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Elvis last night was back in form and back in Bristol with his own acerbic version of rock 'n' roll.
Everything from the opening notes of "Pills and Soap," sung just to Steve Nieve's piano, to the closing echoes of the second encore was delivered full of energy.
But, thanks mainly to the sound qualities, or rather the lack of them, in The Studio the music was strangely empty and Costello s plaintive, strangulated voice sub-merged in the mix.
The short set — 70 minutes excluding the band being brought back for two encores — showed his old material such as "Alison" and "Watching The Detectives" can still stand comparison with the new songs such as "TKO (Boxing Day)" and the cynically funny and bitter "The World And His Wife."
Yes, Costello's aim is still true, if a little tired from the strains of a lengthy tour.
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