|
Elvis Costello doesn't turn back the clock on his latest tour, as his new rocking When I Was Cruel album might suggest. Instead, the British singer-songwriter shows how he's marching boldly into the future, electric guitar in hand, distortion pedal at his feet, sly, incisive wit at the ready, tongue firmly planted in cheek.
Unlike most performers well into the third decade of a career, Costello isn't content to rest on his impressive back catalog, despite the huge ovation he received for the thunderous one-two punch of "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding" and "Radio, Radio" — both as timely as ever — as he closed his main set.
Throughout the two-hour show, he uses the older songs as a jumping-off point, a way to build momentum for his newer songs.
Costello is clearly taken with his new songs, proudly displaying them like gems among his other prized creations. "Watching the Detectives," for example, sets up the tempo and tone of the new "Spooky Girlfriend." "Brilliant Mistake" brings out the melody of the anthemic "Tart," which Costello turns into a sing-along.
With help from his amazing backing band, The Imposters — keyboardist Steve Nieve, drummer Pete Thomas and bassist Davey Faragher — Costello shows how his recent musical excursions have expanded his horizons. Though songs like "Tear Off Your Own Head" and "Daddy Can I Turn This?" sound more like Costello circa 1977, they also offer lessons learned in phrasing from working with Burt Bacharach and some orchestral touches from hanging with the Brodsky Quartet.
In fact, the concert's centerpieces are two genre-bending departures. "When I Was Cruel No. 2" welds insightful storytelling to the spy-versus-spy trip-hop of Portishead, while the encore "Episode of Blonde," where Costello reflects on fame by alternating between rock crooner and a punk feverishly spitting lines like daggers over a demented, unraveling tango, is a breakthrough.
But it was the night's final song, a dramatic revamping of "I Want You" from 1986's Blood & Chocolate, that left the crowd stunned. Costello and The Imposters built the poignant ballad into a sway-inducing rocker and then stripped it down to atmospheric keyboards and Costello's yearning vocals. Before it ended, Costello had the crowd hanging on every note, waiting to see where he would go next.
For a genre-hopper like Costello, there are few triumphs grander than that.
Opener Joe Henry didn't fare nearly as well. Normally, Henry's solo acoustic performance would be welcomed, especially as he delivered strong versions of "Like She Was a Hammer" and "Stop" — his version of Madonna's "Don't Tell Me," which he co-wrote — from last year's Scar CD. However, the unimpressed, chattering crowd drowned out many of his dark, brooding ruminations about life. Maybe Henry will pick up some tips as the tour goes on.
| 
