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"Costello sings again," proclaimed the marquee at the Beverly Theater for the first of Elvis Costello's five sold-out shows Wednesday night.
You might have wondered about the sign's sincerity since Costello had saturated the pop press earlier this year with statements that "Elvis was dead." In interviews promoting the release of his last album, King of America, he couldn't stop talking about reclaiming his given name, Declan MacManus.
So you might have doubted his sincerity — at least until you heard him sing. Either as MacManus or Costello, he's still one of the most honest singer-songwriters going. And now when he writes about the agony of an identity crisis you know he's speaking from experience.
Costello's indecision did not affect his tour plans this time. He could have done an overblown arena tour for his new album, Blood & Chocolate. That would have been the most profitable move.
But Costello would rather make an impact than a lot of money with his shows. He had the guts to do something different. His choice to play a series of varied shows in a small theater at each town paid off Wednesday night.
Two-thirds of the way through the show he kicked a switch lighting a red box at his feet marked "requests." He fielded the audience's requests with modest wit and belted them out backed by the Attractions, who sounded better than ever.
Costello himself delivered a brilliant performance.
Material from the new album like "Honey, Are You Straight Or Are You Blind?" mirrored his earlier work. For all his recent complaints about his past, he's now comfortable enough with it to offer to play whatever old selections the crowd wants to hear. Wednesday night these included "Red Shoes," "Pump It Up," "Lip Service," "My Aim Is True," "You Can Please Yourself," "Accidents Will Happen" and "Watching the Detectives."
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