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Elvis Costello should have pumped it up a lot sooner. "Pump It Up" was the last song of the British singer-songwriter's second and final encore Monday night at the Paramount. It should have come along earlier in the show.
If that song, or two others of Costello's excellent rockers had been placed two-thirds of the way through the hour-long set the concert wouldn't have seemed so flat, one dimensional and boring.
Instead, the enthusiastic capacity crowd was given a succession of Costello's lesser works. Perhaps Costello was just being self-indulgent, or perhaps he really doesn't know it's hard to catch any of his often excellent lyrics in a live concert.
Judging from Monday's effort, one would have to say Costello is a "recording artist," that is someone who comes across on vinyl much better than in person. He seemed to save all his stage presence for "Watching the Detectives" in the first encore. It wasn't much.
When Costello first appeared on the scene four years ago, there were cracks about "specks appeal" because he looks like a nerd and wears glasses. Monday he showed up looking like Henry Kissinger, a Macy's Day balloon, or Robert De Niro's understudy for Raging Bull. Costello has put on beaucoup blubber.
Costello's band, The Attractions, is built around Steve Nieve's fine keyboard work, but even that seemed out of balance Monday. Costello's guitar was rarely heard. You could see him playing but all that came across was keyboard and drums. When the guitar was noticeable, the music picked up intensity.
Costello might be wise to confine his performances to recording sessions and rehearsals. That way his fans could take their ten bucks (Monday's ticket price), get Costello at his best and still have some change.
The opening act, Squeeze, almost made the show worthwhile. The band with the single "Pulling Mussels (From a Shell)" has added former Ace keyboardist Paul Carrack who wrote that group's hit "How Long (Has This Been Going On)."
Squeeze at least played with intensity. The British group's drummer pounded his skins like he was trying to break rocks yet managed to sustain an infectious beat. It was a fine follow-up to Squeeze's Showbox concert last year.
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