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Elvis lives. Elvis Costello and the Attractions stormed into Tokyo's Budokan Sept. 19, and blew the roof off the joint. Kicking off a swing through Japan to promote Brutal Youth, their first album together since 1986's Blood & Chocolate, Elvis and company roared through a 26-song set.
The sold-out Budokan, built as a martial arts arena for the 1964 Olympics, is an octagonal tribute to cement architecture. Ordinarily, such a design would not be conducive to good acoustics. But 30 mammoth speakers will take care of any nagging acoustical problems.
Costello, looking like a gambler out of the Old West with his red shirt, black vest, pants and boots, didn't waste time with much between-song chatter. Instead, he and the band performed like a bunch of unknowns at a small club trying to hit the big time. They ripped from one song to the next with hardly a chance for anyone to catch a breath.
Adding to the small club atmosphere was the understated use of lights. Instead of going the mute of several of today's bands, Elvis and the Attractions don't let the lights become their own show. On the Brutal Youth tour, lighting is used as a complement to the music, not a supplement.
Costello is a refreshing performer, a vocalist who can also play the guitar, and play it well. He took a piece of The Drifter's classic song, "On Broadway," to demonstrate his virtuosity.
Singing "I know that I can be star, 'cause I can play this here ... 'cause I can play this here ...," rather than finish the verse as written ("guitar"), Costello exploded into a mean guitar solo which in turn segued into "Deep Dark Truthful Mirror."
While the song started as a solo, the Attractions (keyboardist Steve Nieve, Bruce Thomas on bass guitar and drummer Pete Thomas) kicked in at the first chorus to give the brooding tune an intensity missing from the studio version.
That intensity was present in all the songs played. Elvis and the Attractions breathed new life into songs old and new, peppering most with solos, speeding up their delivery or simply imbuing them with the emotion too often missing from studio work.
Costello did tell the audience, "When we decided to come back here after (so many years,) we decided to learn some new songs just for Japan. Songs we've never played on stage before, mostly because they were too difficult. Especially after lots of sake, but that's all in the past." With that, they dove head-first into "Human Hands."
Their 80's smash "Watching the Detectives" brought a roar from the sold-out Budokan audience, which proceeded to enter a frenzy when "Detectives" didn't end, but instead suddenly became "13 Steps Lead Down," Elvis and the Attractions' latest single.
After "13 Steps ...," Costello and the band said goodnight. But the Budokan audience demanded more, and they received three encores.
Only after "(What's So Funny About) Peace Love & Understanding" did Costello and his band seem finally, fully spent, and with that they called it a night.
Elvis had left the Budokan.
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