New Zealand Herald, January 20, 2013: Difference between revisions
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<center><h3> | <center><h3> Elvis Costello and the Imposters </h3></center> | ||
<center>''' Civic Theatre </center> | |||
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<center>Russell Baillie</center> | <center> Russell Baillie </center> | ||
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{{Bibliography text}} | {{Bibliography text}} | ||
Originally, the long-awaited return of Elvis Costello was as headliner at another [[A Day On The Green|A Day on the Green]] vineyard concert. | Originally, the long-awaited return of Elvis Costello was as headliner at another [[A Day On The Green|A Day on the Green]] vineyard concert. | ||
Fortuitously, the show was pulled indoors and reduced to one support | Fortuitously, the show was pulled indoors and reduced to one support — just a short charming solo turn by [[Don McGlashan]] doing nifty things with guitar, voice, and loop pedal. He created disarming intimate versions of old songs of his like "Don't Fight it Marsha" and "Andy." | ||
That also meant that Costello and | That also meant that Costello and the Imposters — two thirds of his original backers The Attractions — had two hours on stage in front of an attentive seated audience, rather than facing a pinot gris-fuelled hoard just wanting to party like it was 1979. | ||
Instead, we got a dense, often intense but ultimately terrifically entertaining performance of more than two dozen songs pulled from all over the 58 year-old English singer-songwriter's 35-year career. | Instead, we got a dense, often intense but ultimately terrifically entertaining performance of more than two dozen songs pulled from all over the 58 year-old English singer-songwriter's 35-year career. | ||
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There was much to remind that Costello's songbook is a deep, long, wide thing. True, he did sprinkle touchstones from those breakthrough New Wave era years in the latter stages of both the main set and the encore. | There was much to remind that Costello's songbook is a deep, long, wide thing. True, he did sprinkle touchstones from those breakthrough New Wave era years in the latter stages of both the main set and the encore. | ||
But often they were stretched into thrilling new shapes | But often they were stretched into thrilling new shapes — an extended "[[Watching The Detectives|Watching the Detectives]]" scorched the sunny reggae lope of the original with Costello's welding arc guitar. | ||
So too was a seething dramatic [[I Want You]] during the encore, while the likes of [[Alison]], [[(I Don't Want To Go To) Chelsea|I Don't Want to Go To Chelsea]] and [[Everyday I Write The Book|Everyday I Write the Book]] also came with renewed spark. | So too was a seething dramatic "[[I Want You]]" during the encore, while the likes of "[[Alison]]," "[[(I Don't Want To Go To) Chelsea|I Don't Want to Go To Chelsea]]" and "[[Everyday I Write The Book|Everyday I Write the Book]]" also came with renewed spark. | ||
It was also a show that managed to make a virtue of some drastic shifts of style and pace | It was also a show that managed to make a virtue of some drastic shifts of style and pace — one minute it was Costello the pop classicist belting out with maximum vibrato "[[God Give Me Strength]]" from his Burt Bacharach co-write album ''Painted from Memory''; a few minutes later it was Costello the once angry young man spitting out the pneumatic lyrics of "[[Pump It Up]]" and still sounding like he meant it. | ||
While they might have been Imposters, they sure weren't faking it | While they might have been Imposters, they sure weren't faking it — especially [[Steve Nieve]] who swung around his keyboards like a hyperactive mad scientist offering all sorts of deft and elegant touches. At the final bow, you half expected him to wave an extra pair arms aloft in triumph. | ||
Of late, Costello's touring in the northern hemisphere involved a giant spinning wheel to spontaneously select the setlist as a way to deal with that grand catalogue | Of late, Costello's touring in the northern hemisphere involved a giant spinning wheel to spontaneously select the setlist as a way to deal with that grand catalogue — between 1977 debut ''My Aim is True'' and his last, 2010's ''National Ransom'', he's almost managed an album a year if you count collaboration projects and live sets. | ||
Here though, while the light show hinted at it, there was no wheel. It also strayed outside the lines on some covers of country swingers [[Walkin' My Baby Back Home]] and [[Crying Time]]. | Here though, while the light show hinted at it, there was no wheel. It also strayed outside the lines on some covers of country swingers "[[Walkin' My Baby Back Home]]" and "[[Crying Time]]." | ||
Covering his one-time producer | Covering his one-time producer Nick Lowe's ye olde pub-rocker "[[Heart Of The City|Heart of the City]]" as the second song of the night was neatly bookended by the closing "[[(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love And Understanding?|(What's So Funny `Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding?]]," another Lowe tune which Costello has long made his own. | ||
And after two hours, it wasn't a show to leave you wanting more. But it was captivating to see Costello up close, digging deep, delivering a rich core sample from that vast motherlode of songs. | And after two hours, it wasn't a show to leave you wanting more. But it was captivating to see Costello up close, digging deep, delivering a rich core sample from that vast motherlode of songs. | ||
Yes, that was quite a spectacle.<br> | Yes, that was quite a spectacle.<br> | ||
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'''Who:''' Elvis Costello and the Imposters, Don McGlashan<br> | |||
'''Where:''' Civic Theatre, Auckland<br> | |||
'''When:''' Saturday, January 19<br> | |||
{{Bibliography notes header}} | {{Bibliography notes header}} | ||
{{Bibliography notes}} | {{Bibliography notes}} | ||
'''The New Zealand Herald, January 20, 2013 | '''The New Zealand Herald, January 20, 2013 | ||
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[[Russell Baillie]] reviews | [[Russell Baillie]] reviews Elvis Costello & [[The Imposters]], Saturday, [[Concert 2013-01-19 Auckland|January 19, 2013]], The Civic, Auckland, New Zealand. | ||
{{Bibliography no images}} | {{Bibliography no images}} | ||
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*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_New_Zealand_Herald Wikipedia: The New Zealand Herald] | *[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_New_Zealand_Herald Wikipedia: The New Zealand Herald] | ||
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[[Category:Bibliography 2013 | [[Category:Bibliography]] | ||
[[Category: | [[Category:Bibliography 2013]] | ||
[[Category:Newspaper articles | [[Category:New Zealand Herald| New Zealand Herald 2013-01-20]] | ||
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[[Category:2013 concert reviews | [[Category:2013 concert reviews]] |
Revision as of 20:26, 3 February 2015
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