ElvisCostello.info, August 30, 2002

From The Elvis Costello Wiki
Revision as of 00:24, 14 July 2020 by Zmuda (talk | contribs) (formatting)
Jump to navigationJump to search
... Bibliography ...
727677787980818283
848586878889909192
939495969798990001
020304050607080910
111213141516171819
202122232425 26 27 28


ElvisCostello.info

Blogs

-

Fireworks in Monte Carlo

Elvis Costello & The Imposters / Sporting d'Été

Francois Drouin

So, last Sunday I went to see Elvis Costello and the Imposters on the French Riviera (Mediterranean Sea) at the Principality of Monaco, in the town of Monte Carlo, not too far from the town Nice. A month before, I got my ticket, the one that included the dinner before the show, not just the ticket for the show.

The Sporting d'Été (Summer Sporting) is a very nice building at the end of a pier in Monte Carlo. The show was in the Salle des Etoiles (Stars Hall), a very big hall able to contain 900 seated people along tables for eating or just drinking. During the dinner, they opened the roof of the hall, just to make us be in the open air, with real stars above us!! They closed it by the end of the dinner.

The dinner was given from 8:30 until 10:00 pm. A waiter drove me to my table (number 107), happily it was very well located, right in the middle, not far from the stage. During and after the dinner, two different entertaining bands with different singers came on stage to make the dinner or the evening very enjoyable. They first played from 8:30 until 10:55 pm.

Right after the dinner, more people came inside the hall, the ones who just had a ticket for the show. They were allowed to get drinks.

At 10:58 pm, after a quick rotation of the stage! Elvis and the Imposters appeared on stage, a stage that very soon came forward, on small wheels (I think), closer to the audience.

Here is the setlist:

Miracle Man
Watching The Detectives
Spooky Girlfriend
Chelsea
15 Petals
When I Was Cruel No. 2
Almost Blue
Alison 
I Want You

Steve Nieve had a kilt, probably purchased in Glasgow a few day before. He often played a hand keyboard (melodica), where he had to put his mouth to play it. It seemed that he gave new arrangements on some songs.

As you can see, the set was rather short, no second part, no encore. The Hall was 3/4 full.

Elvis left the stage by 11:51 pm. The show lasted 53 minutes. Many people asked for more. According to me a third of the audience were Americans. More than half foreign people, anyway.

Suddenly, the hall came darker, two screens appeared with Elvis Costello Happy Birthday displayed on them. The roof was opened again.

And fireworks appeared on the sea, from a boat very probably. You could see its reflection on the sea. It lasted 10 minutes and was rather impressive. Elvis, the Imposters and all his crew, came back on stage to see the fireworks from the stage, just like the seated people in the hall. Very wide opened windows all around the hall and the open roof made the sea around us and the fireworks very visible. Some people asked Elvis for autographs during the fireworks.

After this, an entertaining band came back on stage as long as there were still people in the hall.

After the show, at the main entrance of the Sporting d'Été, people were waiting for their car or for a taxi. I talked (in French) with Steve Nieve. He was with his wife Muriel (Mumu), still wearing his kilt. He confirmed to me that he will open for Elvis Costello in Paris at the Grand Rex on September the 19th. He signed my dinner menu, close to the big letters Elvis Costello.

I didn't see Elvis.


Tags: Sporting d'ÉtéSalle des EtoilesMonte CarloMonacoThe ImpostersMiracle ManWatching The DetectivesSpooky Girlfriend(I Don't Want To Go To) Chelsea15 PetalsWhen I Was Cruel No. 2Almost BlueAlisonI Want YouSteve NieveMuriel Teodori


-

ElvisCostello.info, June 24, 2002


Francois Drouin and Michael Waldman review Elvis Costello & The Imposters, Sunday, August 25, 2002, Salle des Etoiles, Sporting d'Été, Monte Carlo, Monaco.







Elvis Costello

Sporting d'Été, Monte Carlo

Michael Waldman

I went to one of the strangest concerts on Sunday night.

We got the tickets on the web, in French, so when we saw two times listed we thought it meant two shows. When we picked up the tickets we found it was for dinner and a show and jackets required.

We arrived to a swank building housing a casino and a nightclub, jutting out into the Mediterranean. The room was shaped like a piece of pie with the stage at the sharp end. A samba band was playing there behind a glittering see-through curtain, in front of a lit square dance floor. The walls were covered in purple mirrored material and the back curved wall was open except for arches that held up the ceiling, with a great view of the sea and the city. The ceiling from time to time would open and let the stars shine in.

Small dinner tables for two were lined up from the stage to the back wall, holding just a few hundred people. We were taken to our seats by tuxedoed maitre d's, about halfway back. It looked like a cross between a Hollywood representation of a 40's Vegas night club and a wedding. The place was pretty empty when we arrived and we tried to bribe our way to a closer table. No luck with $20 or $50 so we gave up.

People started arriving and this was not a rock crowd. Mid East folk with designer clothes, elderly couples from Monaco who hope to see the Prince, German tourists who were comped by the casino. All and all, it didn't look like Elvis's crowd.

We were seated next to a very nice couple who were actually there to see Elvis. He ran a local restaurant and knew all the wait staff. After dinner he asked us if we would like to sit closer, spoke to the staff and boom we were at a table next to the dance floor in front of everyone, including Julian Lennon and his entourage. (very hot girlfriend).

"Dust" starts and as the curtain raises, the dance floor also starts to rise to the same level as the stage and the stage with Elvis and band mechanically moves to rest on the upraised dance floor, right next to us. If we were a foot higher we'd be on the stage. As it is we are just feet away from anyone on the band and can talk easily to each of them.

We were very excited, jumping up and down, cheering, until we looked around noticed that we were literally the only people who were standing, yelling or even clapping loudly. The crowd looked they'd been embalmed. It reminded me of the John Lennon blurb — just rattle yer jewelry! The two tuxedo clad hotel security were eyeing us very suspiciously.

After 50 minutes Elvis leaves the stage which was a little surprising and comes back after 15 minutes wearing street clothes. The amps are still on but they aren't moving toward the instruments. After a few minutes I get an autograph and shake hands but they are still just standing there. A few others come up for autographs but maybe only five. Then the ceiling opens and a 15-minute fireworks display begins, really beautiful, lighting up the sea and the city. Screens come down and pronounce Happy Birthday. Then at the end of the display, Elvis leaves, not to come back.

Did he hate the audience? It's been known to happen. Did he always plan this so he could party in Monaco for his birthday? In any case after seeing him play 2½ hrs at home it felt like a let down, although at this point I look back at the whole spectacle and am glad I saw it. The band played well with great versions of "I Don't Want To Go To Chelsea," "Almost Blue" and "I Want You" as standouts.

A third band then came on and played a disco version of "Imagine." Lots of the folks got up to boogie. I bet Julian really liked it.

-



Back to top

|}

External links