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Greek Theatre, L.A. — "He sounds like Barbra Streisand" was just one of the off-the-wall comments overheard during Elvis Costello's recent two-night appearance at this outdoor amphitheater in Hollywood's Griffith Park, a performance the artist himself mockingly referred to as a "Las Vegas"-type review featuring romantic ballads and "greatest hits" from his vast repertoire of love/hate songs.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, if you've been following the so-called "rock press" you've probably already heard how Costello, a former computer programmer for a British cosmetics firm who initially gained notoriety as the "angry young man" of English rock during the late-'70s, has mellowed out considerably and thinks of himself now as a Cole Porter-type. Well, that's just so much jive.
From the moment he exploded into his opening number, "Accidents Will Happen," Costello had the audience spellbound. What most of the crowd didn't seem to expect was the binary pacing of the show, with the artist speeding through chestnuts like "Radio, Radio" or "Hand In Hand" from the This Year's Model album and then abruptly switching gears and crooning a slow tune such as "Long Honeymoon" from his latest LP, Imperial Bedroom, only to go into another prestissimo rendition of songs. When the nearly two-hour show came to a close, following a gripping version of "Clowntime Is Over," the singer threw his mike stand down, stormed offstage and refused to return for encores the latter act deemed inexcusable to many members of the audience who booed Costello loudly,
So who sez the guy's gone all mushy and lost his steam?
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