Toronto Star, March 7, 1978

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Elvis Costello makes the El Mocambo his


Peter Goddard

The marketing of a rock star

He ran up the stairs past people wearing Elvis Who? T-shirts. No one recognised him — until he got on the stage.

This was Elvis Costello's turf last night at the El Mocambo, and although very few people in the over 300-strong crowd had ever seen him before, by the time he had finished his 45-minute set, it was as if he'd been around for years.

The club has not seen a reaction like it since the Rolling Stones were there last spring. Fans had lined up on the street for more than seven hours before he went on stage. Inside, they were standing and shouting throughout his entire performance. Yet if there was ever a performer the complete opposite of Mick Jagger, it was Costello, with his thick-rimmed glasses and his oversized jacket. He looked more like an accountant moonlighting with a neighbourhood band.

And instead of jiving and joshing the crowd, as Jagger had, Costello went immediately to the business at hand and stuck to it.

"Hello Canada," he shouted at one point, "we are here from England to take the country back." By the time he was finished, most people were ready to give it to him. With songs like "Mystery Dance," he connected a performance that was as highly strung as a taut piano wire. It was tough music — loud, not thunderous, and pretty hard and pointed — completely without frills, especially during the encore when he was joined by his producer Nick Lowe. The band's sound had a compact, almost canned quality to it. There was no fake excitement, just the real thing, just rock.

In fact, it was the only kind of music you would have expected from this slight figure on stage, with his right leg pumping furiously — neat music with energy.

The reception Costello received wasn't only for his music, however. Many fans were just grateful at being inside the upstairs portion of the club, considering that there was an estimated 1,000 people left outside.

The first Costello freaks arrived just after 1 p.m. The line had already started forming …

[ text missing ]

...dent. It was partly due to Costello's record company's misjudging his popularity and not bringing him into a larger hall. It was also the inevitable result of the marketing of Elvis Costello.

Negotiations for a Costello concert began late last year with several local promoters in the bidding. According to Rab Benzeit of the Finkelstein-Fiedler company, he offered Costello $2,000 for a one-nighter at University of Toronto's Convocation Hall March 15. But according to David Bluestein, the agent who books all acts into the El Mocambo, "the club got the gig after his record company (CBS) got involved and saw how they could use it to promote his records.

"Listen, even his agent thought I was crazy trying to book him into a small club — but that's my job."

The El Mocambo was ideal for CBS records. "Although we didn't care who finally got him," Joe Owens, one of the company's promotion managers said yesterday, "we at first didn't want him to play a larger hall because we didn't know if he could fill it. Besides, since the Rolling Stones, the El Mocambo has become famous."

Better yet, according to Owens, CHUM-FM could broadcast the show. The radio station taped last night's 45-minute effort for broadcast tonight. This past weekend CHUM-FM deejays were giving away tickets to the concert saying they were the only "guaranteed way" of getting to see him.

"This is another reason why the club thing worked out better for us than a concert might," said Owens. "At a concert, maybe 1,100 people would've heard him. This way, there may be fewer people there, but the radio broadcast, which we pay for, is good promotion."

According to Doug Weston of the veteran Troubadour club in Los Angeles, this approach actually hurts both the artists and the clubs. "It's creating a false air of excitement around an artist." Weston said in a recent interview. "The club date is used to hype the artist so that his next time around he can play a bigger hall."

According to Bluestein, it's all politics. "CBS said it would …


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Tags: El MocamboTorontoThe AttractionsMystery DanceNick LoweRolling StonesMick JaggerCBSCHUM-FMTroubadour

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Toronto Star, March 7, 1978


Peter Goddard reviews Elvis Costello & The Attractions, Monday, March 6, 1978, El Mocambo, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

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1978-03-07 Toronto Star clipping 01.jpg
Clipping.

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