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Last fall, Elvis Costello embarked on a tour devoted to his 1982 album, Imperial Bedroom. It is among the artist's most beloved albums, containing opulent, occasionally experimental production (by Beatles engineer Geoff Emerick) that makes it a bit of an outlier in his early catalogue.
Something about revisiting these songs on stage in 2016 must have goosed Costello's creative juices, however, as he kept the tour going well into this year, bringing it to Thompson's Point on a misty evening Monday.
Typical of this tour, Costello and his band sprinkled many songs from Imperial Bedroom throughout a wide-ranging set of roughly 30 songs, including nearly every song that casual fans might know, as well as nuggets for the diehards. Some of the songs indirectly related to Bedroom in ways that were not immediately obvious. "Shot With His Own Gun," for example, was among the first songs he composed on piano in the fashion that he wrote the Bedroom songs.
Whatever his approach to creating the setlist, he and his band seemed inspired and energized, drawing satisfying connections between songs, such as the seamless segue from the hit "(I Don't Want To Go To) Chelsea" into Bedroom favorite "Shabby Doll." The concert gained momentum as it went, culminating in the bombast of a closing suite, during which the band coaxed the funk out of "Everyday I Write the Book" and tore through "Pump It Up" and "(What's so Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding." Even Costello's stage banter grew more animated; early in the set, he chatted amicably like the bloke on the barstool next to you, and by the end he was shouting dramatically, like a preacher from the pulpit.
The decision to make the concert a seated affair in front — whether made by the artist or the venue — was a curious one for a full-band performance by an artist rooted in punk and pub rock, and it stuck a pin in some of the show's potential energy. His band and the venue, however, collaborated on a rich, robust sound.
The playing of Steve Nieve, the original keyboard player on Bedroom, was one of the show's great highlights. Costello's compositions often feature piano notes that cascade like glitter falling from the sky, lending the songs an air of majesty, and that was on spectacular display throughout.
In addition to the Imperial Bedroom revisit, this stretch of his tour also falls around the 40th anniversary of the July 22, 1977, release of his first record, My Aim Is True. He wryly noted that the dreary Maine weather was similar to that of England when he recorded it, before diving into that album's opening cut, "Welcome To The Working Week." The concert seemed far from a nostalgia trip, however; one of the most compelling songs he performed was "A Face In The Crowd," a Randy Newman-esque number he recently wrote for an upcoming musical based on the 1957 film of the same name (which is now seen as an uncanny predictor of Donald Trump's rise to the presidency).
It was as vibrant as anything else in a concert that felt startlingly vital. In seeking out the context and meanings of one album, Costello proved that you can look forward by looking back.
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