London Guardian, April 17, 1999

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London Guardian

UK & Ireland newspapers

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Elvis's army manoeuvres


Adam Sweeting

Elvis Costello and Steve Nieve
Albert Hall, London

As he returned for encore after encore, it looked as if Elvis Costello intended to play the entire 22 years of his back catalogue. He has never dealt in half-measures. He's never just angry, he's incandescent with rage. He can't have a conversation, he has to deliver a tirade. If he writes a song, he ends up with a whole album.

Yet the Costello faithful couldn't get too much of a good thing. As Elvis roamed freely from the songs he wrote "before you were born" to recent collaborations with Burt Bacharach, the crowd at the Albert Hall shouted requests, supplied singalong bits and went into peacenik bliss during "Peace, Love And Understanding." A drunk noisily demanded he perform "Tramp The Dirt Down." "Glad you like the song so much," said Elvis. "I'm still not gonna play it, though." Elvis was accompanied by his old Attraction Steve Nieve whose stream of inventions and embellishments allowed Costello to take the songs to places they'd never seen before. Surprises lurked everywhere. "Temptation," once a pumping lager-fuelled stomp, had been gutted and rebuilt as a stately ballad. "Watching The Detectives" had had its stark sonic architecture peeled away to reveal a surrealist sketch underneath. Costello used "God's Comic" as a platform for a sardonic dream sequence, featuring grotesque parodies of The Verve and Duran Duran.

The duo also proudly displayed the fruits of their songwriting partnership in "Passionate Fight." Here, Nieve launched into a full-scale pastiche of the Warsaw Concerto. Elsewhere, his clashing fusions of Bud Powell, Thelonious Monk and the great Russ Conway meant that dadaist humour was rarely more than a semiquaver away. Elvis didn't mention the Balkans, but he did sing "Oliver's Army" and "Shipbuilding." He'd saved his finest top notes for "God Give Me Strength," which tingled with emotion.


Tags: Royal Albert HallLondonSteve NieveBurt Bacharach(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love And Understanding?Tramp The Dirt DownThe AttractionsTemptationWatching The DetectivesGod's ComicThe VerveDuran DuranPassionate FightBud PowellThelonious MonkOliver's ArmyShipbuildingGod Give Me Strength


Copyright Guardian Media Group plc. 1999

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The Guardian, April 17, 1999


Adam Sweeting reviews Elvis Costello and Steve Nieve, Thursday, April 15, 1999, Royal Albert Hall, London, England.


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