San Francisco Chronicle, October 13, 1986

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Elvis Costello closer provides much food for thought


Joel Selvin

After three successive nights of Elvis Costello concerts, fans can be forgiven if they felt a little like they had been attending a foreign film festival, savoring unique and exotic treats they didn't fully appreciate.

Actually, Costello staged an extraordinary cultural event, where at least half the audience attended all three Warfield Theater concerts, allowing for discussion and debate far beyond the fodder provided by most rock shows.

Opening with a regulation rock show by Costello and his crack band, the Attractions, followed by the frivolous "Spectacular Spinning Songbook," where audience members spun a giant wheel to determine what song the band would play, he closed the run Friday with a demonstration of his artistic breadth backed by an entirely different set of musicians he dubbed the Confederates.

This elite squad of heavy-duty Hollywood session players included two former members of Elvis Presley's band, bassist Jerry Scheff and guitarist James Burton, who began his career playing with Ricky Nelson. Keyboardist Mitch Froom, a former Bay Area resident who used to play with guitarist Ronnie Montrose; rhythm guitarist T Bone Burnett and the extraordinary drummer Jim Keltner rounded out the line-up, with a guest appearance by legendary saxophonist Steve Douglas.

Most of these musicians had worked with Costello cutting his King of America album, produced by Burnett, a record released last year to almost universal neglect. Much of the repertoire Friday was drawn from that LP.

He opened the show with a half-hour solo performance on acoustic guitar, accompanying a slide show of what Costello called "my holiday pictures" playing on a screen behind him. He began with a modified version of "Tokyo Storm Warning," a cut from his latest album, interrupting himself before the second chorus to casually discuss the derivation of one of the song's phrases. Such informality at the start of a concert never would have worked if Costello hadn't spent two nights warming up most of the audience. As it was, he could have come out and started up with a sort of "now, where were we?" approach.

Unfortunately, the easy-going show never caught fire and burned. Costello opted for much less incendiary material on his Friday solo turn than the solo spot he tried the previous night, and his band of session players never raged with anything like the intensity of his regular band, the Attractions, who had backed Costello so furiously the first two nights.

Hot-shot Burton laid back so far, he might as well have not been there at all. He ripped off one terrific solo in the middle of a honking country tune, "Only Daddy That'll Walk the Line," but ruined the effect by ripping off the exact same solo later in the same song, leaving the impression that he can do this kind of thing in his sleep.

Costello complained that a cold was keeping him from his finest vocal performance Friday, but he wasn't really the problem. What made the Confederates concert so soporific was the combination of this highly skilled but oddly lifeless backup band and the esoteric selection of songs, played largely in a modern countrypolitan style that would have sounded great behind a smooth vocalist like Charlie Rich or Kenny Rogers, but hardly suited Costello's gritty, impassioned style.

Still, like the previous night's "Spinning Wheel" concept, the idea was laudable, a meritorious effort to present his work in a new context, break a few stereotypes and try something different. He may not have been uniformly satisfying through the three nights, but he was stimulating, giving his audience something to think about, and that in itself is more than most rock performances offer.

Costello should be congratulated for the daring departure he is trying in this six-city U.S. tour, where he presents different shows every night. It underlines the difference between ordinary rock singers and Costello, who is a committed artist trying to say something new and worthwhile.

But the irony was that the opening night's concert — a relatively standard rock show by Costello and the Attractions — was the series' most consistently rewarding evening. Costello stood on solid ground, thrashing out his firebrand rock songs with his explosive three-piece band.

Most musicians would be happy with that, but not Costello. He wanted more and his audience clearly was glad to take the chancy trip through three different nights with him. The individual shows may not have been as thoroughly enriching as originally envisioned, but it was a trip worth making and an endeavor worth undertaking.


Tags: Warfield TheatreSan FranciscoThe ConfederatesElvis PresleyJerry ScheffJames BurtonMitchell FroomT Bone BurnettJim KeltnerSteve DouglasKing Of AmericaThe Only Daddy That'll Walk The LineTokyo Storm WarningBlood & ChocolateThe AttractionsSpectacular Spinning SongbookCharlie Rich

Copyright 1986 San Francisco Chronicle

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San Francisco Chronicle, October 13, 1986


Joel Selvin reviews Elvis Costello with The Confederates, Friday, October 10, 1986, Warfield Theatre, San Francisco.

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1986-10-13 San Francisco Chronicle page 58 clipping 01.jpg
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1986-10-13 San Francisco Chronicle page 58.jpg

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