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You can't hide behind an acoustic show. If anything goes wrong — broken guitar strings, forgotten words — you're stuck.
And although Elvis Costello did break some strings and forget some words, his concert Sunday night in Rec Hall was a minimalistic, enjoyable show full of all the things that make a concert good.
Costello was genuinely funny. He talked about things that college students care about — drugs, sin and Wendy's.
He made fun of Geraldo's self-righteous interviews, saying Geraldo would soon interview God. He made fun of Bret Easton Ellis' depressing style of writing. (Especially Less Than Zero.) He made fun of the Grateful Dead.
But when he sang, he could not hide. This was the REAL Elvis, and he was pretty impressive. Songs like "Accidents Will Happen," his musical greeting, were sung with passion and sometimes humor, as Costello hunched over his acoustic guitar.
His voice was sometimes crisp and clear, sometimes raspy and harsh. But whenever audience members sang, Elvis sang back. Whenever audience members hooted, Elvis hooted back. The stage set was not pretentious, nor was Costello. He didn't have anything to hide.
He sang some new songs from Spike such as "Veronica" and "Let Him Dangle," the former about a senior citizen, and the latter about a man who was unjustly hanged.
He sang some old songs such as "The Angels Wanna Wear My Red Shoes" and a heartfelt "Alison." Some songs were funkier, such as "Watching the Detectives" and the encore 'Pump it Up," which was the only song to feature synthetic accompaniment. Heavily-laiden with guitars, "Pump it Up" was rougher than the vinyl version.
And he sang a softer, more romantic version of "Oliver's Army."
The set was simple, as some audience members commented. Someone said it looked like a Greek Week set. But the show itself was simple, and anything more elaborate would have been inappropriate.
Elvis himself donned a fashionable suit with a wild print shirt and a bolo tie. He threw in a few covers, including the Beatles' "You've Got To Hide Your Love Away" (though he forgot the words) and "Revolution" as well as lines from Prince's "Sign 0' Times" (done much better than Prince could) and also the Monkees' "Last Train to Clarksville." Elvis showed so many sides of himself that the show was not really "solo."
The audience sang along with Elvis, singing "Play one more for my radio sweetheart" and "Well, well, well." He respected the audience; he didn't condescend to it.
He even included the audience toward the end of the show, as is customary for Elvis.
He introduced a huge satin heart with little yellow "sin flags" in pockets. A werewolf (a.k.a wolfboy—cheerleader) ran through the audience to pick people to go onstage to pick sins which included the sins of "doing lunch," "lust" and "getting caught."
Once the audience members picked their sin, they could request a song for Elvis to sing.
One of the best numbers was a collaboration between Elvis and Nick Lowe, his opening act. Switching harmony and melody for "(What's So Funny) 'Bout Peace, Love and Understanding," the duo did the song perfect justice.
Lowe's opening set was also personable and funny, and the audience approved. His version of his hit "Cruel to Be Kind" was well received as was his finale of "I Knew the Bride When She Used to Rock 'n' Roll."
The sets were both intimate views of musicians who have advanced the quality of popular music. Both writers have the ability to make everyday situations seem extraordinary and both can pinpoint social and romantic situations with literary accuracy.
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