Elvis Costello - 2022-06-13 Birmingham (area51GM)

Elvis Costello And The Imposters, with Charlie Sexton
Symphony Hall
Birmingham, England
13 June 2022


01. Accidents Will Happen
02. Green Shirt
03. Either Side Of The Same Town
04. Hetty O'Hara Confidential - including 36-22-36
05. Truth Drug
06. The Death Of Magic Thinking
07. Watching The Detectives - including Invisible Lady
08. Big Stars Have Tumbled
09. Maybe Just This Once
10. Motel Matches
11. Penelope Halfpenny
12. What If I Can't Give You Anything But Love?
13. Good Year For The Roses
14. Mystery Dance - including fourth verse
15. The Man You Love To Hate - plus bass riff
16. The Comedians
17. (I Don't Want To Go To) Chelsea
18. Magnificent Hurt
19. Pump It Up
20. (What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love And Understanding?
21. Mr. & Mrs. Hush
22. Alison - including I'm Gonna Make You Love Me
23. Mr. Crescent
24. We Are All Cowards Now


Elvis Costello - vocals, guitar
Steve Nieve - keyboards, backing vocals,
Davey Farragher - electric bass, double bass, backing vocals
Pete Thomas - drums
Charlie Sexton - lead guitar, backing vocals


Recorder: area51GM
Lineage: Sounds Professional cardioid microphones > Marantz PMD 620 Mk II - 16 bit settings > wav > Nero Platinum for track separation > TLH > FLAC > you


Comments by area51GM:

A day off meant I had time to spend with my son, who attended the Manchester show with me, he's a veteran of half a dozen Elvis shows and was most impressed. At the end, he asked me which configuration of band I preferred this current ensemble or The Attractions and, although in some respects this was an impossile question to answer, in this time in Elvis' career and with the songs he now has at his disposal, I can't imagine any players that would serve these songs better than the four gentlemen who grace the stage with him now. It was a revelatory thought and one that occupied me for some time as I travelled the rest of the U.K. following the tour.
It was a welcome relief to come to Birmingham onto familiar territory and to attend the beautiful Symphony Hall and it's sonic perfection as an auditorium and I was eager to hear what Elvis might bring to my old haunt. Imagine my surprise when a fellow Costello fan sat next to me, as he had done in Liverpool, without realising we had bought adjacent seats. We had travelled to several Costello shows in the noughties, including the magnificant Picket show in Liverpool. he was also eager to hear Elvis in a venue where there was no likelihood of a disruptive audience.
al usual the band came on to the Rusty track "Surrender To The Rhythm" and Elvis joined in briefly as the track faded before starting with "accidents Will happen". The next three songs followed the usual pattern heard at previous shows but "Hetty O'Hara" came across much more flmboyantly with some great Steve Nieve playing throughout. Elvis talked about his venture to Defend Vinyl a record shop in Liverpool and described purchasing a stack of singles including the source of one song "Maybe Just this Once" allegedly on the Justice label from Fort Lauderdale which many seem to think might be a red herring as little is known about this. It seems to be a risque number using "Lyndon Johnson" as a euphenism but is rather a catchy and endearing number and Elvis plays some great licks on his Danelectro guitar last seen over a decade ago. At very times during the tour he also described this as the B-side to the "Tipsy Woman" song but again,ther is no record of this ever exisiting. The crowd was respectful rather than raucous but the finale seems beautifully paced and the run from "Chelsea" to "Mr. And Mrs. Hush" allows all the old punks to get up and semi-pogo like 40 years ago !!
Lineage: Sounds Professional cardioid microphones > Marantz PMD 620 Mk II - 16 bit settings > wav > Nero Platinum for track separation > TLH > FLAC > you