|
Buffalo became a first-tier city, concert-wise, on Friday night, as the Albright-Knox Art Gallery celebrated its annual fundraiser and Buffalo audiences were treated to their first Elvis Costello performance in more than 20 years.
Headliner Costello took the stage with pianist Steve Nieve, and tore directly into "Accidents Will Happen," following it with "The Angels Wanna Wear My Red Shoes."
Costello proceeded to tear through a set of acoustic-based tunes, based around his interaction with Nieve's piano playing. The discourse was impressive, and made sure that the drummer-less gig was never boring.
"I Want You" was clearly the high point of the set, its torrid verses finding a vein to mine with the crowd. "What's So Funny About Peace, Love and Understanding" was a welcome encore, Costello underscoring the timeless nature of the lyric with his assertive phrasing.
Rockin' at the Knox came of age this year, with Costello -- who performed for 90 minutes -- as the emcee.
The set featured a special bond between Costello and Nieve, who go back to their days with the Attractions.
The headliner performed songs he hasn't played in years, including "Green Shirt" and Robert Wyatt's "Shipbuilding." And there was "God's Comic," from his album Spike.
Though the intent of Rockin' at the Knox is to honor the interdisciplinary nature of the arts, one needn't have been an aficionado of fine art to enjoy Friday's gig. If you happened to be hip to the fact that all of the arts draw from a similar pool of inspiration -- something gallery Director Louis Grachos has long been in tune with -- then you got much more out of the festival than a mere rock concert might have offered.
Yes, we're sitting on a serious collection here in Buffalo. And yes, we know how to respond when we're offered an evening of music that is too good to resist -- we respond by buying up every ticket, in the process making this the first Rockin' at the Knox to be officially labeled "sold out."
Early in the day, we were treated to killer sets from some of our finest bands. The Stay Lows killed, offering a set of progressive alternative music marked by the brilliant drumming of Brandon Delmont, and granted additional fuel by the dynamic interplay of two guitarists, a bassist and cellist. The group's sound celebrated a beautiful minimalism, and the players intuitively rejoiced in an ensemble sound that was thick, roiling, and interesting at all turns.
Mark Norris and the Backpeddlers gave us a taut set of tunes from their debut effort. Happily, this group has become incredibly adept at digging into the songs of leader Mark Norris. On record, Norris' songs touch the soul and the mind. In concert, they kick you in the stomach. What a wonderful blend of songwriting subtleties, smarts and pure live rock muscle. Not that this was hard rock, mind you. Imagine the band casually leaning into a stellar set -- that's what this was like.
The Great Train Robbery always boasted the finest rhythm section in town, and on Friday, that rhythm section brought its best game. David Watts handled the song-oriented element, while the band simply slayed 'em with its smart blend of pop, ska, reggae and rock.
Brett Dennen gave us a gorgeously mellow set of acoustic-based tunes with a world-music bent. Rather than attempt to blow his fans away, Dennen commanded the stage, drawing the audience in with his elegant folk-pop.
Leslie Feist did what she does so well -- played a set that defied categorization, its co-mingling of pop, alternative, old-school torch tunes and folk commanding an enthusiastic response from what, by this time, was a sizable crowd. Feist, who formerly clocked in as part of Toronto's Broken Social Scene, concentrated on her new record, "The Reminder," and offered impassioned takes on "Honey Honey," "My Moon My Man" and "Let It Die," the title tune from the record that made us all care about her in the first place.
| 
