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Elvis Costello had a choice at the finish of "(I Don't Want To Go To) Chelsea," a crowd-pleasing early hit played late in his show at the YouTube Theater in Inglewood on Saturday.
Should he blaze straight ahead into "Radio, Radio," an even bigger fan favorite, hovering out there yet to be played in his set? Or take a hard left into "Magnificent Hurt," the first single of his forthcoming album The Boy Named If, and a song many in the crowd wouldn't know by words or music.
It's kind of a false premise, though, because if you know Elvis like we know Elvis, you know there was never any choice at all. For in a career filled with moments of unpredictability, Costello fans can pretty much expect the unexpected and that the mercurial singer-songwriter will head anywhere he wants to go.
And over the course of 26 songs and nearly two-and-a-half hours, Elvis Costello and the Imposters delivered a terrific night that time-traveled across Costello's songbook, past, present, and future.
The show opened with a cover, Nick Lowe's "Heart of the City," and then on to "Green Shirt," an album track from 1979's Armed Forces, with its rat-a-tat-tat snares, swirling organ fills, and paranoid vocal.
Next up, the heavier rock feel of "No Flag," a song from 2020's Hey Clockface, then the soulful groove of "Either Side of the Same Town," and, well, you can see how this eclectic set is shaping up, yes?
Costello can easily jump around his catalog in part thanks to the strength of the Imposters, which are the longest-running and best lineup of his 45-year career. That's not a dis at the Attractions of his earliest albums, either, since the Imposters are largely the same musicians.
The Imposters include Attractions Steve Nieve on keyboards and Pete Thomas on drums, with Davey Faragher the group's bassist. And for this fall tour, the band is stronger still with the addition of guitarist Charlie Sexton, who has been a regular part of Bob Dylan's studio and touring band in recent decades.
Sexton's presence was felt throughout the show in subtle and obvious ways. Costello may be an underrated guitarist — he plays very well within the styles he most often works — but the Austin-raised sideman brings a different style to the mix, on display early in the set on songs such as the jazz-blues of "Hetty O'Hara Confidential" or his solo on the earlier Costello favorite "Mystery Dance."
The new album, The Boy Named If (and Other Children's Stories), won't be out until early 2022, but over the course of this month or so on the road Costello has steadily added songs from the record to his live show, playing six of its 13 tracks on Saturday.
After a long, humorous introduction to the themes of the new material — during which Costello imagined himself as a 7-year-old in confessional that looked like a Tardis time machine, confessing to adultery while drinking Irish whiskey with the priest — he dove into a pair of songs from that album, "Penelope Halfpenny" and the title track.
Both were well-received by fans, even though these were their local live debuts; the record, again, won't be out for months, and at times, especially on "The Boy Named If," the sound mix muffled his voice, obscuring the lyrics.
That occasional sound issue would be the only minor flaws in the night. Did he play the country-ish tune "Indoor Fireworks" much, much slower than the version on King Of America I like so much? Sure, but mixing things up is part of his thing, I'll follow him there.
And mixing it up is where some of the delights are found. "Uncomplicated," with its pounding rhythms building louder and louder suddenly dropped a snippet of "Shotgun" by Junior Walker & the All Stars.
Costello mentioned his recent release Spanish Model, a re-recording of 1978's This Year's Model with Spanish-language vocals by Latin music singers such as Juanes or La Marisoul of Los Angeles' La Santa Cecilia, who was at the show on Saturday.
He then introduced the tune "Brilliant Mistake" as the Cuban Model version, and played it in an arrangement befitting that island nation's musical heritage, while also blending it with the jazz standard "The Boulevard of Broken Dreams."
Other highlights included the Costello-Burt Bacharach number "I Still Have That Other Girl," played as a duet with only Nieve's piano as accompaniment for Costello's strong vocal.
There were, of course, much more familiar songs in the set as well. "Watching The Detectives" showed up midway through the show, its ominous, low guitar riff and Nieve's organ fills instantly recognizable.
When "Radio, Radio" finally did show up, 20 songs into the night, it drew an even bigger response from the crowd, as did the classic lovelorn ballad "Alison." That latter number, introduced by Costello as "a song I don't even know how to play," was particularly lovely thanks to Sexton's lyrical guitar part, a style that, truth be told, isn't in Costello's toolbox.
"Farewell, OK," was the sixth and final new song from The Boy Named If, and I'd be willing to bet there were many in the audience who didn't know they didn't yet know this one, given how seamlessly its style fit into the vintage Costello sound.
Finally, "Pump It Up" did exactly what its title suggests — the one thing his shows sometimes lack is a standing-up-and-dancing kind of energy — before "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding," Costello's usual closer, wrapped up a very satisfying night of delights, expected or not.
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