The tang of expectation was distinct and exhilarating as Costello sauntered onstage, crushed velvet jacket rippling in the lights. This was the big opportunity... the human touch.
The breathless aggression of The Attractions, the central strength (and, often, weakness) of classic live Costello, had been abandoned, as it was earlier in America, for an almost awesome restraint. The opening "Strict Time" was eerily gentle, the big acoustic guitar hardly played at all and, in fact, throughout the evening, Costello's playing (piano and guitar) and singing were used as dramatic devices with vast amounts of light and shade expressed in a spacey minimalism. This is a long way from the jagged bashing and yelling of This Year's Model or the dense claustrophobia of Get Happy. "New Amsterdam" and a stunning "High Fidelity" really opened out, their lyrics sounding less like secondary modern exercises in sustained punning and more like the convincing studies in neurosis they undoubtedly are.
The audience applauded everything they recognised, even the relatively obscure "Stranger In The House." This onstage Elvis persona is a stranger too, revelationary in his empathy and involvement with the audience, in his humour and even this warmth. "Elvis Solo," he joked, "or Napoleon Solo? This is called 'The Man From Uncle'."
Costello's performance is measured and, if anything, a little lacking in edge but then this boy's not quite so angry anymore. Still, "Worthless Thing" lets him rip into the state of pop — Elvis on Elvis: "Five years in the army and they chopped off his bollocks and sent him to Hawaii... Indestructible and made of gold... Music for lifts."
Going up and up, "Alison" cuts brilliantly into snatches of "You Win Again" and Joe Tex's wondrous "The Love You Save May Be Your Own" and then came the terrifying calm of Charlie Rich's "One Day I'll Make It All Up To You."
Two and a half hours took in 40 odd songs including a bizarre duet with T Bone Burnett which featured The Beatles' "Baby's In Black" and Scott McKenzie's "San Francisco". This was a rivetting performance of songs, newly explored. What it lacked in aggression, it made up in content and depth. Elvis is a man coming to terms with his time. On the basis of this show, going solo may be the greatest thing he's ever done.
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