Elvis & The Imposters, Hammersmith Apollo, London, June 23, 2022

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Man out of Time
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Elvis & The Imposters, Hammersmith Apollo, London, June 23, 2022

Post by Man out of Time »

The Boy Named If & Other Favourites Tour will conclude (all being well) at the Hammersmith Apollo/Odeon, on Thursday June 23 2022.

I am sure it will be an emotional event, particularly for those of us who saw Elvis and The Imposters (with Briana Lee and Kitten Kuroi) there in March 2020 when the Just Trust UK Tour came to a sudden pandemic-induced halt.

Hopefully Hurry Down Doomsday (The Bugs Are Taking Over) will not be on the setlist this year.

Ian Prowse opens the show.

Who's going?

MOOT
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Re: Elvis & The Imposters, Hammersmith Apollo, London, June 23, 2022

Post by FrankieJ »

Just a warning to all those taking the trains: there’s a National train strike on 21, 23 and 25th June and a tube strike on 21st.
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Re: Elvis & The Imposters, Hammersmith Apollo, London, June 23, 2022

Post by Alan »

Anyone know what the running times are, i.e. what time is Ian Prowse on & what time Elvis? Can't find any info on the venue's media channels
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Re: Elvis & The Imposters, Hammersmith Apollo, London, June 23, 2022

Post by Fishfinger king »

Has been 7.45 for Ian Prowse and 8.45 for Elvis.
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Re: Elvis & The Imposters, Hammersmith Apollo, London, June 23, 2022

Post by Psc »

Just as a heads up there's another train strike on today which may also affect the Tube in London.
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Re: Elvis & The Imposters, Hammersmith Apollo, London, June 23, 2022

Post by sheeptotheslaughter »

According Ian Prowse on facebook he is on at 7.30pm.

Some of us are meeting in the Duke of Cornwall around the corner from the venue around 6pm. If any of you want to meet beforehand
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Re: Elvis & The Imposters, Hammersmith Apollo, London, June 23, 2022

Post by Neil. »

Tubes to Hammersmith appear to be running reasonably okay today, by the way.

Fingers crossed this gig is HAPPENING!
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Re: Elvis & The Imposters, Hammersmith Apollo, London, June 23, 2022

Post by sheeptotheslaughter »

Tubes are ok today they were only on strike on Tuesday. The trains are the ones . I have booked a hotel tonight and will stagger home in the morning :D :D looking forward to a catch up mate x
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Re: Elvis & The Imposters, Hammersmith Apollo, London, June 23, 2022

Post by Offshoreram »

I’m driving down to Stanmore and tubing in from there. Can’t leave until around 5 so will be cutting it fine to make Ian Prowse.

Fingers crossed the M1 is kind to me!
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Re: Elvis & The Imposters, Hammersmith Apollo, London, June 23, 2022

Post by verbal gymnastics »

sheeptotheslaughter wrote:According Ian Prowse on facebook he is on at 7.30pm.
Fingers crossed for the longest show of the tour then…

…and a surprise or 2!
Who’s this kid with his mumbo jumbo?
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Re: Elvis & The Imposters, Hammersmith Apollo, London, June 23, 2022

Post by sweetest punch »

Since you put me down, it seems i've been very gloomy. You may laugh but pretty girls look right through me.
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Re: Elvis & The Imposters, Hammersmith Apollo, London, June 23, 2022

Post by Offshoreram »

I only saw three shows on this tour but, for me, Hammersmith was definitely the best.

No real sound issues from where I was seated, back of the stalls, and a great setlist.

The usual complaints about people talking during the show, particularly those standing at the back. It seems some think it’s a drinking session and Elvis was the background noise. Not sure why so many chose back standing when there were so many seats empty at the rear. Also noticeable a few leaving very early. I heard the guy behind me say to his partner, ‘I don’t know if it’s good or not as I don’t recognise any of the songs’. His friend replied, ‘it reminds me of Peter Frampton, he didn’t play any songs I knew when I went to see him either’.
The call and response sections/singalong weren’t very loud either.

But that all makes it sound a negative night and it certainly wasn’t. Great to meet Sulky again too.
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Re: Elvis & The Imposters, Hammersmith Apollo, London, June 23, 2022

Post by Psc »

Sounds like a good night, despite the talkers! The only way to stop that is for the artist to request that the venue closes the bars during the show, but that happens very infrequently in my experience. There's no way a venue would want to give up that much potential profit. Sadly it seems like concerts are increasingly becoming the night out of choice for the rich and disinterested..
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Re: Elvis & The Imposters, Hammersmith Apollo, London, June 23, 2022

Post by Alan »

First time I'd seen EC live since 2020 (been going to his gigs intermittently since early 1980s) - a few thoughts, would be interested to hear if others agree or not:

- Overall a very good night, sound was excellent where I was sitting (circle) - which I confess was something of a relief, given the variable reviews of the sound set-up on previous nights on this tour.

- EC's voice still a bit erratic on some songs, in my view, but generally he sounded better than I'd expected (certainly when compared with some of his out of tune performances 6-7 years back). Oddly, he seemed overall to hold pitch better during some of the higher-note passages rather than the lower ones. Also noticeable (to me at least) that his singing appeared more accurate when he wasn't playing guitar himself (eg on his excellent rendition of Hetty O'Hara).

- Two hours is a very long show for someone of his age, especially given how challenging many of his songs are vocally. Can't help thinking that he might do better to play shorter sets, build in an interval, or (left-field idea) in this case perhaps include a 20-minute slot in which Ian Prowse took over as vocalist (Prowse's vocals were really excellent in the warm-up slot).

- To me, having a high-quality additional guitarist makes a huge positive difference to the overall Imposters sound (e.g. this was the best live rendition of Alison I've ever heard from EC, largely due to Charlie S's superb guitar work): why Elvis hasn't adopted this practice more regularly over the years I don't know.
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Re: Elvis & The Imposters, Hammersmith Apollo, London, June 23, 2022

Post by sulky lad »

Great review Alan, I agree completely. Ian Prowse's sets have been a joy - I really moved by his appearance at Manchester especially and his vocals are spot on. As for Charlie's contribution, I couldn't concur more. His fills and the addition of the phrases he inserts have been terrific and totally enhanced the songs. I took my son to Manchester and he asked me if I prefered The Attractions or this configuration and I think the Attractions are of their time but this to me is the best band sound and configuration with the best ensemble playing I've heard from Elvis for decades. Pete and Steve are as consistently brilliant as ever but Davey's bas playing has taken a stratospheric leap forward and his double bass playing on the jazzier numbers has been revelatory and full of virtuosity.
However,

I don't know why none of these concerts ( and I attended all 11) have become part of my favourite top 5 or even 10 Elvis performances. I'm guessing it may be something to do with the setlists but I can't put my finger on why they are not up there with the best. Partly, some songs are drawn out too long, too much improvised guitar work from Elvis, too many instrumental part and though I can understand why Elvi wants to give Charlie some free rein, I didn't get why he had to "compete" - a joust he was never destined to win - but also maybe to give his voice a rest. The run of songs that invariably began with "Chelsea" through to either "PLU" or "Mr. and Mrs. Hush" were highlights as they cascaded along and Elvis' voice held up throughout, so maybe the others were just a bit too easy paced? I loved the band versions of all the songs from Hey Clockface and TBNI but especially "Newspaper Pane", "Hetty O'Hara Confidential" and "We Are All Cowards Now". It comes back to the debate elsewhere on this forum as to what sort of concert people expect Elvis to perform, I guess he can't win!! I did enjoy everyone of the shows and they're certainly very fine but nothing quite blew me away - although the response at Manchester, Bath and Ipswich were all very, very special ! (As you'll no doubt all hear at some stage )
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Re: Elvis & The Imposters, Hammersmith Apollo, London, June 23, 2022

Post by bronxapostle »

As you have shared your slight dismay dear Sulky...may I offer a few responses kindly?

A) THE THRILL.IS GONE? I would like to think.not.

B) WE'RE GETTING OLDER & HARDER TO IMPRESS? could be this one!

C) WE'VE SEEN SUCH LEGENDARY APPEARANCES THAT ARE HARD TO TOP? again, maybe this!

D) MAYBE MORE THAN 3 SHOWS A TOUR IS OVERDONE? this is the one I think as I feel two or
three shows would sit more remarkably in your memory bank than a dozen. Again...just an opinion ONLY posted because you have seemingly wanted to share this out and hear back from some of us.


It is why even in the remarkable runs of as recently as 2011 (Spinning) and 2013 (solo)....I limit mysef to the 3 or 4 that I hope will give me the greatest variation in setlists yet not leave it all a big jumble in my ancient mind.

All my best to my great friend, benny
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Re: Elvis & The Imposters, Hammersmith Apollo, London, June 23, 2022

Post by sulky lad »

Thanks Benny, I always values your thoughts and views and thesein particular are well worth consideration.
I think you've pretty much nailed it, in that I have seen some awesome and breathtaking concerts and that maybe the familiarity might have been an influence. This certainly has been a greater strain journeying around the U.K. what with a puncture and stress of potentially being car-less before the Liverpool gig, the train strikes, having to lodge in assorted hotels not always anywhre near venues and, unfortunately anno domini meaning I got fatigued more easily so these may also have been part of my "doldrums".
I probably wouldn't have sacrificed any concerts given the choices so it may just be post tour blues!
Enjoy whatever shows you're able to get to and hopefully you'll enjoy the fruits of my efforts over the next few days too !
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Re: Elvis & The Imposters, Hammersmith Apollo, London, June 23, 2022

Post by bronxapostle »

I always appreciate your fruits. Peace and love, ba
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Re: Elvis & The Imposters, Hammersmith Apollo, London, June 23, 2022

Post by Arbogast »

Interesting topic.

I can't imagine going to 11 or 12 straight shows by anyone and being able to feel a sense of "wow."

For me, it's a bigger phenomenon. EC, and we, are much, much older than when we started on this journey. We're all very lucky that our fave artist is still alive, vital and creating new material 45 years later. But, let's face it, when you're in your 60s, those feelings of exhilaration, awe and obsession don't occur as often or easily as they do to a college kid or 20something.

It also bears saying that, like it or not, we're living through EC's 'late career' phase... Every artist has a peak period, and few hit those peaks 20 or 30 years later. Dylan put out a bunch of great records these past 20 years, but none of them are in the class of Blonde on Blonde, Highway 61 or Blood on the Tracks. Ditto for Elvis. Call me cynical, but when people in this forum greeted the release of Look Now or Clockface or TBNI with accolades like "Top five!", "Possible my fave album!" or somesuch, frankly, my bullshit detector goes off....and I say that as someone who really likes at least two of those albums.

As for this tour, I will, alas, only be able to make one show--NYC on 8/11. And, while I'm never less than psyched to see him, I've also been looking at the setlists so far and, well, I'm not as excited as i might be. Between all the new stuff and the half dozen or so must-play "greatest hits," the part of the shows that I typically like best--album cuts that we've heard sporadically, rarely or never over the years--has been squeezed to a minimum.

Plenty of fans like us will exit the theater after an EC show saying, "Holy shit--he played Suit of Lights/New Lace Sleeves/Poor Napoleon/Night Rally/King Horse!!! (just a few examples). NOBODY exits the theater gushing, "Holy shit--he played "Mr. and Mrs. Hush"!
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Re: Elvis & The Imposters, Hammersmith Apollo, London, June 23, 2022

Post by And No Coffee Table »

Arbogast wrote:NOBODY exits the theater gushing, "Holy shit--he played "Mr. and Mrs. Hush"!
Have you seen them play "Mr. & Mrs. Hush"? I thought it was one of the weaker tracks on Look Now, but it was great on the 2018 tour.
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Re: Elvis & The Imposters, Hammersmith Apollo, London, June 23, 2022

Post by Hawksmoor »

Arbogast wrote:Plenty of fans like us will exit the theater after an EC show saying, "Holy shit--he played Suit of Lights/New Lace Sleeves/Poor Napoleon/Night Rally/King Horse!!! (just a few examples). NOBODY exits the theater gushing, "Holy shit--he played "Mr. and Mrs. Hush"!
Sure, but that's all to do with...fans, casual fans, and above all, timing, I think. Plenty of us would come out of a 2022 gig saying 'holy shit - King Horse!' And quite right too. But I didn't think that when I was coming out of a gig in 1980.

The excitement for us is, I'd guess, partly to do with the rarity and partly to do with the age of the tracks. Hearing 'Beyond Belief' or 'Rocking Horse Road' or 'Sleep of the Just' in 2022 would give us a big kick because (a) we know it immediately (and the casual fan sitting next to us is baffled), and (b) we haven't heard it performed live for 20, 30, 40 years or whatever.

For us as fans, the same thrill is not going to apply (yet) for any tracks from Look Now, Clockface or TBNI. But in ten years' time it might. Timing is everything. I've always believed that stone-cold classics (to my ears, anyway) like 'Episode of Blonde', 'Story in Your Voice', 'Stella Hurt', 'The Other Side of Summer'...if they'd been recorded and released in 1978 (and/or when I was 14), they'd be the standard crowd-pleaser encores in the way that 'Pump It Up', 'Radio Radio' or 'PLU' are now.
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Re: Elvis & The Imposters, Hammersmith Apollo, London, June 23, 2022

Post by Man out of Time »

Review by Neil Dowden published at MusicOMH on 27 June 2022.

"Elvis Costello & The Imposters @ Hammersmith Apollo, London

The Boy Named If tour reaches London, offering a career spanning set of undimmed showmanship

Elvis Costello & The Imposters complete their ‘The Boy Named If and Other Favourites’ tour of British venues in June at London’s Eventim Apollo – or ‘Hammersmith Odeon’ as Costello still calls it when the band arrive on stage for an entertaining gig lasting two and a quarter hours. The Imposters are two out of the three Attractions – keyboardist Steve Nieve and drummer Pete Thomas – plus bassist Davey Faragher (with Bruce Thomas persona non grata). On this tour they are boosted by the addition of guitarist Charlie Sexton (who has played in Bob Dylan’s backing band). It’s supposedly a promotion of Elvis Costello and the Imposters’ recently released fourth album The Boy Named If – but it’s way more than that.

Now with an amazing 33 albums stretching back 45 years, Costello has an impressive back catalogue to draw on. It’s interesting to note that the band have had the confidence to vary their set list during this tour much more than most performers. This final concert features a quirky – and sometimes baffling – choice of songs from his eclectic career. There are surprisingly only five tracks from the excellent The Boy Named If, as well as a couple of previous ones with The Imposters, early hits with The Attractions, songs created with other collaborators, some from solo albums, and even a few unreleased songs. Costello has always revelled in being unpredictable.

The band get going with two tracks from the album Oliver’s Army, when Costello was at his most commercially successful with the Attractions in the late 70s/early 80s: the catchy single Accidents Will Happen and the lesser-known Green Shirt, but not the title track – their biggest hit – which he has decided no longer to perform because of the use of the N-word in the lyrics.

Strangely, it is not until five songs in that they play something from The Boy Named If: a punchy account of The Death Of Magic Thinking, with its staccato drumbeat. The others appear much later in the evening, as if they want to warm up the audience with some old favourites before delivering the new stuff. They include the soulful What If I Can’t Give You Anything But Love? and Magnificent Hurt, a return to the band’s new wave roots.

There are a couple of tracks from his last solo album in 2020, Hey Clockface, which show him still innovating musically: the noirish Hetty O’Hara Confidential and the disturbing Newspaper Pane. His very first solo hit single (just before teaming up with the Attractions) Watching The Detectives is given a new treatment, with its reggae beat merging into the jazzy Invisible Lady (a former collaboration with the Charles Mingus Orchestra). And the much-loved ballad Shipbuilding is complemented by the Spanish-tinged Cinco Minutos Con Vos (Five Minutes With You), which Costello did with US hip-hop group The Roots, revealing two sides of the Falklands War.

The band return to more familiar ground to round the evening off. The George Jones country cover Good Year For The Roses sees him in full crooning mode, while (I Don’t Want To Go to) Chelsea from Costello and The Attractions’ debut album This Year’s Model goes down a storm. There is a tender version of fan favourite Alison before recent rocker Farewell, OK does indeed spell the end of the show.

Now 67, Costello may be thicker of waist and thinner of hair these days, but even if his voice has lost some of its power he remains an expressive vocalist (sometimes using a vintage mic for a different effect) and his showmanship is undimmed. He marshals the audience to sing and clap along, joking and chatting a lot between songs, including reminiscing about his first band Rust (who recently reunited to release their debut album after 50 years!), proclaiming his love for second-hand record shops and reigniting his spat on Twitter with Rod Stewart over the Platinum Party of the Palace. Near the end of the gig Elvis once again calls out the name of each band member who get a much deserved ovation, finally saying ‘Stand up for the drummer’– so that everyone in the all-seater arena gets to their feet for the rest of the show while the band pumps it up."

Oliver's Army an album? Otherwise pretty good piece.

MOOT
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Re: Elvis & The Imposters, Hammersmith Apollo, London, June 23, 2022

Post by Neil. »

I kind of agree about the Hammersmith gig.

I was very distracted that night by some personal issues elsewhere in my life, so my mood wasn't great and might have clouded my night a bit - but I did find the set less exciting than usual. I think as others have said, those long bluesy songs are not what floats my boat re Elvis - I am into his fizzing pop and melodious rock. He also included 'Newspaper Pane', which for me is a rare Elvis dud- it's just so bleak and not very melodic.

It does bother me that whenever he pulls out 'Suit of Lights' - one of my very favourite of his songs, he always sings it behind the beat, so it ruins the song for me every time he does it like this.

I was in such a rotten mood (issues all resolved now) that I can't even remember a highlight. Death of Magic thinking I guess was my favourite - I would have loved to have heard The Boy Named If title track, too - I imagine that's a stormer live!
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Re: Elvis & The Imposters, Hammersmith Apollo, London, June 23, 2022

Post by taramasalata »

[/quote]
Hawksmoor wrote:
Arbogast wrote:Plenty of fans like us will exit the theater after an EC show saying, "Holy shit--he played Suit of Lights/New Lace Sleeves/Poor Napoleon/Night Rally/King Horse!!! (just a few examples). NOBODY exits the theater gushing, "Holy shit--he played "Mr. and Mrs. Hush"!
Sure, but that's all to do with...fans, casual fans, and above all, timing, I think. Plenty of us would come out of a 2022 gig saying 'holy shit - King Horse!' And quite right too. But I didn't think that when I was coming out of a gig in 1980.

The excitement for us is, I'd guess, partly to do with the rarity and partly to do with the age of the tracks. Hearing 'Beyond Belief' or 'Rocking Horse Road' or 'Sleep of the Just' in 2022 would give us a big kick because (a) we know it immediately (and the casual fan sitting next to us is baffled), and (b) we haven't heard it performed live for 20, 30, 40 years or whatever.

For us as fans, the same thrill is not going to apply (yet) for any tracks from Look Now, Clockface or TBNI. But in ten years' time it might. Timing is everything. I've always believed that stone-cold classics (to my ears, anyway) like 'Episode of Blonde', 'Story in Your Voice', 'Stella Hurt', 'The Other Side of Summer'...if they'd been recorded and released in 1978 (and/or when I was 14), they'd be the standard crowd-pleaser encores in the way that 'Pump It Up', 'Radio Radio' or 'PLU' are now.
Wisely said, that's what it is all about... it's us having to cope with aging...like in every human being who has this privilege.
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