Elvis & The Imposters play Bethlehem, PA October 23 2016

[johnfoyle]

Who's going?

[jmm]

Looking forward to it!!!!

[Man out of Time]

Preview by John J. Moser published on July 19, 2016 in The Morning Call.

" Elvis Costello, new wave pioneer and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, to perform at Sands Bethlehem Event Center

Elvis Costello, a pioneering singer who bridged punk and new wave, then conquered mainstream, will play Sands Bethlehem Event Center, it was just announced.

Costello, whose debut album “My Aim Is True” in 1977 connected the United States with punk rock and the more palatable new wave, and who went on to top the charts with “Veronica” and “The Other Side of Summer” in the late 1980s and early ‘90s, will play the event center with his band The Imposters at 8 p.m. Nov. 23.

Tickets for the show, at $69.50-$89.50, will go on sale 10 a.m. July 22 at http://www.sandseventcenter.com, the event center box office, http://www.Ticketmaster.com, all Ticketmaster outlets and 800-745-3000.

In 2003, Costello and his band the Attractions were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked Costello among the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.

“My Aim is True” included the iconic songs “Less Than Zero,” “Allison” and “Watching the Detectives.” The follow-up “This Year’s Model” in 1978 had the songs “Pump It Up” and “Radio Radio,” which Costello famously played on “Saturday Night Live” after being told by the show not to.

Both those albums, as well as 1979’s “Armed Forces,” went gold or platinum, and “Armed Forces” hit No. 10 on the albums chart. His first three albums also all appeared on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

But it wasn’t until 1983’s song “Everyday I Write the Book” that Costello cracked the U.S. singles chart. In 1991, “Veronica” went to No. 1, followed by “The Other Side of Summer” in 1991.

The 61-year-old Costello has had two gold albums since: 1985’s “The Best of Elvis Costello & The Attractions” and 1989’s “Spike.”

Costello’s most recent studio album was 2013’s “Wise Up Ghost,” with Philadelphia hip-hop/soul band The Roots, which hit No. 16 – his third-highest-charting disc ever in the United States, and second-highest in 33 years.

Costello’s 1998 collaboration with Paddy Moloney of The Chieftains on "The Long Journey Home" on the soundtrack of the PBS/Disney mini-series of the same name won him a Grammy Award that year.

His song "The Scarlet Tide" from the movie “Cold Mountain” in 2003 was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song and the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media.

Costello played a sold-out show at Easton’s State Theatre in 2013 as part of the first solo tour of his career.

The concert was this blog’s No. 5 in the Lehigh Valley that year. The review said Costello, more than any of his contemporaries, has been able to stay popular and vital, and “the punk intensity and sensibilities of his early records shone through much of the material, no matter its genre.” "

Copyright © 2016, The Morning Call

If you're going, look out for that "punk intensity" .. .

MOOT

[verbal gymnastics]

Or for those punk sensibilities...

[johnfoyle]

Who's going?

[jmm]

Should be fun. Going wit the Mrs and 6 others

Will try to report on the ride home after

[And No Coffee Table]

Twitter:

.@ElvisCistello opens show at @thesbec with new-wavy "Town Where Time Stood Still."

.@ElvisCostello pulls out the hit "Accidents Will Happen" early in the show at @thesbec.

At @thesbec, @ElvisCostello plays hit "Watching the Detectives" on dark stage as pulp fiction images flash

.@ElvisCostello playing stark, emotional "Allison" at @thesbec

[And No Coffee Table]

I just want to talk for a second about the fact that Elvis Costello's band travels with a pink Steinway. K. Thanks.

.@ElvisCostello closes his @thesbec show with very good "Everyday I Write the Book."

Now @ElvisCostelli is back for an encore of punky "Pump It Up" at @thesbec.

And @ElvisCostello closes @theSBec show with great "Peace, Love and Understanding." Review Mon. @mcall

[bronxapostle]

Waiting for jmm setlist....thank you!!!

[And No Coffee Table]

http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/elvis-cos ... ab483.html

01. The Town Where Time Stood Still
02. The Loved Ones
03. Accidents Will Happen
04. You Little Fool
05. You Tripped At Every Step
06. You'll Never Be A Man
07. Tears Before Bedtime
08. Moods For Moderns
09. Shabby Doll
10. Human Hands
11. Watching The Detectives
12. Kid About It
13. Pidgin English
14. Alison
15. Shot With His Own Gun
16. This House Is Empty Now
17. The Long Honeymoon
18. ...And In Every Home
19. Seconds Of Pleasure
20. Beyond Belief
21. Man Out Of Time
Encore 1
22. Town Cryer
23. Everyday I Write The Book
Encore 2
24. Pump It Up
25. (What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love And Understanding?

The order is different, but the only song change compared to last night appears to be "This House Is Empty Now" instead of "Almost Blue."

The wiki site is tracking the setlists here: http://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/inde ... mbers_Tour

[jmm]

This house is empty now was really good but no almost blue was a hole in an otherwise excellent show

More later

[And No Coffee Table]

PL&U: https://www.instagram.com/p/BL7gRQsgkW-/

[verbal gymnastics]

Enjoy the backdrop pictures while you can...

[stricttime81]

Ooh This House is Empty Now!! Hope he plays at Beacon!

[johnfoyle]

Bill allows me share his photo of the cocktails available at the show -

[johnfoyle]

Elvis Costello & The Imposters perform at the Sands Bethlehem Event Center on October 23. (© Brian Hineline / SPECIAL TO THE MORNING CALL)


http://www.mcall.com/entertainment/lehi ... story.html



Elvis Costello's 'grown up' performance at Sands Bethlehem Event Center leaves a lot behind


by John J. Moser

Of all the great acts introduced during the era of punk and new wave back in the late 1970s, one of the few to not only survive but advance out of the scene was Elvis Costello.

The singer did that by successfully transitioning his music to a broader and more traditional pop and other genres in a career than now has spanned 40 years.

One of the most important of Costello’s transitional albums was 1982’s “Imperial Bedroom,” to which Costello paid tribute Sunday in a show at Sands Bethlehem Event Center that returned him to his band The Imposters, with pianist Steve Nieve and drummer Pete Thomas, who backed him on the disc.

Still the iconoclast, Costello didn’t follow the recent trend of artists honoring albums by playing them sequentially. He didn’t even play all of the disc’s 15 songs – skipping two, including one of its best known, “Almost Blue.” And he played almost as many non-album cuts as those from the disc in a 25-song set that lasted just a couple of minutes short of two hours.


Rather, Costello used it to show how his music progressed. He opened the show with a cut from the disc’s “bonus tracks” and perhaps one of its more punkishly sardonic, “The Town Where Time Stood Still.”


Wearing a red hat (which he shed for most of the show) and dressed in a sports coat, the 62-year-old Costello then led his three-man band and two backup singers into the more new-wave-pop song “The Loved Ones” before breaking away from the disc to play a more reserved version of his hit “Accidents Will Happen.”

He explained the diversion to the crowd, a couple hundred seats short of a sellout, by saying, “We’ve been wanting to play the album for you,” Costello told the “We never had the discipline before. We don’t now, either.”

That was followed by the also punky, forceful “You Little Fool,” his voice wailing and his head shaking.

But as the show progressed, Costello’s playing most of the songs from “Imperial Bedroom” also showed the things that let Costello advance and change sometimes came at the cost of some of what made him so great in the first place: unbridled energy and sneering confidence.

He broadened his base by sometimes softening his best attributes.

“We used the music to push it father away,” he said in regards to emotions before a slow, dirge-like “Tears Before Bedtime.” “Now we’re going to pull it closer.”

But most of the songs from “Imperial Bedroom” were middling and middle-of-the-road. Costello performed them well and even played a good mid-song guitar solo on the classic pop offering “Shabby Doll.” But too many songs, such as “Human Hands” and “Kid About It” cam off flat.

It was especially noticeable when some of those songs would bump up against the other hits from his career that he included in the set: A stark version of “Allison” performed with just his guitar and backup singers. It got the night’s biggest hand.

Another early favorite, “Watching the Detectives,” was strong, but Costello played the entire song on a darkened stage as images of pulp fiction flashed on a big screen – making the audience feel as if it was listening to recorded music. What was the purpose of that?

One big exception was the “Imperial Bedroom” song “Pidgin English,” which was far more dynamic and Costello far more animated on it, offering extended, good lead guitar.

Some of the non-“Imperial Bedroom” songs he included also were latter-day recordings in the same middle-of-the-road vein. “You’ll Never Be a Man,” a 1981 song that foreshadowed Costello’s shift in sound, was uninspiring.

An almost classical, voice-and-piano version of his 1980 song “Shot With His Own Gun” and “This House is Empty Now,” his 1999 collaboration with Burt Bacharach, both were musically solid ‘70s radio pop, but neither rose above that.

The end of the set was stronger. “… And in Every Home” was more fully realized instrumentally, and “Man Out of Time” was better both musically and vocally – showing that The Imposters could, indeed, still rock, and he sang with more vigor.

The main set closed with “Everyday I Write the Book,” which stretched to eight minutes with band introductions, and it was funkier than the whole rest of the set.

With the show’s focus, perhaps it was understandable for Costello to forego early favorites such as “Less Than Zero,” “(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes” and “Radio Radio.” But if he wanted to demonstrate the evolution of his music, there would have been no better example than 1989’s “Veronica,” his only No. 1 hit in the United States. But it was left unplayed.

Ironically, the encore was two songs from 1978 – the delightfully punky and energetic “Pump It Up,” right into “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding” – that not only were very good, but were received the best by the crowd, which rushed the stage.

It was as if Costello knew that was him at his best – and it was.

Copyright © 2016, The Morning Call

[MOJO]

The drink specials look horrible. Who made up the menu, a high school or college student? Too sweet!

[stricttime81]

The drink specials look horrible. Who made up the menu, a high school or college student? Too sweet!

Agreed, I hate sweet cocktails. If I had to choose one, I guess it would he the Lipstick Vogue.

[stricttime81]

Elvis Costello & The Imposters perform at the Sands Bethlehem Event Center on October 23. (© Brian Hineline / SPECIAL TO THE MORNING CALL)


http://www.mcall.com/entertainment/lehi ... story.html



Elvis Costello's 'grown up' performance at Sands Bethlehem Event Center leaves a lot behind


by John J. Moser

Ironically, the encore was two songs from 1978 – the delightfully punky and energetic “Pump It Up,” right into “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding” – that not only were very good, but were received the best by the crowd, which rushed the stage.

It was as if Costello knew that was him at his best – and it was.

Copyright © 2016, The Morning Call

Translation: Elvis should have played only his early radio hits.

Lame review.

[MOJO]

Well, Bethlehem, PA is certainly not a hot bed of culture and society.. and the Morning Call, as most newspapers go today, aren't paying much for journalists to write a news story or review. So, with that, the quality of any news piece goes down. I haven't looked into this writer, but I suspect is he is either young and clueless or old and clueless. Either way clueless probably fits best here.

[johnfoyle]

http://www.thevalleyledger.com/?p=23103


COSTELLO PUMPS IT UP –

BY DIANE FLEISCHMAN
OCTOBER 24, 2016


Elvis Costello didn’t wear red shoes. Costello greeted the nearly sold out crowd Sunday night at The Sands Event Center in a red fedora hat. For this Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductee, an artist who’s beginnings started in the original punk movement and transposed into New Wave, Costello, was prepared to take his fans on a journey of his iconic career.



Notably, from the twenty-three-song set (plus two songs in the encore), the majority of songs performed originated from his 1982 release, “Imperial Bedroom”. Hence, the tour name, “Imperial Bedrooms and Other Chambers”. While the show kicked off with “The Town Where Time Stood Still” (“Punch the Clock”), the second song, “The Loved Ones” set the tone as the “Imperial Bedroom” soundtrack was sprinkled in throughout the set.


But it’s not to say that Costello hit songs were omitted. From the third song, we’re whisked back to almost the beginning of his career with “Accidents Will Happen” (“Armed Forces”) and later “Moods for Moderns”.


Set behind the band was a large screen which from the beginning of the concert flashed a brilliant abstract art show, almost Picasso-esque in depiction of Costello. During “Watching the Detectives” (“My Aim is True”), the stage was dark, the large screen was the only visual, as it displayed old detective movie billboards.

As he stood centered between his two back up singers, Costello slowed down “Allison” (“My Aim is True”), and added more soul and harmonies. The crowd rose to their feet, and gave Costello his first standing ovation.

Spinning the shuffle wheel, other favorites included, “You Tripped at Every Step” (“Brutal Youth”), “You’ll Never Be a Man” (“Trust”), “Shabby Doll” (“Imperial Bedroom”), “Kid About It” (Imperial Bedroom”), and “Shot With His Own Gun” (“Trust”).

Costello was joined on stage with The Imposters, his band that has been with him since 2002, which also includes three members of The Attractions, bassist Davey Faragher, drummer Pete Thomas, and keyboardist Steve Nieves. Nieves smoothly moved between keyboards and a baby grand piano throughout the night, and performed masterfully on the baby grand in “This House is Empty Now” (“Painted From Memory”), Costello’s collaboration with Burt Bacharach in the late nineties.


The set closed with “Every Day I Write the Book” (“Punch the Clock”) in which Costello roused the audience to sing and clap along. The crowd finally got to hear the song they chanted for the majority of the show, “Pump it Up” (“This Year’s Model”), as the first song in the encore, the keyboards swirled, while Costello punctuated the tight lyrics. The evening closed with “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding” (“Armed Forces”).



This world tour is limited to twelve U.S. dates, and while the concert ran a little over two hours, it couldn’t possibly come close to representing over twenty-five years of Costello’s recording career, as it spans over several genres of music. Cramming in well over twenty songs, some shows closer to thirty, it doesn’t leave much room for cheeky banter. Most songs flowed from one to the other without Costello’s commentary. While the set list slightly varies from town to town, hit songs like “Veronica”. “Radio, Radio”, “Oliver’s Army”, “Red Shoes” and “The Other Side of Summer” were absent in Sunday’s performance. Understandably, there are only so many songs that can be squeezed into a show.

[jmm]

Thinking about this show in the last few days and liking it better and better

Great to see him with the band, which is kinda rare these days. The background vocalists were a nice add. Tears b4 bedtime and human hands were highlights for me, ending with pump it up and pl&u is always a blast!!

Unlike those who are claiming original ediwtb, I remember the original tour with aphrodiziac (sp?) and it was like that but without the horns -- that's the original to me. The AT tour had that element

The mix of new and original arrangements worked very nicely. Not just playing the album is preferred in my book, but I did miss almost blue

I liked wtd played with the band in the dark. It one selection that I'm ok with not being in the set every time these days. Glad EC resisted bedlam in Bethlehem, don't think it would have fit

Am guessing these shows will get tighter and grow as they continue on, looking forward to the Beacon

[johnfoyle]

Ouch!

https://twitter.com/ElvisCostello/statu ... 9412575232

[johnfoyle]

CONCERT REVIEW: Elvis Costello follows the music, not the playbook, in rollicking Bethlehem show | NEPA Scene


http://nepascene.com/2016/10/concert-re ... A+Scene%29