Elvis/Imposters play Tower Theatre, Upper Darby 19 May 2011

[Man out of Time]

Elvis last played here in 2005 with The Imposters, Larry Campbell and Emmylou Harris. Is anyone here planning to attend this show?

MOOT

[EarlManchester]

Doesn't Daryl Hall live in Philadelphia?

It would be great if he made a guest appearance and sang "The Only Flame In Town" with Elvis.

[Lester Burnham]

I'll be there, provided the show goes on...

[johnfoyle]

http://abnrml.blogspot.com/2011/05/t-bo ... tello.html




Thursday, May 19, 2011

T-Bone & Aljax / ABNRML 'Elvis Costello' Poster

We have had a ton of fun printing for a ton of bands here at ABNRML, but every now and then we do one which really is special and hits home. Elvis Costello has been a constant love of mine for as long as I can remember. The fact that we are printing a poster for him is blowing our minds! Armed Forces was one of the big albums of my youth. This print was commissioned by Live Nation for Elvis Costello's performance tonight (May 19th, 2011) at The Tower in Philadelphia, PA. We turned to none other than the great T-Bone & Aljax to whip up a special 2-color print at the last minute to make this poster dream come true! The design is screened on 19"X25" cream and oatmeal French Paper cover stock. Printed and produced by ABNRML.com, this one is special.

[bronxapostle]

nice poster...for a bronchitis shortened show!!!

nah, i'm only joshing. i'm sure he'll be in fine (enough) form!!

[MOJO]

Word from printer about posters for sale:

"We'll have just a few for sale next week. Should we reserve one for you? We also have a few on test colors that are each unique."

$40 for the poster... If you want one, send them an email at info@abnrml.com

[migdd]

Looking forward to a report of this show, Lester. Hopefully EC is recovering.

[slobin]

Another great show. A bit shorter than usual, and his voice got rough in the 2nd half. But the set list was prime, the audience was wild, and the band (Elvis included) was on fire. Hoover Factory! Pills and Soap! More later.

[slobin]

OK, so in order to get to the review you have to read through my story – but its about the kindness of Elvis fans, so hopefully you’ll appreciate.

I’ve been in Philly for work this week, so I figured if my work ended in time I’d go buy a ticket to see Elvis again (saw the 2nd Oakland show.) Things worked out, and I took the train out around 7. Talked to a few scalpers, all of whom were trying to get $50 for mediocre seats. I was willing to pay it, but figured if I waited long enough they might get desperate… or maybe someone would have a great extra ticket I could buy.

While I was hanging around, I noticed the scalpers were buying up peoples’ extra tickets and reselling them. At about 7:45, 3 guys came up to a particularly sleazy scalper near me, and told him they had an extra single ticket. Scalper offered them $20, the main guy laughed and walked away. I overheard him tell his friends, “I don’t care about the money, but I definitely don’t want that guy to have it.”

So I ran after him and asked, “You have any interest in selling it to a fan instead?” I gave him my Elvis credentials, and he offered it to me for the same $20 he had just turned down. Then I checked out the ticket - row DDD (4th row)!! Turns out this was a reunion – these guys saw Elvis together in 1982, and live across the country from each other. They had flown in for the occasion. First round of beers was on me, and we took our seats in row 4, just in front of the wheel. Elvis fans are the best! Guys, if you're reading this, thanks again.

Now, the show: Another stellar stop on the tour, with a few hiccups, but that same massive energy was there. The main set seemed especially great tonight – no tough transitions, mostly uptempo. We got some of the same covers that have been popping up on the tour (Let me Roll It, Substitute, Heart of the City, Out of Time.) I could be wrong here but I don’t recall hearing anything post-1986 in the whole main set. Lots of blistering solos, the band seemed to be having a great time, the sound system was crisp, the spinners were… attractive…

And the crowd was into it. A lot of the orchestra section was on its feet nearly the whole show (definitely not the case in Oakland!) You could tell there were a ton of die-hard, old-school (and possibly very drunk) Elvis fanatics. He was very playful – maybe I’m just not used to sitting quite so close, but lots of interaction with the crowd. He danced with a few of the spinners too.

A few highlights:
- Shabby Doll
- Detective v. Hoover. The shouts for Hoover sounded louder to me (Elvis looked pretty surprised) so he did both.
- I think it was a “Joanna” spin that yielded a crazy Pills and Soap, with Elvis wandering into the audience, sitting down 2 seats in front of me, etc.

The hiccups:
- His voice started to give about an hour in. By the end of the main set, it was pretty noticeable. I’ve definitely heard worse from him though – he covered it well. The only point when it sounded pretty rough was the first encore of solo Josephine/Jimmie. The final set, he recovered and sounded mostly great.
- During Josephine and Jimmy, he lost the crowd. Perhaps it was because they were drunk and ready to dance, maybe it was his vocal issues, maybe it was that they were new songs, maybe its just Philly. As he was introducing Jimmy, one guy yelled “Play something we want to hear.” He got booed, but the damage was done. By the end of Jimmy, there were a few people in the back yelling for him to play other stuff. Even my new drunk friends were complaining. Ah, Philly.
- And then came back for a final set, which was great but ended too early. Show was 2 hours start to finish. The crowd clearly wanted more, and badly. I think he would have complied if he had been in better voice. I hope he wasn’t too turned off by a few rude people.

Anyway, thrilled I could make it to another show on this amazing tour.

[docinwestchester]

Ah Philly indeed. Where they booed Santa Claus at a football game.

Thanks for the report. Nice story.

[Man out of Time]

Setlist from EC.com

01. I Hope You're Happy Now
02. Heart Of The City
03. Mystery Dance
04. Radio, Radio

Introduction of the Spectacular Singing Songbook

05. Human Hands - spin 1
06. Living In Paradise- spin 2
07. Shabby Doll - impromptu

"Napoleon Solo" Jackpot - Spin 3 (Held)
"Time" Jackpot - Spin 4
08. Clowntime Is Over
09. Strict Time
10. Man Out Of Time
11. Out Of Time
12. Brilliant Mistake - spin 5

"Joanna" Jackpot - Spin 6
13. Pills And Soap

"Detectives vs Hover Factory" - Spin 7
14. Hoover Factory
15. Watching The Detectives
16. Black And White World - spin 8
17. Beyond Belief - impromptu
18. Let Me Roll It - impromptu

Encore 1
19. A Slow Drag With Josephine - EC solo
20. Jimmie Standing In The Rain - EC solo

'Encore 2
21. (I Don't Want To Go To) Chelsea
22. Everyday I Write The Book
23. Pump It Up
24. Substitute
25. (What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love And Understanding?

MOOT

[sulky lad]

Ah Philly indeed. Where they booed Santa Claus at a football game.

Oh, really ?
Reminds me of an area in Birmingham where the Girl's Brigade marching band was stoned ( by people throwing stones not by too much "red-eye"!!)back in the 70s.

[cwr]

So did "Hoover Factory" actually WIN the audience vote this time? Or did Elvis pick it? Either way, I hope we get to hear this in NYC!!

[Jeremy Dylan]

BLACK AND WHITE WORLD!!!!

[docinwestchester]

I hope a recording emerges. The infamous Chicago show and Cincy are still missing.

[blue_94_trooper]

Ah Philly indeed. Where they booed Santa Claus at a football game.

Give it a rest. Do you even know ANY of the details of stupid old story?

But yes the stupid drunks were a problem. Yelling at a two-song National Ransom interlude after a hit-laden first set. Why not just leave?

Hoover Factory & Detectives was a tie (or close enough) which is why we got both. I was glad about that. I've never heard Hoover live but have heard Detectives at probably every show EC I've been to (I sure didn't miss Alison last night).

Davey Farragher raised his arms in triumph when "B&W World" came up, he must like playing that one. btw - Am I in the minority in thinking that Davey is an upgrade over Bruce Thomas if only because Elvis now has somebody to sing backing vocals?

"Brilliant Mistake" was tagged with a couple of lines from "Tangled Up in Blue".

This show was 32 years, 1 month and a few days after my first Elvis concert, in the same building.

[Emotional Toothpaste]

What about the batteries that were thrown at JD Drew when he returned to Philly as Cardinal?

[sulky lad]

I hope a recording emerges. The infamous Chicago show and Cincy are still missing

Does that mean Reno and Oakland 8 May are available, Doc ? (and if so, where can I get them ?)
I thought Philadelphia was the city of brotherly love and everyone seems to be having a pop - in the UK we just have a North-South divide (except in Stanley Park, Liverpool ,TB!!). Of course, we're a few million acres smaller and a few thousand miles closer to our neighbours !!!

[docinwestchester]

I hope a recording emerges. The infamous Chicago show and Cincy are still missing

Does that mean Reno and Oakland 8 May are available, Doc ? (and if so, where can I get them ?)
I thought Philadelphia was the city of brotherly love and everyone seems to be having a pop - in the UK we just have a North-South divide (except in Stanley Park, Liverpool ,TB!!). Of course, we're a few million acres smaller and a few thousand miles closer to our neighbours !!!

Sorry I misspoke. I have no knowledge of recordings of those two shows either. Whatever's on DIME is what I got.

As far as Philadelphia goes, let's just say it has a reputation. I know you can't believe everything you read on the internet, but here's a fairly credible article about the day the Eagles fans booed Santa and pelted him with dozens of snowballs. This was documented on TV and Howard Cosell presented it on a national news show the following week:

http://www.snopes.com/holidays/christma ... elphia.asp

[Lester Burnham]

slobin's write-up was perfect, I don't think I could add anything to it. The jackass who shouted before 'Jimmie' definitely got a few "shut the fuck up"s, and he was two or three rows behind me, so I could hear him muttering angrily to himself the entire song. "This fucking new song," I heard. I was about ready to turn around to him and say, "Look, shut the fuck up, man."

The show was great. A wild audience – a bit too wild, which marred the two acoustic songs – although certain people were really against standing up and enjoying themselves. Again, I wanted to turn around and say, "You're at a rock 'n' roll concert, okay? Deal with it."

Elvis seemed really animated, and I think there was some confusion during the ending of 'Black And White World'.

There were two minor complaints I had: one, only two songs from National Ransom? That made me sad. I understand the whole spectacle thing, and there were plenty of little references or covers (Substitute, Out Of Time, Tangled Up In Blue, The Kids Are Alright, Heart Of The City), but honestly I'd rather have heard some stuff from National Ransom; two, no 'Waiting For The End Of The World' or 'Hurry Down Doomsday' in honor of the rapture tomorrow!

But apart from that, definitely the best of Elvis's shows I've been to since 2007. I'm gonna do a full write-up for my own little music review site later.

[migdd]

Post a link here when you're done, Lester. I'd like to read your full account.

[blue_94_trooper]

although certain people were really against standing up and enjoying themselves. Again, I wanted to turn around and say, "You're at a rock 'n' roll concert, okay? Deal with it."

It was an OLD crowd, wasn't it?

As I mentioned above I saw Elvis 32 years ago at the Tower. I saw a lot of people last night who could have easily been there with me and would have been much older than the 15 that I was at the time.

[And No Coffee Table]

I notice that an "Imperial Chocolate" jackpot was added to the wheel. If this or "King's Ransom" ever comes up, I wonder if they'll play songs from both albums, or if he'll put it to a vote like "Detectives vs. Hoover Factory."

[bronxapostle]

so i guess we'll soon see "BRUTAL VARIETY"; "DELIVERY FORCES"; "MIGHTY LETTERS" and "USELESS MODEL" before long...

[sulky lad]

And everyone's waiting for "Juliet Stars" !!