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<center><h3> Costello fans bring out different side{{nb}}of{{nb}}Dayton </h3></center>
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<center> Rory Metcalf </center>
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I began really worrying about Dayton when the results of WTUE's recent music poll were; revealed. Many of the songs listed in Dayton's top 100 songs of all time were extended jams, from Peter Frampton's "You Do Feel Like We Do" to Deep Purple's "Smoke on the Water." And in a year that brought us the Rolling Stones' ''Some Girls'', ''The Cars'', Bruce Springsteen's ''Darkness on the Edge of Town'', Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' ''You're Gonna Get It'' and Warren Zevon's ''Excitable Boy''. Styx's overblown, pretentious ''Pieces of Eight'' was voted Dayton's favorite album of 1978. It's enough to make one faint of heart. 

But Elvis Costello's March 17 concert at the Victory Theatre brought out a different side of Dayton. 

An odd assortment of fans showed up to fill the Victory: Rock Against Racism workers, party types and couples on Saturday night dates, attired in anything from green plastic St. Patrick's Day hats to punk garb (which seems in the Dayton area to consist of army cast-offs, badges and funny sunglasses), and in one case, a sweatshirt which proclaimed its wearer an "anarchist in training." 

There was a mixture of reactions to the opening act, the Rubinoos. The group performed a variety of 60's pop styles, from doo-wop to bubblegum. They slowly built favor with the audience (with the exception of a few skeptics, one of whom shouted "Get off" — and somehow I don't think it had anything to do with the expression "I really get off on your music"), gaining support with a spirited cover version of the Beatles' "Please Please Me" and a surfer style instrumental.

The lead guitarist unwittingly undermined the band's rapport with the audience by introducing their last number, "Rock and Roll is Dead (And We Don't Care)," as a tribute to Ted Nugent. Despite Dayton's reputation as a bastion of Midwestern boogie, a gratifyingly loud cry of "Boooo!!" rang out from a majority of the concert-goers.

The Rubinoos, however, were restored to the good graces of the crowd with their encore, another early Beatles cover, "I Wanna Hold Your Hand."

Still, there was a marked difference in the reception given Costello, who was greeted on-stage with a standing ovation. He spoke rarely, shunning the Rubinoos' affectedly jovial chatter. 

The music spoke for itself. The audience was amazingly quiet throughout his performance. Leaning forward on the edge of their seats. Costello's fans strained to catch every word he spat out in the staccato style which suggested the urgency of his message. 

Almost worshipful, the crowd shouted no requests, although many favorites (especially from Elvis' debut album, ''My Aim Is True'') must have been left out of the tight 75-minute, 18 song set. All displays of appreciation were held back until a rare break between songs (usually Costello and his excellent back-up band, the Attractions, left not even a breathing space between songs) or an instrumental break.

Costello returned his fans' approval several times during the show. At one point he paused between songs to step to the front of the stage. surveying his audience for a long moment before breaking into a grin. 

After a phenomenal version of the sinister "Watching the Detectives," Costello unnecessarily invited his fans to get to their feet for "Radio, Radio." Many left their seats and flooded the aisles to move to the infectious beat of his vitriolic attack on cowardly  — and therefore bland — broadcasters, making it look at last more like a concert than a worship service — unless the worship service had turned into a faith healing. 

Considering the bitter complaints of his fans in other cities that his shows have been too abbreviated, Costello's greatest show of approval was to come at the end of the show. He left the stage after "Radio, Radio," but when the audience showed no signs of budging, he returned for a rare encore of two songs from his second album.

Although the majority of Dayton's music fans may allow their tastes to be programmed by commercial radio, it is gratifying to know that there are people like those in the crowd that established such a special rapport with Costello. They may be in the minority, but at least they are there.

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'''The Daily Guardian, March 27, 1979
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[[Rory Metcalf]] reviews Elvis Costello & [[The Attractions]] and opening act [[The Rubinoos]], Saturday, [[Concert 1979-03-17 Dayton|March 17, 1979]], Victory Theatre, Dayton, Ohio.

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[[image:1979-03-27 Wright State University Guardian page 12 clipping 01.jpg|380px]]
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<small>Page scan.</small><br>
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==External links==
*[http://www.theguardianonline.com/ TheGuardianOnline.com]
*[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wright_State_University Wikipedia: Wright State University]
*[http://corescholar.libraries.wright.edu/guardian/648/ libraries.wright.edu]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wright State University Guardian 1979-03-27}}
[[Category:Bibliography]]
[[Category:Bibliography 1979]]
[[Category:Wright State University Guardian| Wright State University Guardian 1979-03-27]]
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[[Category:1979 concert reviews]]
[[Category:Armed Funk Tour|~Wright State University Guardian 1979-03-27]]

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