Elvis Costello - 1978-01-20 London

<<   1978-01-20 London

ELVIS COSTELLO AND THE ATTRACTIONS
Roundhouse
London
20 January 1978

01. Radio, Radio
02. Hand In Hand
03. Waiting For The End Of The World
04. Night Rally
05. No Action
06. Less Than Zero
07. The Beat
08. (I Don't Want To Go To) Chelsea
09. (The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes
10. Roadette Song
11. Lip Service
12. You Belong To Me
13. Lipstick Vogue
14. Watching The Detectives
15. Pump It Up


40 years on ....... 
and a very special anniversary for me personally as this was my first Elvis Costello gig. As a first year undergraduate at the University of London, I was being introduced to the "new music" by a dear friend who sadly passed away during my second year. Graham had a knack of seeking out new bands and musical experiences most of which were superb at the time but with hindsight were probably incandescent trash ! 
So on a cold Friday night, I made my way to Camden tube station, met Graham and we entered the old railway shed eager to be near the front and pogo ourselves senseless. I honestly don't remember any of this gig apart from the storm of phlegm that seemed to keep up relentlessly - but, hey, we were living at the forefront of modern youth culture in the capital. 
After the need to wash my hair outside the tube station, I went home and returned late on the Saturday afternoon to Camden market to hunt through the stalls for the many bootleg cassette sellers and, to my delight, I came across this recording of the previous night's gig. I had traded for another copy many years later but it's only been in the last 18 months that I came across this original low generation copy in my father's house. Sadly this was one of the few Costello treasure's that I'd overlooked but I'm confident that this is a low generation recording of that night. 
The band seems as tight as at the end of the U.S. tour in December 1977 and listening back, the ominous introduction to Night Rally seems to strike a chord. Further to the report from the NME and Sounds ( see the Elvis Costello wiki for more information) the encores were curtailed due to Elvis finding an unexpected object in his drink which concurs with my own experience. 
By the time the band returned from their second U.S and Canada tour, they'd be wound up and tensed up like an old alarm clock and would spring out in the most ferocious and dynamic performances of their career to date. 
Lineage: TDK SA 90 Chrome C90 cassette>Sony TC WE475 cassette player > Sony CD Recorder W100> EAC >Nero 8 for song separation>FLAC