Elvis plays Englewood, NJ, Nov. 4 '13

[johnfoyle]

Who's going?

[bronxapostle]

yours truly!

[johnfoyle]

Preview - http://www.northjersey.com/arts_enterta ... stown.html

[docinwestchester]

Steven Mandel ‏@StevenMandel 8m
At the @ElvisCostello sold out solo show at Bergen Performing Arts Center. Just because.

Rich Russo ‏@DJRichRusso 2m
@elviscostello at Bergen PAC, king horse!! http://ow.ly/i/3CSmb



Rich Russo ‏@DJRichRusso 3m
Request time @elviscostello Bergen PAC http://ow.ly/i/3CTGu

[And No Coffee Table]

Live Acoustic CINCO!!! ‪@ImposterSpeaks‬ ‪@ElvisCostello‬

Wow, ‪@elviscostello‬ encore at Bergen PAC "radio soul" the song that would later become "radio radio" ‪http://ow.ly/i/3CUgW ‬

[And No Coffee Table]

@elviscostello electric encore at Bergen PAC "less than zero" http://ow.ly/i/3CUym

Live PUPPET!!! @ImposterSpeaks @ElvisCostello

Wow @elviscostello electric encore "tripwire" just amazing http://ow.ly/i/3CUCM

Tripwire leading into peace love understanding slowed down, @elviscostello beyond incredible

[bronxapostle]

WELCOME TO THE WORKING WEEK
KING HORSE
45
DISTORTED ANGEL
DEPORTEE
VERONICA
AMERICAN WITHOUT TEARS
LAST BOAT LEAVING
NEW AMSTERDAM
YOU'VE GOT TO HIDE YOUR LOVE AWAY
WALKIN' MY BABY BACK HOME
GHOST TRAIN
PENNIES FROM HEAVEN>
A VOICE IN THE DARK
CHURCH UNDERGROUND
OUR LITTLE ANGEL
GREEN SHIRT
CINCOS MINUOTOS CON VOS
HIGH FIDELITY
A SLOW DRAG WITH JOSEPHINE
SUIT OF LIGHTS
JIMMIE STANDING IN THE RAIN>
BROTHER CAN YOU SPARE A DIME?

RADIO SOUL
ALISON

ALMOST BLUE
THE PUPPET HAS CUT HIS STRINGS
LESS THAN ZERO
TRIPWIRE
PEACE, LOVE AND UNDERSTANDING (trippy version)

loved this show.....tonight's theme: FAMILY! nearly everything on acoustic guitar. walkin my baby to voice in the dark were played seated and PENNIES/VOICE and CHURCH were the only ones played on electric guitar. ALMOST & PUPPET on electirc piano. 8 i never saw before. 2 hrs. 5 mins. GO SEE WHAT YOU CAN THIS TOUR!!! I MIGHT HAVE TO INCREASE MY PROJECTED NUMBER OF DIFFERENT SONGS TO BE PLAYED. HE"S STRETCHING OUT!!! oh, i almost forget...my quick soundcheck and my tapes sound AWESOME! perfect tape flips. look for it soon with a larryrulz assist at dime! oh, i'm sorry...the last 3 songs were played on the Jazzmaster (electric) while the prior 3 electric tunes were on one of those pretty hollow bodied acoustic/electric jobs he loves so much for certain tunes.

[bronxapostle]

you are FAST ANCT...only YOU are the champ of the wiki: http://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/inde ... _Englewood

[docinwestchester]

Ba - Did your brother bring the Zoom?

[bronxapostle]

noooo, we don't need no stinking ZOOM! wait till you hear THIS one!!! ill meet you thursday or saturday

[martinfoyle]

Yeah, sound was perfect, wonderful acoustics, beautiful venue. Great gig alright, and, again, great to see him so happy. Good banter as well, nice Slade mention.

[And No Coffee Table]

Almost Blue / The Puppet Has Cut His Strings:

[SoulForHire]

noooo, we don't need no stinking ZOOM! wait till you hear THIS one!!! ill meet you thursday or saturday

I absolutely cannot wait for this recording!

[bronxapostle]

noooo, we don't need no stinking ZOOM! wait till you hear THIS one!!! ill meet you thursday or saturday

I absolutely cannot wait for this recording!

you might not have to wait long....you may hear it tomorrow! i'm gonna see if i can coax doc into picking this up 7:00 tonight!! or i'll throw it in the mail and he'll get it friday! soon come...SOUNDS INCREDIBLE!!!!!!!!!!!

[bronxapostle]

all transferred....sounds SWELL. but, doc can't pass through tonight. so, i'll mail them to him. you might hear this by Friday anyway! oh, unless doc wants to share an mp3 or two right here??? let me know and i could send you another besides the sample VERONICA i have sent.

[docinwestchester]

The sample VERONICA

[bronxapostle]

nice work...thanks doc! i should have sent along a brotherapostle picture from last night. sounds pretty okay folks, yes?

[Azmuda]

There's an alternate recording on Dime now.

[bronxapostle]

no samples attached??? how is it?

[docinwestchester]

Sounds pretty good. Here's a 1 minute sample of Veronica for comparison with your version:

[bronxapostle]

thanks doc...you KNOW what i'm gonna say: digital sounds duller, while analog sounds truer to the room that night!

[jardine]

Thanks for these.

I know how good a singer e.c. is. So why is it, to my ear, that he often sounds flat on these recordings? Almost Blue I find even hard to listen to. Is it the acoustic capture of the voice vis a vis the piano?? Not at all an issue on his cds, and not an issue either e.g., w. spectacle show or other "official" dvds or live recordings...

...anyone else notice this? anyone got a clue as to what is happening? is my hearing failing?

[sweetest punch]

http://www.nj.com/entertainment/music/i ... ewood.html

Elvis Costello goes it alone (and gets personal) in Englewood

Elvis Costello angled his fedora so that most of his face was in shadow.

Seated at an electric piano, he positioned the brim like a man protecting his face from a downpour. In a reverie, his hands found the chords of "The Puppet Has Cut His Strings," an elegy for his father, Ross MacManus, a big band singer and trumpeter who died in 2011 at 84. As the dense, near-dissonant note clusters rang out, Costello’s eyes widened, like a sleeper roused to tough reality by the tolling of church bells.

A little less than two hours earlier, Costello introduced himself to the sold-out house at the Bergen Performing Arts Center in Englewood as his own special guest. He was kidding around: Monday’s concert was a solo show. (He’ll do two more in Morristown later this month.)

But he was also acknowledging that the concert he was about to play had as much to do with Declan MacManus, the melancholy 59-year-old behind the Elvis Costello mask, as it did with the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer with a deep catalog of catchy, wordy, acerbic songs. Alongside the Fenders and picked-up acoustic guitars, ghosts stood onstage.

Costello never mentioned his father’s death, but he brought Ross MacManus up often, and looked both proud and wistful as he did; he also spoke about his grandfather, another musician who sang on ocean liners, and his grandmother, who never forgave Al Jolson for turning to talking pictures.

In this context, "Veronica" a song that explores the seagoing memories of an old woman, took on peculiar poignancy. "Jimmie Standing in the Rain," a jazz-age poem about a singer turned vagrant by bad luck, played as a hard-eyed tribute to Costello’s ancestors. "Ghost Train," an early song, was rinsed of its venom, slowed down and presented as a meditation on his hometown of Birkenhead.

The singer will always be best known for his scorching break-up songs, many of which deal frankly with infidelity and male inadequacy, and his astringent political material hurled at conservative regimes worldwide. He did a few of these: the Lothario takedown "King Horse," the withering anti-fascist "Less Than Zero," and the obligatory (but always beautiful) "Alison."

But he has also turned his overstuffed vocabulary on other recurring topics: inheritance, history, exile and the relationship between America and Britain. Performance is the family business, and the pathos and perseverance of the show person is a running theme on recent albums. Monday’s show did not star Costello the Angry Man, or Costello the punk, or the genial TV host of "Spectacle." It was, instead, introspective, illuminating and, in many places, touching.

Had Costello possessed the command that his fans are accustomed to, it may even have been revelatory. Unfortunately, he did not. Costello’s voice has always been something of a blunt instrument; on Monday, it was often raspy and difficult for him to control. It cracked where Costello didn’t want it to and drifted out of tune on delicate ballads such as "Our Little Angel" and "Deportee" that required precision to set sail. Yet, sometimes, he’d find his footing and demonstrate that he’s still one of pop’s premiere communicators: "Church Underground," a complicated story featuring at least one mid-song conversation between distinct characters, was delivered with the force and clarity of a sermon.

A solo tour is an intriguing and somewhat perverse choice for Costello in 2013. He’s just released "Wise Up Ghost," a collaboration with the Roots, and, in particular, drummer and producer Questlove, a Costello obsessive. Superficially, the Englewood show, which drew from all over Costello’s catalog, seemed to have little in common with the project he ought to be supporting. But the shadow of Ross MacManus’ death, and mortality in general, hangs heavily over "Ghost," and Questlove’s production encouraged Costello to look backward. The pair raided past albums — particularly the ornate mid-career sets "Mighty Like a Rose" and "Spike" — for verses and melodies to recontextualize, and stuck together familiar riffs, phrases and musical bric-a-brac from across the catalog. For a dedicated fan, the experience of hearing "Wise Up Ghost" is like returning home to a once-familiar house and finding the furniture rearranged.

Costello took the lessons — and the mood — of "Ghost" into his solo concert. New songs contained seeds of older ones; fan favorites broke out in the bellies of recent compositions. "Cinco Minutos Con Vos," a new story that hints of espionage, suddenly became "High Fidelity." "Tripwire," another "Ghost" song, concluded with a slowed-down, pained rendition of "(What’s So Funny ’Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding." "You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away" sprung from "New Amsterdam," a Liverpool reflection in 6/8 time.

Even the hits came with twists. Instead of encoring with "Radio Radio," Costello chose to perform "Radio Soul," its mid-’70s rough draft.

As it turns out, the poem that became the excoriating "Radio Radio" began as optimistic verse about the transformative possibilities of music. He’d quickly overwrite that as his music took a sharp turn toward the declamatory, but "Radio Soul" makes Costello’s debt to Bruce Springsteen apparent and offered another glimpse into the heart of a devastated romantic who often plays as a vengeful pugilist.

Old showbiz pros that they were, his dad and granddad might have been alarmed to see the mask fall, even for a moment. Then again, they would surely know the full measure of its weight.

Photos from slideshow:

[sweetest punch]

Cinco Minutos Con Vos / High Fidelity: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXJUT0xkNw8
New Amsterdam / Hide Your Love Away: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOapB3YT1Dk

[Jack of All Parades]

Thanks for these.

I know how good a singer e.c. is. So why is it, to my ear, that he often sounds flat on these recordings? Almost Blue I find even hard to listen to. Is it the acoustic capture of the voice vis a vis the piano?? Not at all an issue on his cds, and not an issue either e.g., w. spectacle show or other "official" dvds or live recordings...

...anyone else notice this? anyone got a clue as to what is happening? is my hearing failing?

Your hearing is not failing you. From the appreciative and sound review of this show posted just above:

"Had Costello possessed the command that his fans are accustomed to, it may even have been revelatory. Unfortunately, he did not. Costello’s voice has always been something of a blunt instrument; on Monday, it was often raspy and difficult for him to control. It cracked where Costello didn’t want it to and drifted out of tune on delicate ballads such as "Our Little Angel" and "Deportee" that required precision to set sail. Yet, sometimes, he’d find his footing and demonstrate that he’s still one of pop’s premiere communicators: "Church Underground," a complicated story featuring at least one mid-song conversation between distinct characters, was delivered with the force and clarity of a sermon."