Orange County Register, October 3, 1986: Difference between revisions
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{{:Bibliography index}} | {{:Bibliography index}} | ||
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<center><h3> Elvis: an inventive attraction </h3></center> | <center><h3> Elvis: an inventive attraction </h3></center> | ||
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<center> Jim Washburn </center> | <center> Jim Washburn </center> | ||
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''' The concert: A mix of freshness and passion | |||
{{Bibliography text}} | {{Bibliography text}} | ||
There's a tape of Elvis Costello recorded in | There's a tape of Elvis Costello recorded in Washington, D.C., during a late '70s tour that has attained an almost mythic status among Costello fans. It's with good reason: The encapsulated [[Concert 1978-02-28 Washington|show]] catches Costello and his Attractions at a point when they were almost single-handedly assaulting the complacency of '70s pop music (they alone of the punk invasion made a dent on the U.S. charts) with a brand of rock at once brilliantly crafted and performed with an adventurous edge that verged on chaos in live performance. | ||
Nearly as startling as the immediacy, passion and invention Costello and band revealed on that early tour, is that almost a decade later they were capable of performing the same material with the same undimmed fire. | Nearly as startling as the immediacy, passion and invention Costello and band revealed on that early tour, is that almost a decade later they were capable of performing the same material with the same undimmed fire. | ||
Wednesday night — the first of five varied, sold-out shows Costello is performing at the 1,400-seat Beverly Theatre — nearly half the songs in Costello's 25-song set dated from 1978 or earlier. And "Mystery Dance" from his debut 1977 ''My Aim is True'' sounded as fresh and vital as the pounding "Uncomplicated" from the just-released ''Blood | Wednesday night — the first of five varied, sold-out shows Costello is performing at the 1,400-seat Beverly Theatre — nearly half the songs in Costello's 25-song set dated from 1978 or earlier. And "Mystery Dance" from his debut 1977 ''My Aim is True'' sounded as fresh and vital as the pounding "Uncomplicated" from the just-released ''Blood & Chocolate'' album (see album review below). | ||
More than almost any other rock artist, Costello seems aware of how difficult it is to keep one's artistry fresh, and provides himself with challenges to keep it so. He's taken masterful turns at solo and symphonic concerts, country music and other edgy propositions (at Irvine Meadows a couple of years back, he, without warning, plunged the band into a set of songs it hadn't played or rehearsed in years), and has continually grown as an artist as a result. | More than almost any other rock artist, Costello seems aware of how difficult it is to keep one's artistry fresh, and provides himself with challenges to keep it so. He's taken masterful turns at solo and symphonic concerts, country music and other edgy propositions (at Irvine Meadows a couple of years back, he, without warning, plunged the band into a set of songs it hadn't played or rehearsed in years), and has continually grown as an artist as a result. | ||
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The intensified older ballads "New Lace Sleeves" and "Green Shirt" were two highlights, but Costello's best vocals came on the more recent cover "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood," where his passionate vocal elicited a spirited audience singalong, and "I'll Wear it Proudly" from ''King of America''. Costello built the song as a slow-burning emotional anthem, which drew to a close with great Hammond organ swells from keyboardist Steve Nieve and a Steve Cropper-like guitar sting from Costello. | The intensified older ballads "New Lace Sleeves" and "Green Shirt" were two highlights, but Costello's best vocals came on the more recent cover "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood," where his passionate vocal elicited a spirited audience singalong, and "I'll Wear it Proudly" from ''King of America''. Costello built the song as a slow-burning emotional anthem, which drew to a close with great Hammond organ swells from keyboardist Steve Nieve and a Steve Cropper-like guitar sting from Costello. | ||
While Costello's songs and singing justifiably attract most of the attention, one of the inarguable elements fueling his art is that few groups outside of the jazz world can play as simultaneously tightly and freely as the Attractions do. On Wednesday, Bruce Thomas displayed his abilities as one of the most melodic, creative bass players in rock often filling a solo role — yet he never lost sight of the bass's function of motivating the songs. Drummer Pete Thomas is a rhythmic dynamo in the best Charlie Watts-Al Jackson Jr. tradition. | While Costello's songs and singing justifiably attract most of the attention, one of the inarguable elements fueling his art is that few groups outside of the jazz world can play as simultaneously tightly and freely as the Attractions do. On Wednesday, Bruce Thomas displayed his abilities as one of the most melodic, creative bass players in rock — often filling a solo role — yet he never lost sight of the bass's function of motivating the songs. Drummer Pete Thomas is a rhythmic dynamo in the best Charlie Watts-Al Jackson Jr. tradition. | ||
And Steve Nieve. Steve Nieve! What can one say about a keyboard player whose work consistently careens toward pandemonium, who Wednesday changed comping styles roughly every 15 seconds behind Costello on "Alison," and who, beyond reason, somehow makes his musical aberrations work to the benefit of the song at hand? | And Steve Nieve. Steve Nieve! What can one say about a keyboard player whose work consistently careens toward pandemonium, who Wednesday changed comping styles roughly every 15 seconds behind Costello on "Alison," and who, beyond reason, somehow makes his musical aberrations work to the benefit of the song at hand? | ||
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{{Bibliography notes}} | {{Bibliography notes}} | ||
'''Orange County Register | {{Bibliography next | ||
|prev = Orange County Register, September 17, 1984 | |||
|next = Orange County Register, April 20, 1987 | |||
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'''Orange County Register, October 3, 1986 | |||
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[[Jim Washburn]] reviews Elvis Costello & [[The Attractions]], Wednesday, [[Concert 1986-10-01 Los Angeles|October 1, 1986]], Beverly Theatre, Los Angeles. | [[Jim Washburn]] reviews Elvis Costello & [[The Attractions]], Wednesday, [[Concert 1986-10-01 Los Angeles|October 1, 1986]], Beverly Theatre, Los Angeles. | ||
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{{Bibliography images}} | {{Bibliography images}} | ||
[[image:1986-10-03 Orange County Register Preview page 39.jpg| | [[image:1986-10-03 Orange County Register Preview page 39.jpg|380px]] | ||
<br><small>Page scan.</small> | <br><small>Page scan.</small> | ||
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{{Bibliography box | {{Bibliography box}} | ||
<center><h3> | <center><h3> 'Blood & Chocolate' is a mouthful <br> from a master </h3></center> | ||
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<center> Jim Washburn </center> | <center> Jim Washburn </center> | ||
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'''Elvis Costello and The Attractions <br> | |||
Blood & Chocolate | |||
{{Bibliography text}} | {{Bibliography text}} | ||
Having already released what stands as the best album of the year thus far (''King of America'', which was released in the spring), one can't fault Elvis Costello for taking it easy this time out. | Having already released what stands as the best album of the year thus far (''King of America'', which was released in the spring), one can't fault Elvis Costello for taking it easy this time out. | ||
On ''Blood | On ''Blood & Chocolate'', Costello backs off from ''King of America'''s novel-like focus and depth, returning to the clever wordplay and bash-it-out tunesmithing that have made his lesser albums such immediate, if sometimes transitory, pleasures. Regrouped with the ever-explosive Attractions (''King of America'' featured former Elvis Presley sidemen and session players) and with old-time producer Nick Lowe at the controls, the album takes up where 1981's ''Trust'' left off. | ||
This is a fact, and you can check: No one makes better album opening tracks than Costello. ''Blood | This is a fact, and you can check: No one makes better album opening tracks than Costello. ''Blood & Chocolate'' is no exception, with "Uncomplicated" pounding out of the speakers like a steel foundry gone tribal and a screamed vocal from El. | ||
The remainder of the first side is dominated by two extended tracks. The seven-minute opus "Tokyo Storm Warning" (co-written with Costello fiance Cait O'Riordan of the Pogues) sounds like a reworked Stones "19th Nervous Breakdown" with a convoluted jumble of lyrics that leave no lasting impression. | The remainder of the first side is dominated by two extended tracks. The seven-minute opus "Tokyo Storm Warning" (co-written with Costello fiance Cait O'Riordan of the Pogues) sounds like a reworked Stones "19th Nervous Breakdown" with a convoluted jumble of lyrics that leave no lasting impression. | ||
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[[Category:1986 concert reviews]] | [[Category:1986 concert reviews]] | ||
[[Category:Costello Sings Again Tour|~Orange County Register 1986-10-03]] | [[Category:Costello Sings Again Tour|~Orange County Register 1986-10-03]] | ||
[[Category:Album reviews]] | |||
[[Category:Blood & Chocolate reviews]] | [[Category:Blood & Chocolate reviews]] |
Latest revision as of 00:15, 13 July 2021
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