ElvisCostello.info, April 12, 2009

From The Elvis Costello Wiki
Jump to navigationJump to search

Concert review

1995-11-07 Bristol

Jim Rudge


Elvis Costello with the Brodsky Quartet

St. George's, Bristol. Tuesday 7 November 1995

With the notice of this concert tucked away in the listing of classical concerts in the Venue magazine (the local "what's on") I only just managed to get tickets. St. George's is a church which has been converted into a concert venue mostly used for classical concerts and is operated by a charity — St. George's Music Trust. This meant that a sizeable proportion of the audience were clearly unfamiliar with the music as subscribing members of the Trust get automatic entry to all events.

The hall only held about 700 people, seated in pews with the stage being overlooked from behind by a painting of The Madonna with baby Jesus.

After a couple of songs Elvis commented on this being the third time that they had played without any amplification — this occasionally proved to be a problem from where I was sitting The quartet's playing tended to overpower Elvis's singing during the quieter vocal passages.

There's not much else to say that hasn't already been said in ECIS about the EC/Brodsky concerts. This was another excellent performance, reinforcing my view that The Juliet Letters is a live experience — much better than listening at home.

The big disappointment was the lack of anything new, or of any new arrangements. Only one totally new piece — "Tenderness" with words and music by Michael Thomas. There was a lovely arrangement of an Irish song — I know the song, but not the title! The versions of the three Elvis songs were interesting. "Almost Blue" boasted a very challenging arrangement for EC to sing above, "Pills and Soap" was, for me, the highlight of the evening with Elvis almost bursting to sustain the last note in an incredible vocal performance. "Favourite Hour" closed the show. The strings really brought out the beauty of the tune — a fitting finale.

The Quartet opened the second half with a "solo spot" — "Harold in Islington" — about a sandwich seller cycling in North London. With the violins playing a repetitive loop, you can picture his legs cycling furiously to get from customer to customer.

Elvis was chatty throughout — saying that although he is not royalty's greatest fan, he was happy to play at St James's Palace so that he could take lots of money from Charlie's chums for charity. The future king (?) laughed uproariously with ears flapping, halfway through "Weakness." Did he associate with the song because of the eccentricities of his own family?, our hero asked.