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Wow — Holy shit — it was that great. The lucky Winnipeggers who crammed into the sold-out Playhouse Theatre for Elvis Costello's Wake Up Canada Concert got woken up, shaken up, rocked and rolled until the entire house was up, stumping, clapping, letting loose. In years I have seen nothing that could match that night for sheer energy, joy and a fantastic time. A minor sound problem simply had no chance whatsoever to distract from the total success of the evening.
Elvis Costello and the Attractions took to the stage in front of an audience already charged by the still-Battered Wives. With his grey outdated suit and dark-rimmed glasses Elvis looks so perplexed that I was totally astonished by his powerful stage presence and tight control of his band, every little jerk of his guitar, a quick sideways look answered by the crash of cymbals or a power chord on the organ.
The boys wasted no time. No superstar hype wow-we-are-great introduction heeerre is... but a start with a bang and right away Elvis had the willing crowd in the palm of his hand.
The dynamic energy his incredibly tight band blows out of the PA drove people out of their seats, bopping in front of the stage, clapping, hooting and after Elvis told some over-eager bouncers to "leave my friends here alone," everybody got happily in on the act. By the end of his set nobody was sitting down and — a real rarity for Winnipeg rock concerts suffered through by star-struck dull audiences — everybody let loose, had a huge grin, like one big party.
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