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SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. — Elvis Costello continues to press against the limits of possibility. At the Saratoga Performing Arts Center Monday night, in a revamped version of his spring solo acoustic tour, the self-styled "beloved entertainer" expanded his role: He's now also a beloved band leader.
Backed by the chameleonlike Ruda Five — now we're a New Orleans jazz band, now we're heavy metalers — and drummer Pete Thomas, the only holdover from the Attractions, Costello emphasizes songs from his recent album Spike.
Not merely content to offer faithful versions of his recordings, Costello and band further mined the jazz and blues influences in his music. Even 1977's "Watching the Detectives" succumbed to Costello's ongoing musical odyssey, transformed from reggae to blues noir.
The concert was chock full of gems large and small, musical and extra-musical. The arrangements were often punched up to emphasize the many darkly ironic lyrical turns the songs take.
The happy, punchy "Clubland" began as an angry jazz improvisation, and the hooks in the song burst out menacingly. "God's Comic" included an extended, angry rap in which Costello as God rants and raves about colorized movies, divorce lawyers and TV evangelists, and tells the president of Exxon "clean up Alaska with your tongue."
More surprises: Costello wrapped his hit "Everyday I Write the Book" around Paul McCartney's new hit "My Brave Face," which McCartney and Costello wrote together. He also premiered an unrecorded song, called "So Like Candy," from the McCartney/Costello sessions, and sang both parts of a McCartney/Costello duet from McCartney's new album. The effect was to claim all these songs for his own, or at least to put an indelible mark on them, highlighting his substantial contribution to the partnership.
Costello showed himself to be a hard-working showman: when the band took a break, he stayed on stage and played a few solo numbers. including "Radio Sweetheart" merged with Van Morrison's "Jackie Wilson Said."
To call Costello a showman is not to suggest that he has lost any of his original and legendary passion and anger. He simply has learned to channel it all into his music and singing, rather than venting it on his audience, as he once was known to do. His easy rapport with an audience makes him truly one of the most charming performers in rock.
By the time the second encore ended with "Pump It Up," Costello had indeed done just that to the crowd, forcing the band to return to the stage for a third encore to quiet the crowd down with the country-gospel number, "The Day Is Done."
Costello continues to take rock music to places where no man or woman has gone before. I, for one, eagerly look forward to the ride.
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