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South Yarmouth, Mass. — If Elvis Costello's 36-song concert at the Cape Cod Coliseum Sunday night was any indication, his current tour may well mark a giant step toward rock 'n' roll's coming of age.
Already hailed as the finest composer of rock melodies produced by — and since — the "new wave" of the late '70s, Costello played several songs from his most recent album, Imperial Bedroom (Columbia Records), that show him taking a quantum leap forward — songs so sophisticated and elegant that already certain critics are starting to call him the Cole Porter of the '80s.
The album, with all its extravagant arrangements and production techniques, seems something of a departure from Costello's earlier blazing and tough-as-nails rock. What became obvious at the concert, though, was that his new songs are definitely of a piece with his old ones.
Playing here with the Attractions, his extraordinary three-piece band, and without the orchestra that appears on the album, Costello compromised none of the fresh, direct, joyous energy of his early work — even as he extended that energy into melodic and harmonic constructions that, till now, have been almost foreign to rock. He proved, perhaps once and for all, that rock 'n' roll and sophistication don't have to be mutually exclusive.
The big questions Sunday night were (a) would Costello's new songs be able to survive the transition from orchestral arrangements in a carefully controlled studio to live performances by a small band, and (b) how would his old fans, enamored of the raw anger and irreverence of his early songs, respond to his more sophisticated new work?
Dressed in a neat black suit, looking trim again (he was starting to look a bit portly the last time through), Costello constructed his set very carefully in an obviously deliberate attempt to answer those questions.
Hardly pausing for breath between tunes, he surrounded new songs with old familiar ones, leading us in and out of them to let us see the connections, to make it clear that none of the old Costello essence has been lost.
In doing so, he also pointed out that the early songs — even "Watching the Detectives," one of the first tunes he ever wrote — actually were a lot more sophisticated than we may have realized.
He was so successful that the crowd of 7,000 that packed the Coliseum for his only New England appearance not only responded to the flat-out rockers by dancing in the aisles, but stayed right in the palm of his hand even through the softest, slowest ballads, like "Almost Blue" and "I'm the Town Cryer."
The rearrangements from orchestra to band were startling — so much so that one hopes a live album from this tour will be released. "Beyond Belief," for instance, wound a lot tighter and ground a lot deeper than it does on Imperial Bedroom, yet lost none of the recorded version's engulfing and haunting quality.
The Attractions — keyboard player Steve Nieve, bassman Bruce Thomas and drummer Pete Thomas (Costello plays occasional rhythm guitar) — made every stylistic jump as fast and as well, as effortlessly and comfortably, as Costello and cemented its claim to be being the most versatile and accomplished rock 'n' roll band working today.
We were reminded of the extraordinary foresight Costello showed in assembling this band, which has been with him since his second album.
Highlights of the concert, apart from those already mentioned, included "Pidgin English" and "Shabby Doll" from the new album; a song called "Imperial Bedroom" (which doesn't appear on the album), and such older favorites as "Green Shirt," "Hand in Hand," "Secondary Modern," "There's No Action," "You Belong to Me" and "New Lace Sleeves."
After playing 23 songs, Costello and the Attractions were brought back to the stage three times to play a total of 13 more - including "(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes," "Mystery Dance," "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding?," "Radio, Radio," "Pump It Up," "Big Sister's Clothes," and Hank Williams' "Why Don't You Love Me Like You Used To Do" (the only nod to the country-Western phase he went through about a year ago) before finally wrapping things up with a blistering rendition of Little Richard's "Slippin' and Slidin'."
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