all this
in the middle of Kinder Murder).  At other times, however, Bruce looked like
he was having fun.

Elvis and the Attractions played loud.  They started off the show by
ploughing frenetically through four old classics, in the old style.  Then,
after a brief welcome by Elvis, they did Sulky Girl, and the next few songs,
with much less energy.  On some songs, including a number of the new songs,
the Attractions were solid, but not inspirational.  Not so on most of the
songs, however.  In general, on the old songs, and on a few of the new songs
(notably, Pony Street and My Science Fiction Twin), Elvis and the
Attractions played with intense energy and improvised with abandon.  Pete
was outstanding, as usual, on drums.  Steve's keyboard playing was at times
humorous, at times annoying, and rarely subtle.  On some songs, the way he
grabbed at different keyboards reminded me of the keyboardist for NRBQ.
Bruce's bass playing was solid, and during improvisatory sections kept
things going.  Elvis switched between his Jazzmaster and an acoustic guitar.
Elvis's guitar playing was very solid rhythmically.  His occasional soloing
was not particularly interesting, however.

One unhappy surprise.  Elvis's voice must have been a little under the
weather.  He seemed a little flat on some sections of songs and missed a few
high notes.  This is nitpicking, however.

In sum, it was an excellent concert.  Over two hours of great music with
little interruption.


SET LIST:

No Action
The Beat
Waiting for the End of the World
Beyond Belief
Sulky Girl
London's Brilliant Parade
Deep Dark Truthful Mirror
Pony Street
New Lace Sleeves
Clown Strike
Kinder Murder
Clubland/On Broadway
Rocking Horse Road/Bye Bye
Still Too Soon To Know
Everyday I Write the Book
My Science Fiction Twin
Watching the Detectives
You Belong to Me
13 Steps Lead Down
Radio, Radio

Lipstick Vogue/(I Don't Want To Go to) Chelsea
Party Girl

Puppet Girl
Allison/Tracks of My Tears [over the last four chords of Allison]
Accidents Will Happen
All the Rage
(What's So Funny 'bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding?
Pump It Up
                                                 Stephen C. Crampton
                                                 of Cambridge, MA