By K.D. Norris
ken@wktv.org
Elvis Costello and the Imposters, July 17, at Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park, Grand Rapids, Mi.
60-second Review
It is not unusual for musical artists with the long history of Elvis Costello to always trudge out a select few of their radio hits from bygone days, to play just enough of the “oldies but goodies” expected — demanded — by an audience paying dearly for the opportunity to “remember when.”
What is unusual, in the case of Costello’s appearance at Meijer Gardens this week, was that with the tight backing of his lean, mean band of Imposters, especially pianist Steve Nieve and vocalists Kitten Kuroi and Brianna Lee, Elvis dug deep into his late 1970s and early ’80s New Wave/Power Pop years, his “… and the Attractions” band years.
He embraced that place and time in his past, and that music. But that also meant he offered up songs known and relatively unknown to the audience during a 2-hour 30-minute, 31-song set.
Drawing heavily from his 1982 classic Imperial Bedroom release, such an approach to his past made the first half of the concert a little slow for an often nonchalant audience. The second half — after what seemed more a planned set break than a pause before encore — had an much different feel, leading off with a sparse, memorable version of “Alison” with Kuroi and Lee sharing his single mic proved Costello’s aim is still true.
Prior to the set break, my favorites songs were the slow, soulful “Tears Before Bedtime” and Elvis’ fine lead guitar work on “Shabby Doll” (both from Imperial Bedroom), and a surreal version of “Watching the Detectives” complete with pulp fiction video stills and vocals through a bullhorn. After the break, with the audience fully engaged, my highlights were the new “Blood and Hot Sauce”, a politically/socially-charged song written for planned staged musical “A Face in the Crowd”; my all-time favorite Costello song, “Man Out of Time”; and a rousing, set-closing run including “Radio Radio”, “Pump it Up”, and a cover of “(What’s so Funny ’bout) Peace, Love and Understanding”.
In the end, we all know Elvis has moved on from his “… Attractions” years. He mostly makes his home in New York City with wife/singer Diana Krall and family; he has explored Americana music with collaborations with Bill Frisell, Allen Toussaint and T Bone Burnett; and has recently worked with new artists the likes of Marcus Mumford (Mumford and Sons), Jim James (My Morning Jacket) and Rhiannon Giddens.
But in the end, a flashback to the Imperial Bedroom and other remembered rooms is probably good for him and certainly good for the Meijer Gardens audience.
May I have more, please?
Talking about revisiting the past, I could not help but revisit the urban legend of Elvis and his famous/infamous December 1977 visit to Saturday Night Life (as a late replacement for the Sex Pistols, no less). Still in his punk rock early years, Costello was reportedly forbidden by NBC and SNL’s Loren Michael from performing “Radio Radio” — which basically trashed the commercialism of music of which SNL played its part in. But after starting to play “Less Than Zero”, Costello reportedly stopped the band and kicked into “Radio Radio”.
Legend has it that he was banned from NBC and SNL for years afterword — and more than one wiki refuses to debunk the legend — and it also established his British bad-boy status in America.
And, having been born with the name Declan Patrick MacManus, and hailing from a still emerging British punk rock scene, a geekish-looking, skinny young man who renamed himself “Elvis” needed something to, as they say now, establish his “street cred”.
