Concert 2009-10-15 Sydney
VenueMusiciansSetlist01. (The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes
Submitted: JohnE Opening act |
Previews
Reviews
A night with Elvis Costello is a night to remember. Having seen him live many times, I have to say seeing him play solo would be the highlight. With no band to drown out his amazing voice, he and his music are the stars of the show. And what a show it was! With one of the most recognisable voices in modern music, it’s such a privilege to be in the same room as him as he showcased a career-worth of classics. For me personally, the highlights were God’s Comic, Radio Sweetheart/Jackie Wilson Said and Good Year for the Roses. It was interesting to hear him say he hates Everyday I Write the Book, a song he wrote in 10 minutes but went on to be a massive him for him worldwide. It’s a personal fave and the first time I’ve heard it played live so that was a thrill. Another special moment was hearing him do She from the Nottinghill – an achingly beautiful love song, again a track I’ve never heard him do live before. His anecdotes in-between the songs were both entertaining and funny. His 2-hour plus set was greeted with a well-deserved standing ovation. Looking around at the crowd of smiling faces, it was clear we’d all witnessed something very special. Let’s hope he continues to visit our shores for many years to come.
ELVIS COSTELLO Enmore Theatre, October 15 Reviewed by Bernard Zuel ELVIS COSTELLO is a great songwriter, able to mine a quite narrow range of his 32-year career in this show without coming close to repetition or boredom. This was even with a husky throat which seems our permanent curse as Australian shows usually are on the end of world tours or heavy periods of work. He began with the country rock The Angels Wanna Wear My Red Shoes, ended with the tortured torch song I Want You, threw some 19th-century shapes in She Was No Good and some Everly Brothers moves in Five Small Words and fitted in Hans Christian Andersen and very Sydney-appropriate dodgy politicians in between. In his Gary Cooper cowboy hat and newly slimmed form he's also a great entertainer - God's Comic, even - with his increasingly circuitous yarns, his simultaneously celebratory and parodic stage gestures and two-hour shows packed with material which happily includes covers of Bruce Springsteen (an emotionally tough Brilliant Disguise) and Altman/Lawrence (Sinatra's first hit, All Or Nothing At All, done half jazzy blues/half Brazilian) as well as Van Morrison interpolations. Elvis Costello is not, however, a great guitarist - and this begins to matter when he plays a solo tour. He's a good rhythm player, an enthusiastic contributor in a band and when let loose on electric guitar with effects and feedback can ratchet up the atmosphere, as he did with Watching the Detectives and I Want You, (although each time he did overstay). But he's not a good enough hand on acoustic to consistently provide a vocal counterpoint and illuminate these often complex songs, particularly when there is little variety in tone in those guitars. To be fair, he certainly wasn't helped by a sound engineer who rendered the acoustics hollow and thin. But in the absence of an instrumental offsider the show would only be enhanced by having Costello throw in some low-key piano on, say, songs from the neglected North album, or just bashing out a little more on electric. Such an arrangement would have lifted this show from good to something like great. PhotosFile:2009-10-15 Sydney1.jpg File:2009-10-15 Sydney2.jpg Memorabilia Tickets, stage setlist, posters, programs, etc.
RecordingsOfficial releases
Audience recordings
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