2014 Wednesday Oct 29th LONDON, ENGLAND, Royal Albert Hall

[bronxapostle]

errr, no offense to my UK pals: I'LL KEEP THE SETLIST I GOT IN NEW JERSEY TO END THE TOUR 11-27-2013!

[docinwestchester]

Georgie was the first person to commission me to write a song for him. I had one knocking about called "That's What Friends Are For,"

Here's a mp3 of Elvis' demo

http://www.mediafire.com/listen/3xdxtjt ... re+For.mp3


Maybe someone could flip this over to youtube for easier access?

[johnfoyle]

Thanks Doc!

[charliestumpy]

Yes, many thanks for sharing this TWFAF EC demo.

[FrankieJ]

RAH is so gorgeous! Georgie Fame was brilliant! Elvis was brilliant! Loved the new arrangements of Chelsea and The Comedians. And the unexpected Couldn't Call It Unexpected without the mics at the end was a nice touch. It's good seeing so many people sing along to a Mighty Like A Rose song!

I attended alone and ended up chatting with some guy sitting next to me who was also attending alone. For the first time EVER I managed to have a conversation about Elvis Costello - no one I know is familiar with his music, so it was good to talk to someone who knew what I was talking about! I slipped in the fact I attend this forum, but he didn't seem to know about it, so it probably wasn't any of you lot! Shame, he was really nice.

Some people took to Twitter to mention EC was "out of key" - they obviously haven't seen him play live before! That's just the way he is... raw. But I like that.

I cannot wait to see the man live again. Hopefully we get something in London again next year.

[johnfoyle]

Two radically different perspectives - that's Elvis for you!


http://www.theartsdesk.com/new-music/el ... lbert-hall


http://mellotone70up.wordpress.com/2014 ... bert-hall/

[InvisibleMan]

Elvis, the only performer that posts a negative review on his own official website.

[krm]

Yes, many thanks for sharing this TWFAF EC demo.

i 2nd that!

[verbal gymnastics]

Usually after an Elvis show I'm onto the forum straight away to post a review. However this time it's a little bit different.

On the night, jUst before Detectives a mate of mine who I didn't meet up with texted me to say he was leaving as he was about to slash his wrists. Whilst I said to him it was a blues show so what did he expect he said it was too self indulgent.

After the show my friend Karen, who was an Elvis virgin, said she enjoyed the show but used exactly the same words.

This stung me a bit but made me reflect on this year's shows as well as the RAH show.

As far as the RAH show was concerned, one thing no one can deny was how good Georgie Fame was. He has a fantastic voice and his experience and professionalism was a joy. He played 15 minutes longer than billed but no one minded that, particularly when Elvis joined him.

Elvis and Steve started well and Karen joined the Professor Nieve fan club.

My main criticism of this show and the other solo shows this year has been the lack of spark. Most of you know that I've seen Elvis once or twice in my time and I'm no critic of his live shows. However despite the great one off songs on this tour, I've been disappointed that so much of the show has been a sit down show when at least on 2 shows, Bexhill and Paris, the audience has been itching to get up and dance. But he only played Oliver's Army and PLU and that was it.

The only time I really saw any spark was the Kew Gardens gig when Larkin Poe and his brothers played with him.

This was a different audience and fair play to Elvis for playing the set he wanted to play which was heavily based upon regular songs on the tour.

I also saw a lot of people leaving and agree with the negative reviewer in wondering how many left for travel/babysitting reasons and how many left because it wasn't what they expected. It could be the usual expectation of a greatest hits laden set.

My last gripes are that Come the Meantimes is not a well known enough song for a call and response. Also Elvis had clearly decided to sing CCIU#4 which I love. However it didn't get a great singalong and went on for too long. I also felt sorry for the lady who got up and danced in Detectives and then got told to sit down.

On the plus side Elvis and Steve were great and it was great to hear Steve's backing on PLU. For the first time in my life I enjoyed Everybody's Crying Mercy and to be honest it wasn't a bad show. As I posted after the Paris show, perhaps I expect too much.

Maybe given that Elvis has seen me dance and, when he sees me, he realises he doesn't want to encourage me.

By the way, I'm not the person who posted the negative review that ended up on Elvis' website!

[johnfoyle]

The illustration on Elvis' site with the John Harvey's ' Sad. Sad and bad. A shame.' review is great -


http://www.elviscostello.com/news/throu ... t-hall/669




It's not at Mr Harvey's site so someone had the good enough humour to put it together for Elvis.

[Azmuda]

The illustration on Elvis' site with the John Harvey's ' Sad. Sad and bad. A shame.' review is great -

It's not at Mr Harvey's site so someone had the good enough humour to put it together for Elvis.

Evidently there's an app for that: http://www.firetouch.de/web/Beitrag/Fir ... rameworks/

[johnfoyle]

I posted a comment on John Harvey's blog telling him that Elvis's site had posted his review - he replied -

http://mellotone70up.wordpress.com/2014 ... ment-25745

Perhaps whoever posted it on Elvis’ behalf hadn't actually read it? Or, as you say, have both a good sense of humour and an open mind. I’m pleased, of course, that some people enjoyed the evening a lot more than I did; maybe even Elvis did too, but we were sitting near the stage and that wasn't the impression he created. As I said in my piece, I've seen him on a number of occasions in the past – including at the RAH – and have always come away feeling positive. One poor gig – if that is what this was – does not, in any way, diminish a fine artist’s work. Of course.


I further commented-


Some friends who were at the RAH agree with parts of your account , especially as regards Elvis’s voice, which always seem to get rougher as his tours finish up. I was lucky enough to see him, in Belfast, about half way through this one where he was on top form. As regards the posting on his site, whoever does the posts has form as far as including less than complimentary reviews, notably a exceptionally dismissive review by Andy Gill in the Independent of a recent album. Elvis was asked about that in a interview and he explained , probably tongue in cheek, that he likes to include all views etc. The use of a customised image in the posting this time indicates that they knew exactly what was in your comments !

[johnfoyle]

Gary McVeigh's photos , via f/book -

[sweetest punch]

Almost Blue: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6eHjJqQZEI
Point Of No Return: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-eSqHGMWMw
Couldn't Call It Unexpected: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmtAJcUHVyo

[A rope leash]

I don't know how Elvis does it, really. Looking at the tour dates, the air travel alone would kill me.

His voice is weary, and his age is showing. He's earned the self-indulgence, and we owe him an homage of respect.

My wish is that after these tours he goes into a trance for five or six years and writes the music he's destined to write. He doesn't owe anything to any fans wanting a show. He owes it to himself to spend his adulthood writing adult music. These tours make money for him, but he is coming off like it's a job that he's tired of...I know the feeling, so it's really kind of sad when your hero turns out to be a slave just like you.

Hopefully soon he can relieve himself of these commitments and lay back on his laurels atop a large pile of moneybags.

[Jack of All Parades]

I don't know how Elvis does it, really. Looking at the tour dates, the air travel alone would kill me.

His voice is weary, and his age is showing. He's earned the self-indulgence, and we owe him an homage of respect.

My wish is that after these tours he goes into a trance for five or six years and writes the music he's destined to write. He doesn't owe anything to any fans wanting a show. He owes it to himself to spend his adulthood writing adult music. These tours make money for him, but he is coming off like it's a job that he's tired of...I know the feeling, so it's really kind of sad when your hero turns out to be a slave just like you.

Hopefully soon he can relieve himself of these commitments and lay back on his laurels atop a large pile of moneybags.

Amen to every word of that....take a long and greatly deserved breather.

[sulky lad]

It seems to me as though Elvis feels some sort of work ethic that he feels increasingly obliged to keep up following the sad demise if his father. There seems to have been a bit if a writer 's block since Ross left us and little in the way if new recorded product and I think the all that's been written above is right. I hate the fact that every time I've seem him over the last fee years he's had in ear monitors that at some point he's pulled out and left dangling And they seem to distract him rather than help him keep on pitch .
Finally I don't know how many of the people had been to the RAH before but it's a s***hole acoustically and always gives reverberation like the biscuit barrel that it is. If anyone cares to recall , the sound was so bad on the first night of the SSS in 2012 that The Imposters all had sound screens installed around them for the 2nd night.
Anyway, for certain, Elvis owes us nothing - a 3 - 5 year break might just help creatively and would give him time to sort out all these live concerts that need releasing from his archives

[Neil.]

Unfortunately Elvis was massively flat or sharp, or whatever you call it, on all the slowies - and he did loads of slowies in this set. Some of his fantastic songs are just too difficult to do live - London's Brilliant Parade, for example. The record is exquisite, but live it never comes off. Anyway, the Kew gig was structured pretty well, and I came away thinking 'he's still got it' - but even there the slowies were flat.

The 2012 spinning songbook gigs (second night at Albert Hall) had an air of triumph about them, but I think the guy earlier in the thread was right - all this touring may have taken its toll. But maybe it was just this one night.

I agree with Sulky about those damn earpieces, and I feel the same about the chewing gum! I also yearn for a return to the hat-free gigs, but I don't think that's ever gonna happen!

George Fame and his band were superb!

[MOJO]

I say no breaks until he hits 65, then reduce the # of shows and raise the ticket $. Spinning Song Book shows were awesome. He could still go out with Sugarcanes or Toussaint and do select dates around the US/Europe. Lots of options. Rest 4 months, tour 8. I like his solo shows. too. Also, whatever happened to that mega-concert idea with Joe Jackson, Nick Lowe, EC, Squeeze, Graham Parker, Marshall Crenshaw... Does anyone recall that concert rumor several years ago? That would be awesome... Also a Lost River tour. That will rock, no doubt!

[sweetest punch]

Some thoughts about the remarks made here:

I saw him in Brussels and Amsterdam and I saw no exhausted perfomer who needs a break.
He was in fine form and his voice was very good, especially in Brussels. During the encores with Steve Nieve I saw two friends who enjoyed playing together and laughed a lot at each other. And in Amsterdam he seemed very happy that the audience liked the new songs (Lost On The River, Matthew Met Mary, April 5th and The Last Year Of My Youth).

I don't know if he is chewing gum, to me it seems more like some kind of "pastilles" for his voice.

My wife thought that he played to many songs she didn't knew. Maybe Bluesfest and Baloise (Basel) needed a greatest hits set, in stead of the more obscure and slow songs.

When he played a "deep" song from his backcatalogue or a new song, he read the words from his autocue and seemed to be searching for the right notes. Combined with those new in ear monitors, this seemed to give him more trouble with keeping pitch. But I didn't hear many flat notes in Brussels or Amsterdam.

[krm]

My experience is similar to sweetestpunch. The shows in Randers , Malmö and Hamburg were great. They were definitely not flawless, but excellent deliveries of 35 years of songwriting and performing. The shows were more or less sold out and even though I think that the song selections could be a challenge to the non hardcore fans, the audience were focused, participating and listening. Seeing EC performing together with Larkin Poe is very enjoying as all of the were truly enjoying themselves. His voice was in good shape. Maybe I was lucky to see shows in the beginning of the tour, who knows?
Having read about several other shows during the tour, I understand that most of the shows have been sold out or close to it, and I can understand why. EC is doing a great job and performing and entertaining for 2hours30min. Impressive to me after all these years.
But then again performing in UK is different and RAH is for me the last place to go to if I want to see a show. Thats why I picked Glasgow and Edinburgh the last years to see the SPionning wheel shows.

[Neil.]

Sorry for any misunderstanding - Elvis definitely wasn't giving less as a performer, in terms of conviction. I just think he needs maybe to be more careful about his setlist as his voice gets older. I love those slow songs with their long notes - some of the most heartbreaking ballads in pop history! But if they're flat, maybe he should ditch them. Elvis has admirably pushed his vocals over the years, with thrilling results. But if he isn't hitting the mark, maybe he should ditch them from the set.

He can still do the rockers and poppers wonderfully - and some of the more barnstorming ballads like Deep Dark Truthful Mirror, he does well. it's the more delicate ones that his voice doesn't allow him to do so well anymore.

But thinking about it, 'Jimmie Standing' still always sounds great live... Maybe it was just the mix of songs on the night that didn't let it soar to a corking gig.

Georgie F sang songs comfortable for the range of his voice - he seemed relaxed and unstrained. Maybe Elvis should drop the key sometimes? That said, some of the excitement of an Elvis gig comes from seeing if he can hit the high notes - which amazingly he did with 'Still Have That Other Girl' in Cardiff last year. The big notes aren't usually the problem, it's the gentler ones.

But what do I know?! I haven't recorded decades of superb albums and many hundreds of superb gigs over four decades, as Elvis has. He's allowed a dodgy selist from time to time!

[Man out of Time]

For those of you who missed this show (or left half way through), BBC Radio 2 are broadcasting two shows of music from Blues Fest 2014. The first is on Monday 10 November at 19:00 (GMT), the second presumably a week later on 17 November.

BBC Radio 2: Paul Jones

EC is not listed as appearing in the first show so presumably any of his performance (and Georgie Fame's) will be part of the second show. The show will stream online and should be available subsequently to "listen again" if you miss it.

MOOT

[Goon Squad]

Right..............I've left it a few days to collect my thoughts and here they are!

Firstly, and foremostly, as far as I'm concerned if it was a case of watching a "not perfect" Elvis gig live, or seeing no Elvis gig at all, I would always plump for any kind of gig no matter how good or bad ! I'm almost in "the man can do no wrong" camp !
( although I do realise that everyone is human.......even Elvis ! )

That said, I do appreciate that RAH was not one of his best gigs, but there was still lots of good stuff there.
Yes, his voice gets a bit scratchy as the tours go on.
Yes, the audience were a bit over polite ( probably down to the venue aswell )
Yes, he has recently tended to over play, and maybe over complicate some of the guitar playing, stretching out the songs a bit too much, which can lead to losing the thread of certain songs.
Yes, it could be said that the gig was maybe a bit self indulgent.
Yes, maybe some different songs might have worked better, especially on the singalongs.
Yes, he is getting older ( aren't we all ! ) and using the autocue more and more.
Yes, it was brilliant to see Steve back on stage with him !
Yes , the new arrangements were fantastic !
Oh, and Yes, Georgie Fame was good !

But...........and it's a big BUT, as I said earlier, that any live show from the man is still interesting, entertaining and enjoyable! You have to remember the good bits ( which was most of it) and forget the iffy bits !

As for him taking 5 years off to just write and not perform live........................hell no ! ! !
Firstly, I don't think he would enjoy that as he obviously loves performing, and lets face it, all this talk of him doing it for the money I think are well wide of the mark ! He is a showman and revels in the thrill of the live shows ! Secondly, it would also be no good for all us fans either ! I can't believe anyone would really not want to see him perform live for 5 years !

As i said on one of the other threads, I think the next tour, or dates, should include a full band ( Imposters ? ) to liven it up a bit, and get back to the sound of the"good old days". He can still do some "solo" style songs even with the band around him as he has done in the past, and maybe put more thought into some of the venues. Perhaps another stand-up gig at The Cliffs in Southend as it was amazing !

So that's about it. We'll not all agree on everything, which is what makes the world go round, but for me it was well worth going to RAH although not a classic by any means.

Roll on some new dates next year, sooner rather than later, and then we can start this whole discussion process once again !

Bring it on ! Elvis is King !

That's all folks ! I'm off to the gym now....................and I'm gonna listen to MAIT as I pound the treadmill !

[johnfoyle]

Here's a link to the paywalled review in the The Times -

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/arts/musi ... 252771.ece


Maybe someone here has an account there? Or maybe even a copy of the 'paper - Oct 31 - itself ?