Sacramento Bee, April 30, 1984

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Costello, Burnett team up for fine acoustic evening at Warfield


Marina Hirsch

SAN FRANCISCO — "I'd like to welcome my special guest for the evening," said the short, pudgy guy on stage at the Warfield Theatre Saturday night. With a flourish, he introduced himself — Elvis Costello — and his guitar. There was a pause. "No, actually," he amended, "we have the Blue Oyster Cult." Another pause, as he peered into the darkness. "This is the Fillmore, isn't it?"

Sly joking aside, what we had was an evening — the first of two, both sold out — of solo acoustic guitar from two of the finest singer/songwriters around, Elvis Costello and T Bone Burnett. The setting was intimate — the Warfield, a former movie theater, holds fewer than 2,300 — the mood affably relaxed, and the music incomparable.

The gangling Burnett, dressed nattily in a pin-striped dark suit and bow tie, took the stage promptly at 8 p.m. Stragglers who showed up only in time for Costello missed out on an hour of Burnett's quirky stage manner and brilliant songwriting. He opened with Roger Miller's "King of the Road," followed with a rollicking "La Bamba" (in Spanish) and offered throwaway comedy routines.

When he sings his own songs, Burnett, a former guitarist with Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue, sounds eerily like early Dylan. His lyrics are rife with topical and cultural references ranging from Ronald Reagan's Super Bowl address to Plato's Retreat and Cruise missiles; his songs, such as "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" and "After All These Years" are astringently cynical short stories with an undercurrent of deadpan humor.

What particularly came across in Saturday's concert, however, was Burnett's eccentric brand of humor. With awkwardly spastic dances and earnest smiles — not to mention a dynamite impression of Elvis Presley — Burnett formed an instant bond with his audience.

Costello, dressed in shiny dark blue suit and wearing his Buddy Holly black-framed glasses, opened with "Accidents Will Happen" from his Armed Forces album. What followed was close to two hours of hits both lesser and greater (the latter, such as "Alison," "Girls Talk," "Everyday I Write The Book" and the jittery, urgent "Mystery Dance," were greeted with welcoming yowls from the audience), along with country standards, including "Almost Blue," the title song of an album of country music released by Costello. Before his 1977 debut album, My Aim Is True, the former Declan MacManus did, after all, begin his career as a solo performer in English country music pubs.

The performer who once listed his main motivations as revenge and guilt, and who was known for short sets and declining to give encores, was relaxed and amiable Saturday night. Costello read aloud from a publicity pamphlet about his missing backup band, The Attractions, made stray jokes about a new album which he maintained was titled Good Night, Walter Mondale and even prefaced one of his own songs, with the line, "This is a Billy Joel song called 'Just the Way You Are.'"

For the first of three encores, Costello offered Dylan's "I Threw It All Away," from Nashville Skyline, and moved right on into "(The Angels Wanna Wear) My Red Shoes." Burnett joined him for an innocently soulful version of two early Beatles tunes, done with true early '60s wailing, "Yes It Is," and "Baby's in Black," as well as "Tennessee Blues."


Tags: Warfield TheatreSan FranciscoT Bone BurnettAccidents Will HappenArmed ForcesAlisonGirls TalkEveryday I Write The BookMystery DanceAlmost BlueMy Aim Is TrueDeclan MacManusThe AttractionsI Threw It All Away(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red ShoesThe BeatlesYes It IsBaby's In BlackTennessee BluesMr. Revenge and GuiltBob DylanElvis PresleyBuddy Holly

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Sacramento Bee, April 30, 1984


Marina Hirsch reviews Elvis Costello and T Bone Burnett, Saturday, April 28, 1984, Warfield Theatre, San Francisco.

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1984-04-30 Sacramento Bee page B3 clipping 01.jpg
Clipping.

Page scan.
1984-04-30 Sacramento Bee page B3.jpg

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