University of Calgary Vox, November 1984: Difference between revisions
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<center><h3> Elvis Costello And The Attractions </h3></center> | <center><h3> Elvis Costello And The Attractions </h3></center> | ||
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The show begins, not with a bang nor with a whimper. For the life of me I cannot remember the first song they did. (It has been more than a month and I think I left my original notes in Greece.) It starts out pleasantly enough, but with such powerfully delivered songs as "Welcome to the Working Week," the cosmic/ psychic/physical energy levels of the crowd were well affected. Here was the excitement. Here was the sheer power, the sheer energy that a man barely five foot eight could exude. During his ballads, "Alison" and "Only Flame in Town" the energy was not diminished, but replaced by an emotional charge that I hesitate to call sentimental because of the mushy overtones that word has. The first half of the show ended about forty-five minutes with the lead walking off stage for a cup of tea. Elvis' voice sounded worse. The crowd would not settle down until they were assured he would be returning after a five minute break. I took this opportunity to talk to Terry, who had been standing beside me, all this time, and ask his opinion. "Incredible, absolutely incredible. I was looking forward to a good show, but this is a ''great'' show." I could only nod in agreement. | The show begins, not with a bang nor with a whimper. For the life of me I cannot remember the first song they did. (It has been more than a month and I think I left my original notes in Greece.) It starts out pleasantly enough, but with such powerfully delivered songs as "Welcome to the Working Week," the cosmic/ psychic/physical energy levels of the crowd were well affected. Here was the excitement. Here was the sheer power, the sheer energy that a man barely five foot eight could exude. During his ballads, "Alison" and "Only Flame in Town" the energy was not diminished, but replaced by an emotional charge that I hesitate to call sentimental because of the mushy overtones that word has. The first half of the show ended about forty-five minutes with the lead walking off stage for a cup of tea. Elvis' voice sounded worse. The crowd would not settle down until they were assured he would be returning after a five minute break. I took this opportunity to talk to Terry, who had been standing beside me, all this time, and ask his opinion. "Incredible, absolutely incredible. I was looking forward to a good show, but this is a ''great'' show." I could only nod in agreement. | ||
The second half started with a bang, not a whimper. My personal highlight was "Mystery Dance." ''"I wanna know about the mystery dance, Why don't you tell me about the mystery dance, I wanna know because I tried and I tried and I'm still mystified, I can't do it anymore and I'm not satisfied."'' I dared myself to stop dancing. I consciously made the effort and succeeded only to discover a few moments later I was dancing again. This man is a maniac. How does he manage to support the thrust of energy he delivered? How, through songs like "Crawling to the U.S.A." and "The Angels Wanna Wear My Red Shoes"? The second set ends after forty three minutes. The highlight of the show had yet to come. Elvis had not performed "Everyday I Write the Book," so I suspected an encore was to be. That is, if the crowd wanted to hear more. So with your basic crowd noises of 'MORE' and synchronized hand clapping, we waited. It took longer than I expected, but eventually the band returned and did "Everyday I Write the Book" (psychic, eh?) and one other that I can't remember (I've lost my notes.) Again they walk off and again the crowd refuses to leave. If anything they are more adamant about hearing more, Soon Elvis appears. This time alone! One man, one guitar and one spotlight for a beautiful version of the Robert Wyatt tune "Ship Building," followed by an equally moving version of "Peace In | The second half started with a bang, not a whimper. My personal highlight was "Mystery Dance." ''"I wanna know about the mystery dance, Why don't you tell me about the mystery dance, I wanna know because I tried and I tried and I'm still mystified, I can't do it anymore and I'm not satisfied."'' I dared myself to stop dancing. I consciously made the effort and succeeded only to discover a few moments later I was dancing again. This man is a maniac. How does he manage to support the thrust of energy he delivered? How, through songs like "Crawling to the U.S.A." and "The Angels Wanna Wear My Red Shoes"? | ||
The second set ends after forty three minutes. The highlight of the show had yet to come. Elvis had not performed "Everyday I Write the Book," so I suspected an encore was to be. That is, if the crowd wanted to hear more. So with your basic crowd noises of 'MORE' and synchronized hand clapping, we waited. It took longer than I expected, but eventually the band returned and did "Everyday I Write the Book" (psychic, eh?) and one other that I can't remember (I've lost my notes.) | |||
Again they walk off and again the crowd refuses to leave. If anything they are more adamant about hearing more, Soon Elvis appears. This time alone! One man, one guitar and one spotlight for a beautiful version of the Robert Wyatt tune <!-- "Ship Building," --> "Shipbuilding," followed by an equally moving version of "Peace In Our Time." The man is not known as a crooner and his voice is not perfect, even when healthy. Yet these songs were urgent and pleading, especially "Peace In Our Time," | |||
This ends encore number two and I would have thought the concert. Some begin to leave, but Terry and I wait, making basic crowd noise. Lo and behold, surprise, surprise, out walk the band for a third encore. A live version of "Pump It Up" that nearly seared my eyebrows off. The band makes a quick exit, the house lights come on and the show was over. Two sets of forty minutes a piece plus three encores gave us a show about two hours long. It was obvious that Elvis Costello and the Attractions came to play their music and to entertain. ''Not'' to strike rock 'n' roll hero guitar poses for forty minutes and then collect half a million dollars. Sure Elvis Costello is a pompous dog, but from what I saw he has a right to be. The entire show was just too mind boggling. | |||
In ten minutes we were outside, zipping down the tube station steps and I was humming "Down in the Tube Station at Midnight." | In ten minutes we were outside, zipping down the tube station steps and I was humming "Down in the Tube Station at Midnight." | ||
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{{Bibliography notes}} | {{Bibliography notes}} | ||
''' | '''Vox, No. 12, November 1984 | ||
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[[Kelly Hellwig]] reviews Elvis Costello & [[The Attractions]] and supporting acts [[The Men They Couldn't Hang]] and [[The Pogues]], Monday, [[Concert 1984-10-01 London|October{{nb}}1, 1984]], Hammersmith Palais, London | [[Kelly Hellwig]] reviews Elvis Costello & [[The Attractions]] and supporting acts [[The Men They Couldn't Hang]] and [[The Pogues]], Monday, [[Concert 1984-10-01 London|October{{nb}}1, 1984]], Hammersmith Palais, London. | ||
{{Bibliography images}} | {{Bibliography images}} | ||
[[image:1984-11-00 University of Calgary | [[image:1984-11-00 University of Calgary Vox page 03.jpg|380px]] | ||
<br><small>Page scan.</small> | <br><small>Page scan.</small> | ||
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*[http://contentdm.ucalgary.ca/cdm/ref/collection/vox/id/4870 ucalgary.ca] | *[http://contentdm.ucalgary.ca/cdm/ref/collection/vox/id/4870 ucalgary.ca] | ||
{{DEFAULTSORT:University of Calgary | {{DEFAULTSORT:University of Calgary Vox 1984-11-00}} | ||
[[Category:Bibliography]] | [[Category:Bibliography]] | ||
[[Category:Bibliography 1984]] | [[Category:Bibliography 1984]] | ||
[[Category:University of Calgary | [[Category:University of Calgary Vox| University of Calgary Vox 1984-11-00]] | ||
[[Category:Magazine articles]] | [[Category:Magazine articles]] | ||
[[Category:1984 concert reviews]] | [[Category:1984 concert reviews]] | ||
[[Category:1984 UK Tour|~University of Calgary | [[Category:1984 UK Tour|~University of Calgary Vox 1984-11-00]] |
Revision as of 22:12, 5 December 2021
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