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Forget tonight's Guy Fawkes bashes — this week's real indoor fireworks were provided by Elvis Costello.
For two hours and 20 minutes EC and ex-Attractions keyboards man Steve Nieve held the crowd in the palms of their hands with a set which ranged from "Radio Sweetheart" — the first song Costello ever recorded to songs so far unreleased.
The sneering neurosis of Costello's early years has long given way to an experimental series of collaborations with everybody from the Brodsky Quartet to Burt Bacharach. Three Costello-Bacharach songs, including a stunning "God Give Me Strength," lost none of their baroque melancholia. And old favourites like "Radio, Radio," "Green Shirt" and "Watching The Detectives" had all their old fire.
Two new songs Costello and Nieve's sour vignette "You Lie Sweetly" and one from upcoming song cycle The Delivery Man — showcased his reflective side.
The only misstep was the vapid "She" from Notting Hill — the worst thing he's ever done. It took heavyhitters "Suit Of Lights" and "I Want You" to superbly save the day. The finale was an enigmatic and totally unamplified "Couldn't Call It Unexpected No. 4" — a spine-tingling end to an astonishing night.
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