ElvisCostello.info, February 2, 1999

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An evening with Elvis Costello and Steve Nieve


David Hyland

Melbourne Concert Hall, Australia

After following Elvis's career for the past six years or so, I was pretty excited to learn that finally he was going to perform once more for a Melbourne audience. I'd heard a lot about this guy's live performances from a variety of sources — this beloved list for one, as well as the Costello & Nieve boxed set, and various videos, etc... But nothing was to prepare me for the concert last night. I was, if you'll excuse the cliche, totally blown away.

For the record, Elvis looked, oh, about 5'10" or so, and was dressed very suavely in a black suit, with an open-necked black shirt under his jacket — a fine figure of a man, and handsome too. But this is not what blew me away. Oh no.

Elvis and Steve's set began with "Accidents Will Happen." Elvis's voice last night was particularly raw and fruity. He humbly apologised and explained that the rawness of his voice this night was due to spending recent time in Sydney, choking on the pollution. I don't think anybody really minded at all. To my ears, there was nothing at all wrong with his voice.

Despite his vocal discomfort, Elvis was in fine spirits. He introduced Steve Nieve to the audience as "Professor Steve Nieve" — the cameraderie between those two was a sight to see. Steve was great — I haven't really said much about him, but his piano and keyboard-playing blew most of the audience's expectations to smithereens. Even their old songs that you can only imagine with the full band, (eg. "Talking In The Dark," "(I Don't Want To Go To) Chelsea," "Pump It Up") were delightfully and faithfully reinterpreted for the stripped-down arrangements.

Elvis proved to be just as good a clown as he is a singer-songwriter. I won't detail all the times he joked around with the audience — it's probably mostly a case of "you had to be there," but there's one lyric change that must be reported...

Elvis was singing "I Want You," and after singing "Every night when I go off to bed, and when I wake up," he paused for a second, grinned devilishly and sang "and put on my make-up, I say a little prayer for you." I wanted to laugh out loud, but man, that song's just too good to spoil by laughing in the middle of it, so I had a good laugh later anyway.

Elvis and Steve performed four songs from Painted From Memory. I think he'd have done more if he had some more confidence in his voice, but what he did was very impressive.

The last of several encores was "Couldn't Call It Unexpected No. 4." He decided to sing this one without the mic — a brave move for a man cursing his own voice. It was excellent. I called it unexpected, because, well, I didn't expect him to sing this song. At the end of this song he wandered around the stage like a lost conductor, conducting the audience as we sang the circus music bits. Elvis and Steve had a great time, and so did the audience.


Tags: Melbourne Concert HallMelbourneVictoriaAustraliaSteve NieveAccidents Will HappenTalking In The Dark(I Don't Want To Go To) ChelseaPump It UpI Want YouPainted From MemoryI Still Have That Other GirlTears At The Birthday PartyToledoThis House Is Empty NowCouldn't Call It Unexpected No. 4God's Comic

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ElvisCostello.info, February 2, 1999


David Hyland and Daniel Deleo report on Elvis Costello with Steve Nieve, Friday, January 29, 1999, Melbourne Concert Hall, Melbourne, Australia.






Elvis has heart


Daniel Deleo

They say that the best concerts are the ones when both the audience and performer connect in a special way, both feeding off the energy of each other. So it was Friday night. When EC opened with "Accidents Will Happen," it was apparent that he was not in the best of voice. After the third song "Talking In The Dark," he told the crowd that he had picked something up in Sydney and was a little hoarse but thought his voice would warm up as the show progressed. Clearly this is what happened in Sydney the night before. I was hopeful.

However, during the fifth song, "Tears At The Birthday Party," it was evident that his voice was in really bad shape. Also obvious was the real discomfort he was in. After this song he left the stage and I feared the worst, that the show would be stopped. He returned after only a moment; I would say he went and spoke to the sound engineer. He then launched into "Chelsea" and things improved. After "Toledo," he stuck to more manageable older songs.

However this professionalism and sheer strength of will to complete the show moved me and the rest of the audience. The response from the audience was rousing and funnily enough, I think, everyone listened more intently, for the songs were running now on pure emotion. There were no funny hand gestures, just EC giving all he had under trying conditions. After "God's Comic," he quipped that we were in better voice than he was but that he wasn't beaten yet. He then added a little joke you will not hear him say in the U.S (or anywhere else for that matter).

After ending a relatively short first set, EC responded to the enthusiastic audience reaction with four encores that lasted for the same time as the main set. The third time he came back he said that previously singing numbers from Painted From Memory was too risky but now he was in the mood. With that he sang a heartbreaking version of "This House Is Empty Now," made so by the real pain in his voice. Actually during this show he frequently sang away from the microphone; when he got to the middle eight ("if I could just become...") he signalled for the mic to be turned off and then let rip.

He ended the show by saying how much he appreciated the crowd staying with him and that he would be back and next time he would bring his voice with him. Turning off the mics for the last time and with Steve (music book in hand) ready to walk off, EC signalled him back to the piano and sang, you guessed it, "Couldn't Call It Unexpected No. 4."

At the end, even though I was some what disappointed, I was impressed and moved by what I could only call a heroic performance.

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