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If you missed Elvis Costello's last visit to Winnipeg, it's probably not your fault. After all, it was more than 30 years ago, and he was just a snotty young upstart on his first North American tour.
But if you missed Costello's visit to the Winnipeg Folk Festival this week, you have only yourself to blame. And you might as well start kicking yourself now — because you passed on a real winner.
Capping the festival's inaugural Wednesday night installment, the 54-year-old musical legend put on a richly varied, career-spanning show that will surely rank as one of the musical highlights of this year's event — if not one of the most exciting and historic local concerts of 2009.
Along with his band The Imposters — featuring longtime drummer Pete Thomas and MVP keyboardist Steve Nieve, plus more recent recruit Davey Faragher on bass — Costello turned in a 105-minute set that balanced classic hits, deep album tracks and fare from his new Secret, Profane and Sugarcane CD, along with a few surprises.
Taking the stage at 9:15 p.m. in his usual black suit (over a white-on-black polka dot shirt), Elvis hit the ground running, cranking out a handful of early hits in rapid succession. First up was "Accidents Will Happen," followed by the bashing "Mystery Dance," the twangy "(I Don't Want to Go to) Chelsea," a bouncy "You Belong to Me" and a jaunty version of "I Hope You're Happy Now." Before the concert, his set list was the subject of much speculation. But any concerns that he might eschew old faves and concentrate on new material were quickly and decisively alleviated.
But this wasn't just Elvis's Old New Wave Hit Parade, either. After a relaxed take on Imperial Bedroom's "Man Out of Time," he traded his Telecaster for an acoustic guitar, and promptly took the show in a rootsier direction more in keeping with its outdoor folk festival setting (and with bassist Faragher's matching white outfit and cowboy hat). Get Happy!'s "Motel Matches" became a country number, complete with honky-tonk piano from Nieve. King of America's "Suit of Lights" got a similarly rootsy treatment, along with a dedication to Costello's dad. "Blame it On Cain" became a lazy folk-rocker. Even "Radio Sweetheart" — "the first song I ever recorded; that was before you were born," Costello cracked to the kids down front — was transformed into dark, brisk rockabilly (and gene spliced to Van Morrison's Jackie Wilson Said).
He could have stopped there, and no one would have left disappointed. But he was just getting started. For his next trick, Costello — who spent the last couple of days rehearsing in Winnipeg — brought up his hand-picked opening act the Lovell Sisters to join in on six songs. "You're only hearing this band here," he said. "This is something special."
He got that right. While Nieve moved over to accordion, the bluegrass siblings from Georgia added their mandolin, fiddle, slide guitar and gorgeous harmonies to "American Without Tears," a Cajun rendition of The Crooked Line and — get this — a folk-rock waltz revamp of The Velvet Underground's "Femme Fatale." The fun didn't stop there. Costello put on his "campaignin' hat" for a rollicking, playful rendition of "Sulphur to Sugarcane." "Everywhere I travel, pretty girls call my name," he sang — then repeated the line so all the women in the audience could take the hint.
After closing the 80-minute main set with a hard-driving (and oddly synth-flecked) version of "Mystery Train," the expanded band returned for an encore with the mournful ballad "The Scarlet Tide," co-written by Sugarcane producer T-Bone Burnett.
But Costello was determined to go out with a bang, not a whimper. After letting the sisters go, he strapped on an electric guitar again and closed the show the way he opened it — by cranking out more classics. Even cooler: He still does them justice despite having played them thousands of times over the decades. "Watching the Detectives" was delivered with all its twangy licks, clanging chords and menacing reggae-rock skank intact. The soulful "Alison" segued into "Tracks of My Tears" and "Tears of a Clown." "(The Angels Want to Wear My) Red Shoes," "Radio, Radio," "Pump it Up" and "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding" were strung end to end and pounded out with all the punky ferocity of old. What more could you have wanted — except more of it. "Now do it all again!" yelled the guy beside me as the band left the stage, echoing the sentiments of several thousand others in the crowd.
It was not to be. But hopefully, we won't have to wait so long for a followup. At one point, Costello apologized for taking more than a generation to return to our city. "But we know the way now," he reassured us.
Next time, don't miss it.
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