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KETTERING — At first thought, the pairing of Elvis Costello and Emmylou Harris on the same concert bill — not as opener and headliner, but as collaborators — seemed a little like inviting two good, but very different groups of friends to the same party.
You just cross your fingers and hope that if they don't like each other, they will at least refrain from causing any offense.
It was hard to imagine that the most rock-minded Costello fans would be much into Harris, or in turn that her hard-core country fans would take much to Costello.
I must admit, however, to being huge longtime fans of both, so the assumption that there aren't more people who would feel the same way perhaps shows a lack of my own vision.
And if, after a 2½-hour set, there was any doubt left that the two performers shared a certain musical vision of their own, it completely dissolved during the 30-minute encore, when among 10 additional songs, the two offered up an achingly simpatico duet of "Love Hurts."
The song, which Harris has long made a part of her many of her concerts, captured the essence of both performers' careers. Love hurts. A lot. Whether you're a punk from London or a country girl from Alabama.
For three solid hours, the two explored the territory of the heart — often with musical cues from rural America — taking turns at lead and backup. Though the show was ultimately Costello's as he hit many of the musical highlights from his personal catalog of songs, as well as selections from his newest release, The Delivery Man.
Harris had sung along on several tracks of the album, and that's what prompted Costello to invite her to accompany him on his current summer tour.
Still, he left plenty of room for Harris to do her own thing, including a moving rendition of the title track from her album Red Dirt Girl.
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