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No musical act is as good on opening night as it is by mid-tour.
Given that fact, Elvis Costello's late summer outing — his first full-scale U.S. tour with a band since 1984 — should be a killer by the end of the month.
Tuesday night's show at Pine Knob, the first of the tour, was as good as many bands' peaks. Costello and his six-piece group — including drummer Pete Thomas from his old band, the Attractions, multi-instrumentalist and ex-Bob Dylan sideman Steve Soles, former Elvis Presley bassist Jerry Scheff, and Tom Waits' guitarist Marc Ribot — were in fine form as they delivered a two-hour-plus concert that drew mostly from Costello's last three albums, King of America, Blood & Chocolate and Spike, still one of this year's finest records.
But Costello was also impressive during a 20-minute solo set that found him unusually loose, playful and segue-happy. He worked his own "New Amsterdam" into the Beatles' "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away," "Radio Sweetheart" into Van Morrison's "Jackie Wilson Said," and "Everyday I Write the Book" into Paul McCartney's "My Brave Face," which he co-wrote. He also offered "So Like Candy," one of his unreleased collaborations with McCartney, and "(Angels Want to Wear My) Red Shoes."
Good as it was, it was clear that Costello and his new band were still in the fine-tuning mode. Arrangements of some of his older songs — particularly "Clubland" and "Watching the Detectives" — were messy, while the sound mix was dodgy all night and almost ruined "Poisoned Rose" and "Pads, Paws And Claws."
But those are the kinds of problems that should clear up soon, and, fortunately for the enthusiastic 3,100-plus Tuesday, the glitches weren't enough to mar an excellent show.
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