The tour that singer-songwriter Elvis Costello (32) is on right now is dedicated to surprises. He presents his concerts in different settings. This evening's concert in Utrecht's Muziekcentrum will be very different from that on Tuesday. The difference is that Costello performed Tuesday with his regular backing band The Attractions, the occasional solo and a song with his wife Cait O'Riordan, the bassist of the folk punk band The Pogues. Tonight is a performance by Costello with mystery guests, where you can think of the Coward Brothers (Costello and T Bone Burnett) and John Hiatt.
The public request songs. That is quite different than before, when Costello saw public participation as a compromise of his artistic integrity. And there is a wheel of fortune that includes dozens of songs, out of which choices will be made ad random. It is therefore possible that a song is going to be played more than once, but, knowing Costello's improvisational talent, this will not lead to a dull repetition.
Costello has always been particularly productive. Quality has never suffered because of his abundance of songs. Even this year he has released two LPs, entirely different in style: King of America, recorded with guest musicians and the recently released Blood & Chocolate, again with The Attractions and produced by Nick Lowe. On this record, his best since the beginnings, Costello goes back to square one. The melodies breathe the simplicity and atmosphere of the pop of the sixties. His romance with O'Riordan seems leitmotif for the lyrics; about debilitating jealousy, with all the passion and self-torment of that.
The mysteries around the Costello name are plenty. With his debut LP My Aim Is True, he was the brightest boy in the punk class of '77. Then he disguised himself as The Imposter, he worked with T Bone Burnett in the on-off duo The Coward Brothers and when King of America was released he presented himself under his real name Declan MacManus. The name of his alter ego inhibited him in his artistic freedom because the man behind Costello wanted to develop in other ways than the Costello fans allowed him. Apparently, this step was necessary before he could again present himself as Costello. Although he calls himself Napoleon Dynamite on Blood & Chocolate, yet another name doesn't change his glasses or the man behind it.
Few artists than Elvis received more critical acclaim than they were selling LPs. This is probably due to Costello's aversion to the media, his reputation as angry young man with his pen dipped in vitriol with which he records his flawless observations by his vitriolic pointed word games, his vocals with a choked sneer like Bob Dylan, his style changes that always put his fans on the wrong foot, by his awkward appearance, by an unfortunate, labeled as racist, remark with which he forever messed up his chances of success in America, a country with which he has a love-hate relationship anyway. Notable in this regard is that the ballad "I Want You" from his new album, his "Alison" of the Eighties, was chosen by Veronica as their Alarmschijf (Alarm Disc).
In November 1983 Costello performed here with The Attractions, a year later he was here for solo performance with T Bone Burnett as the opening act. And now he is back on the road again with The Attractions (keyboard player Steve Nieve, bass player Bruce Thomas, drummer Pete Thomas). Costello, the singer with the voice with a burnt edge, and the fierce, intense emotional diction, the guitar player who puts his virtuosity into perspective with unorthodox shrill noises and an overly accentuated facial expressions.
Despite his thick "jam jar" glasses Costello does not shy away from contact which the audience any longer. The instrumentation was sober and as usual that graced him the most. The sound of The Attractions was deliberately muddy, raunchy ordinary you might say.
The repertoire of Blood & Chocolate, which was played almost entirely, connected, just as the rawer interpretations of songs from King of America, to his first LPs. Costello, however, played songs from almost all his records, but none of the two LPs before King of America, Punch the Clock and Goodbye Cruel World to which dedicated much attention in 1984.
The gig was not quite over, eleven of the 27 songs were saved for the encores. Costello began the encores with a solo on acoustic guitar with his own "Radio Sweetheart" and his interpretations of "Pretty in Pink" by the Psychedelic Furs and "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood." During "Poor Napoleon," just like on the LP with wife Cait and band, a hurricane of sound arose from the stage that was clouded in darkness, while disorienting strobe lights shone the hall. A mysterious ending, which once again pointed out that Costello cannot be limited to a few tricks. Tonight, when he turns the wheel of fortune, he will no doubt prove that again.
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