New York Times, August 20, 1984: Difference between revisions
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<center><h3> | <center><h3> Elvis Costello in Forest Hills concert </h3></center> | ||
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<center> Jon Pareles </center> | <center> Jon Pareles </center> | ||
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Rock fans get nearly all of their music in canned form — on records, radio or television — and grow accustomed to hearing a song in just one version. For familiarity's sake, many bands re-create their records when they perform onstage. But Elvis Costello and his four-piece band, [[the Attractions]], defied their own recordings for most of their concert Saturday at Forest Hills Stadium. | |||
They tore apart both new and old songs — turning rockers into ballads and ballads into funk tunes, adding crescendos and sudden hushes and shifty rhythms, rearranging straight-ahead tunes as roller coasters. | |||
Mr. Costello has determinedly explored rock and pop genres; his records have delved into garage-band rock, soul, elaborate [[Beatles]]-influenced productions and folk-rock derived from [[Bob Dylan]]. Backed by the Attractions, he has devoted full concerts to country singing and pop crooning; more recently, he played a solo show like a folksinger, accompanied only by his own guitar. Meanwhile, his 10th and 11th albums, ''[[Punch The Clock|Punch the Clock]]'' and the new ''[[Goodbye Cruel World]]'', unveil a punctilious pop style, with instrumental hooks tucked in and around every line of lyrics. | |||
Mr. Costello has determinedly explored rock and pop genres; his records have delved into garage-band rock, soul, elaborate [[Beatles]]-influenced productions and folk-rock derived from [[Bob Dylan]]. Backed by the Attractions, he has devoted full concerts to country singing and pop crooning; more recently, he played a solo show like a folksinger, accompanied only by his own guitar. Meanwhile, his 10th and 11th albums, | |||
Having warmed up all those approaches, Mr. Costello and the Attractions seem to be bursting with the impulse to mix and match. The first part of his two-hour show had the heady unpredictability of any good improvisatory music. The Attractions clearly knew where the songs were headed, but every new turn was a surprise for the audience, from the twitchy bass line that underlined the words ''invisible shivers'' in "[[Watching The Detectives|Watching the Detectives]]" to Mr. Costello's choppy singing in "[[Shabby Doll]]". | Having warmed up all those approaches, Mr. Costello and the Attractions seem to be bursting with the impulse to mix and match. The first part of his two-hour show had the heady unpredictability of any good improvisatory music. The Attractions clearly knew where the songs were headed, but every new turn was a surprise for the audience, from the twitchy bass line that underlined the words ''invisible shivers'' in "[[Watching The Detectives|Watching the Detectives]]" to Mr. Costello's choppy singing in "[[Shabby Doll]]". | ||
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As jazz musicians know, experiments in rhythm and phrasing serve to torture-test a song. Mr. Costello's reworkings sometimes obscured his pointed, associative lyrics and showed the limits of his abilities as a melodist. There were also times that the band simply seemed to be doodling away. But Mr. Costello's willingness to kick around his own tunes is something more bands should consider. | As jazz musicians know, experiments in rhythm and phrasing serve to torture-test a song. Mr. Costello's reworkings sometimes obscured his pointed, associative lyrics and showed the limits of his abilities as a melodist. There were also times that the band simply seemed to be doodling away. But Mr. Costello's willingness to kick around his own tunes is something more bands should consider. | ||
After | After 1¼ hours of shaking up the repertory, the group walked offstage. Mr. Costello returned alone, with his guitar, to play a country song and a slowed-down revision "[[Peace In Our Time|Peace in Our Time]]." Then, joined by the Attractions, he ran through record-perfect versions of "[[The Only Flame In Town|The Only Flame in Town]]" and "[[Everyday I Write The Book|Every Day I Write the Book]]" — his two hit singles in the United States — as if to prove that the Attractions could, after all, be a typical pop band. | ||
[[Nick Lowe]] and his Cowboy Outfit played a jaunty opening set. Like Mr. Costello, Mr. Lowe has a collector's grasp of pop styles; he has lately been leaning toward rockabilly, swamp- rock and country two-steps. Mr. Lowe also has a melodic facility that Mr. Costello lacks. But except for a rare song like "Cracking Up," Mr. Lowe sticks to jokey lyrics, and his songs stay cheerfully superficial. | [[Nick Lowe]] and his Cowboy Outfit played a jaunty opening set. Like Mr. Costello, Mr. Lowe has a collector's grasp of pop styles; he has lately been leaning toward rockabilly, swamp-rock and country two-steps. Mr. Lowe also has a melodic facility that Mr. Costello lacks. But except for a rare song like "Cracking Up," Mr. Lowe sticks to jokey lyrics, and his songs stay cheerfully superficial. | ||
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'''New York Times, August 20, 1984 | '''New York Times, August 20, 1984 | ||
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[[Jon Pareles]] reviews Elvis Costello and [[The Attractions]] | [[Jon Pareles]] reviews Elvis Costello and [[The Attractions]] and opening act [[Nick Lowe]] & [[Nick Lowe & His Cowboy Outfit|His Cowboy Outfit]], Saturday, [[Concert 1984-08-18 New York|August 18, 1984]], Forest Hills Tennis Stadium, New York, NY. | ||
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==External links== | ==External links== | ||
*[http://www.nytimes.com/1984/08/20/arts/rock-elvis-costello-in-forest-hills-concert.html?smid=pl-share NYTimes.com] | *[http://www.nytimes.com/1984/08/20/arts/rock-elvis-costello-in-forest-hills-concert.html?smid=pl-share NYTimes.com] | ||
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ | *[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_New_York_Times Wikipedia: New York Times] | ||
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[[Category:Bibliography 1984 | [[Category:Bibliography]] | ||
[[Category:Bibliography 1984]] | |||
[[Category:New York Times| New York Times 1984-08-20]] | [[Category:New York Times| New York Times 1984-08-20]] | ||
[[Category:Newspaper articles | [[Category:Newspaper articles]] | ||
[[Category: | [[Category:1984 concert reviews]] | ||
[[Category:1984 US Tour|~New York Times 1984-08-20]] |
Revision as of 23:51, 6 April 2014
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