... Costello also made witty free associations and joyful juxtapositions. During "God's Comic," Costello's mordant vision of a crude stand-up jokester meeting his maker, he digressed with snatches of the Monkees' hits "I'm A Believer" and "Last Train to Clarksville." During the cutting but poignant "New Amsterdam," Costello managed to segue into Lennon and McCartney's "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away," a splendid mix-and-match. More literally, he broke away from his new "Pads, Paws and Claws" (a Costello-McCartney collaboration) to include Little Willie John's r & b classic with a similar lyric theme, "Leave My Kitten Alone." The humming melody of "Radio Sweetheart" seemed to inspire Costello to jump into the scat bounce of Van Morrison's "Jackie Wilson Said."
Just when the concert seemed "over" with a rattling, electric guitar version of "...This Town..." and the Animals' "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood," Costello came back with his opening act (and longtime record producer) [Nick Lowe] for a pair of duets. The first, "(Marie's the Name) His Latest Flame," was from the [Erica Berger-Elvis Costello] catalog - Presley, that is. "(What's So Funny About) Peace, Love and Understanding" was, as Costello said, "a song Nick wrote and I stole."
|