|
British new wave rocker Elvis Costello made his first Bay Area concert appearance as a headliner Tuesday before an ecstatic packed house at UC-Berkeley's Zellerbach Auditorium, less than three months after his first U.S. appearance ever across the bay at the Old Waldorf.
Costello, whose debut Columbia Records LP, My Aim Is True, is headed into the Top 50 best-selling charts, has honed and polished his stage presentation considerably since that first night at the Old Waldorf, although his posing still comes off as artificial and contrived.
Looking like a dour and emaciated Buddy Holly in his drab gray suit and tie, Costello is rock music's latest angry young man, recalling no one so much as a youthful Bob Dylan and his "Subterranean Homesick Blues." Onstage, Costello acts out the role his songs create — a bitter and wrathful performer, almost indifferent to his audience.
Strangely, Costello stressed songs from an upcoming, as-yet unreleased album over tunes from his current LP in his concert repertoire. Of the 16 songs performed (including two encores), ten were new to the audience, including one stretch of six consecutive previously unheard songs.
It is asking a lot of an audience to respond to so much unfamiliar material, but the hip, collegiate crowd at Zellerbach did so anyway. Intentionally gawky and awkward, Costello cast a peculiar spell over the audience with his combination stumble/swagger walk and knock-kneed style of guitar playing.
His three-piece band also apparently has shaped up its act considerably since last performing hereabouts, although the sound mix seemed unnecessarily bright and tinny, obscurring a good deal of the vocals. Nevertheless, the band accounted for itself admirably, performing the tight, intricate, constantly shifting arrangements.
Although Costello doesn't have an exceptional voice, he suits it well to the hostile tone of his material. His songwriting — direct, vigorous and distinctive — remains his single outstanding asset.
Most important, Costello is one of the few new headline acts to emerge in rock over the past year or so, and that in itself is no small achievement. A tape of his Zellerbach performance will be broadcast at 9 p.m. Tuesday on KSAN-FM.
Opening the show, local hard rockers Mile Hi proved to be a deft and unsubtle heavy metal hard rock band, most unsuitable for preceding the Costello show.
| 
