EC & Imposters - Wed, Nov 2, 2016, Buffalo, Shea's Performing Arts Center

[Man out of Time]

A preview of this show by Mac McGuire was published in The Buffalo News on July 19, 2016:

"Elvis Costello to bring 'Imperial Bedroom' to Shea's

Legendary British new-wave songwriter Elvis Costello is set to bring his "Imperial Bedroom & Other Chambers Tour” to Shea's Performing Arts Center (646 Main St.) at 8 p.m. Nov. 2.

The musician's fall itinerary will include a set list that revolves around the music from his sophisticated and ambitious 1982 album "Imperial Bedroom," which at the time was released along with his band the Attractions. He will be joined on stage by his current group the Impostors, a backing band that features original Attraction members.

"You must have known by now that we wouldn't play this kind of show by anyone else's rules," Costello said of the tour in a statement. "You'll hear all the songs that fit the bill; hits and headlines, waifs and strays. In the words of the great Eric Morecambe, ‘I am playing all the right notes but not necessarily in the right order.’"

Tickets are $36.50 - $122 and go on sale at 10 a.m. July 22 (box office, Ticketmaster or charge by phone at (800) 745-3000). Further event details can be found here."

Elvis' most recent previous appearance at this venue was with The Attractions in March 1979 on the "Armed Funk" tour.

Looking again at the Andre Previn sketch from Morecambe and Wise (from which the above line is taken) I was surprised to find a reference to the Argyle Theatre in Birkenhead (where Yehudi Menuhin was allegedly opening in Old King Cole in lieu of appearing with Morecambe and Wise). This is one of the theatres that is mentioned in "Jimmie Standing In The Rain", and a place where Elvis's grandfather used to play.

MOOT

[johnfoyle]

Who's going?

[johnfoyle]

Anyone?

[And No Coffee Table]

http://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/inde ... 02_Buffalo

01. The Town Where Time Stood Still
02. The Loved Ones
03. Lipstick Vogue
04. Accidents Will Happen
05. You'll Never Be A Man
06. Tears Before Bedtime
07. Moods For Moderns
08. Shabby Doll
09. Green Shirt
10. Human Hands
11. Watching The Detectives
12. The Long Honeymoon
13. Pills And Soap
14. Kid About It
15. High Fidelity
16. You Little Fool
17. Pidgin English
Encore 1
18. Alison
19. Shot With His Own Gun
20. Almost Blue
21. ...And In Every Home
22. Beyond Belief
23. Man Out Of Time
Encore 2
24. Town Cryer
25. Everyday I Write The Book
26. (I Don't Want To Go To) Chelsea
27. Pump It Up
28. (What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love And Understanding?

[johnfoyle]

Ken on f/book

I don't 't follow setlists as I like to experience the shows untainted but for those keeping score... Pills & Soap showed up tonight and surprised the crap out of me, 2.5 hours long, a great venue, none of the new songs, Chelsea was added to the encore, and a pretty good seat too! Yahzarah was a last minute scratch (no reason given) and was replaced by another whose first name might be Alison.

[johnfoyle]

http://buffalonews.com/2016/11/02/elvis ... as-review/

[johnfoyle]

New backing singer Alison Carney

https://www.instagram.com/iamaceono/

[johnfoyle]

Photos by Steven

[johnfoyle]

https://www.instagram.com/p/BMVSS8kDHQL/



https://twitter.com/bpsmiteye/status/793970889880641536



https://twitter.com/bpsmiteye/status/793971201450315776



https://twitter.com/altbrandi1077/statu ... 7621131264




https://twitter.com/altbrandi1077/statu ... 7621131264



https://twitter.com/scottybmay/status/7 ... 5938170880

[verbal gymnastics]

Look at the setlist - is there a song later than 1983?

Also was a reason given for the new backing singer?

[And No Coffee Table]

YahZarah posted a couple of cryptic messages on Instagram yesterday implying she was performing with Lenny Kravitz (her usual boss) in Las Vegas.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BMUiCnmFiKP/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BMVTnySlzGG/

Other posts on Twitter and Instagram suggest the Lenny Kravitz concert was a one-off corporate event rather than part of a tour.
https://twitter.com/jenniferchico/statu ... 9694076928
https://twitter.com/patrickjehu/status/ ... 8604887040
https://www.instagram.com/p/BMVU6pYAGcL/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BMViRH2A1bx/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BMVgI96DyFw/

[johnfoyle]

Ken's pics

[sweetest punch]

http://buffalonews.com/2016/11/02/elvis ... as-review/

'Imperial Bedroom,' encore highlight Costello's show at Shea's

So many impeccably crafted lyrics, such rich and compelling melodies, and oh, what a deep catalog lined with gems to choose from.

Elvis Costello arrived at the appropriately resplendent Shea’s Performing Arts Center on Wednesday with a gift bag that overflowed with treats, and he wasn’t skimpy about handing them out.

Backed by his stellar band, the Imposters – bassist Davey Faragher, and longtime Costello compatriots Steve Nieve (piano) and Pete Thomas (drums) –and a pair of heavenly harmony singers - the man born Declan McManus gave the assembled several hours of some of the most intelligent pop music to have emerged from the late 20th and early 21st centuries.

Costello’s current tour arrived beneath the moniker “Imperial Bedroom & Other Chambers,” a reference to the 1982 album many fans consider to be one of his finest, but Costello has never been one to hold to lines drawn by others, and so, Wednesday’s show offered no mere front-to-back run-through of that album.

In fact, Costello ran amok through his catalog, grabbing tunes from wherever he pleased, with the one caveat that, as he said in a press release announcing the tour, he’d concentrate on “the songs that led in and out of that velvet-trimmed playhouse” that is “Imperial Bedroom.”

He and the band did end up playing a fair amount of the titular album, even if they took the long way 'round. After opening with a full-bodied and raucous "The Town Where Time Stood Still," a strident run through "The Loved Ones" reminded us what a sterling composer of power-pop gold Costello is, and the arrangement for 3-part vocal harmony by bassist Faragher topped the cake with a richly sweet icing.

"Accidents Will Happen" was taken at a brisk tempo, and we saw that Costello had come to work - the song is both a linguistic and melodic tongue-twister, and the man nailed it.

"Tears Before Bedtime" and a sparkling new arrangement of "Shabby Doll" raised the emotional pitch, and provided the man of the hour ample opportunity to show off his raw, primal, punk-ish but deeply musical guitar playing.

A noir-ish, dimly lit "Watching the Detectives" turned into a lengthy, inspired reggae-themed jam, and again, Costello worked his Fender Jazzmaster electric like a man with something to prove. This was both raw and refined magic.

By this point, we'd realized that this group of musicians boasted virtuosity and classy understatement in equal measure. Drummer Thomas and bassist Faragher crafted a velvet-lined pocket and worked it throughout, while Nieve married classical motifs to honky-tonk urgency and a jazz-informed subtlety. All of this served Costello - in incredibly strong, vibrato-laden voice - unfailingly well.

The "Imperial Bedroom" material never sounded so good, and Costello and company treated the crowd to a lengthy encore, kicking it off with a lovely, stripped-down version of the man's first hit, "Allison."

For fans of Costello's singular songwriting and his band's marriage of muscle and finesse, this was as good as it gets.