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At times in his career, Elvis Costello has seemed indifferent to both his audience and his catalog. He's widely acknowledged as one of rock's most consistent, sophisticated songwriters, surpassed only by Bob Dylan.
Yet he'll ignore his music and his fans to go do whatever moves him, be it obscure movie appearances or classical work.
But in the past few years he seems to have developed an abiding appreciation for both his work and for those who love it.
Three years ago at the Paramount Theatre, Costello gave one of his best-ever acoustic performances. Sunday night at the Fillmore was the opposite extreme, with Costello giving one of his best-ever electric performances — roaringly loud, spine-tinglingly exuberant and packed with big hits ("Pump It Up," "Alison") and overlooked gems ("I Hope You're Happy Now," "Honey Are You Straight Or Are You Blind?") from his own vast, eclectic body of work.
He's performed classic shows over the years with any number of lineups, but his best work (and that closest to fans' hearts) is that with the Attractions. He has the best of that group with him this tour, with Pete Thomas' explosive drumming and Steve Nieve's keyboard flourishes (only malcontent bassist Bruce Thomas is absent this time around, forcing the name change to The Imposter).
Fans all over the world will look at the Internet today and will know this was a glorious show just from the setlist: "Beyond Belief," "High Fidelity" and "No Action" all made rare and welcome appearances.
It was a career retrospective in some ways, and it works because the songs Costello wrote in his early 20s were mature and lasting enough that they sound perfectly natural as he performs them in his late 40s. For every new song from his latest album, When I Was Cruel, he threw in plenty of crowd-pleasers and classics, including "Radio, Radio," "You Belong to Me" and "Lipstick Vogue."
Like Dylan, Costello has rediscovered the guitar late in his career, shredding through solos and playing with an intensity that seemingly didn't matter to him earlier in his career.
But it's his vocal delivery that has blossomed, as illustrated in "I Want You," his final encore. Haunting and terrifying, he improvised his way through the dark tale of infidelity, literally going from a scream to a whisper at points.
While his new album sometimes lacks the human drama and sexual politics of his earlier material, songs such as "Alibi" and "Little Blue Window" were as solid and compelling as his best work. He's an artist far, far from over.
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