Elvis & The Imposters, Cardiff, June 17th 2018

Pretty self-explanatory
sulky lad
Posts: 2425
Joined: Fri Jul 29, 2005 5:21 pm
Location: Out of the kitchen,she's gone with the wind

Re: Elvis & The Imposters, Cardiff, June 17th 2018

Post by sulky lad »

Nearly changed my mind about this - I'd have preferred dear old St David's Hall but £66.50 for stall seems a bit steep for poor beleaguered Taffies :(
At least it's indoors and not a festival !
Neil.
Posts: 1576
Joined: Mon Jun 13, 2005 6:14 am
Location: London

Re: Elvis & The Imposters, Cardiff, June 17th 2018

Post by Neil. »

Shit, the Millennium Centre is MASSIVE!!! Are there that many Welsh Elvis fans (myself included)!? St David's Hall has always been good for Elv - this is uncharted territory! Tiger Bay beckons!
sweetest punch
Posts: 5961
Joined: Sat Apr 03, 2004 5:49 am
Location: Belgium

Re: Elvis & The Imposters, Cardiff, June 17th 2018

Post by sweetest punch »

The Donald Gordon Theatre has 1.897 seats: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wales_Millennium_Centre
St David’ Hall has 2.000 seats: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_David%27s_Hall
Since you put me down, it seems i've been very gloomy. You may laugh but pretty girls look right through me.
Neil.
Posts: 1576
Joined: Mon Jun 13, 2005 6:14 am
Location: London

Re: Elvis & The Imposters, Cardiff, June 17th 2018

Post by Neil. »

Oh! I'm talking through my arse. I've been there once and it seemed vast. Well, cool.
sulky lad
Posts: 2425
Joined: Fri Jul 29, 2005 5:21 pm
Location: Out of the kitchen,she's gone with the wind

Re: Elvis & The Imposters, Cardiff, June 17th 2018

Post by sulky lad »

I’ve seen Elvis in Cardiff in 1984, 1989, 1999, 2005,1987, 2010, 2013 at least . 1984 was awesome for hearing the words and the slower pace of loads of songs, the Confederates were a real swinging band and 2013 , Pete Thomas asked me if I’d seen his cousin ?!!! Ad if I’d know who that was ? Another great night and some truly uplifting sonic momentous too :wink:
johnfoyle
Posts: 14852
Joined: Wed Jun 04, 2003 4:37 pm
Location: Dublin , Ireland

Re: Elvis & The Imposters, Cardiff, June 17th 2018

Post by johnfoyle »

Who's going ?
sulky lad
Posts: 2425
Joined: Fri Jul 29, 2005 5:21 pm
Location: Out of the kitchen,she's gone with the wind

Re: Elvis & The Imposters, Cardiff, June 17th 2018

Post by sulky lad »

Finish work in Devon at 4 pm and then off up the M5 and M4 - whoopee. I'd still rather see him at St. David's Hall, many fond memories of great gigs there.
johnfoyle
Posts: 14852
Joined: Wed Jun 04, 2003 4:37 pm
Location: Dublin , Ireland

Re: Elvis & The Imposters, Cardiff, June 17th 2018

Post by johnfoyle »

Cardiff set list via David /Facebook

Wonder Woman
Girls Talk
King Horse
Tears Before Bedtime
Chelsea
Shabby Doll
Green Shirt
Watching The Detectives
You Shouldn’t Look At Me That Way
Country Darkness
Monkey To Man
Everyday I Write The Book
Peace Love and Understanding
encore
Alison
Accidents Will Happen
Talking In The Dark
Oliver’s Army
She
Adieu Paris
Shipbuilding
My Three Sons
Peace Love Understanding
Waiting For The End Of The World
Less Than Zero
I Want You
bronxapostle
Posts: 4914
Joined: Wed Jul 12, 2006 2:27 pm

Re: Elvis & The Imposters, Cardiff, June 17th 2018

Post by bronxapostle »

PLU twice, but no PUMP? NATURALLY, 3 Sons for Father's Day.
sulky lad
Posts: 2425
Joined: Fri Jul 29, 2005 5:21 pm
Location: Out of the kitchen,she's gone with the wind

Re: Elvis & The Imposters, Cardiff, June 17th 2018

Post by sulky lad »

Setlist should read PIU instead of the first PLU. Elvis finally got a standing ovation at then end of PLu and launched into WFTEOTW and LTZ and then I Want you spontaneously - or so it seemed. Magnificent venue, sound completely different to Nottingham. I missed first three songs due to an accident on the M5 due to some half wit emmett who couldn't tow a caravan safely and a 2 hour journey became a 3 1/2 hour one ! heard the end of Girls Talk and King Horse from outside as the ushers wouldn't let us in until songs had ended. Country Darkness and Monkey To Man unexpected highlight just home now, more later !
sweetest punch
Posts: 5961
Joined: Sat Apr 03, 2004 5:49 am
Location: Belgium

Re: Elvis & The Imposters, Cardiff, June 17th 2018

Post by sweetest punch »

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/whats-on/ ... w-14796593

Elvis Costello in Cardiff review: The New Wave legend's aim is still true, but only just.

The rock icon closed Wales Millennium Centre's Festival of Voice with a mixed bag set full of surprises.

When Elvis Costello played Cardiff in 2010 - alone, with just an array of guitars for company - he remarked how he fancied doing it again, "but with a full band."

Flash forward eight years and he's done just that, closing this year's Festival of Voice extravaganza on Sunday night with long-time backing band The Imposters in tow.

It's ironic then that some of the near two hour show's best moments came from just him and keyboard player Steve Nieve sharing a spotlight, both men treating a packed Wales Millennium Centre to pared down reinventions of post-punk favourites such as Accidents Will Happen and Oliver's Army.

Tears in your beer' classic Alison was also reduced to just Costello - flanked by impressive backing singers Brianna Lee and Kitten Kuroi - standing at the lip of the stage, his keening voice all breathy and broken.

At 63 what's actually amazing is how well those instantly recognisable tones of his have held up, albeit boasting a huskier, lower register from those adenoidal New Wave vocalisations that made early albums like My Aim is True and This Year's Model such classics.

"Cardiff loves you, Elvis," came a shout from the crowd at one point.

"I'm sorry," he laughed back, clearly not having heard properly. "I still need to brush up on my Welsh."

Those hoping for a Greatest Hits compendium may have been a little disappointed though, because, aside from the likes of Watching The Detectives and (I Don't Want To Go To) Chelsea - both of which suffered from a slightly muddy sound - there were a fair few lesser heard numbers pulled from the Costello cannon on the night.

King Horse for 1980's Get Happy! had plenty of requisite kick, but Tears Before Bedtime and Shabby Doll - both taken from most Elvis fans' least favourite album, Imperial Bedroom - only served to dampen the buzz built up elsewhere.

Similarly, I could have done without the rendition of Adieu Paris - an unreleased track "recorded for the late Johnny Hallyday" - and the mawkish My Three Sons, even if the gig did happen to fall on Father's Day.

There were plenty of highlights, however, Costello's smokey take on Robert Wyatt's still incredibly poignant anti-war song Shipbuilding proving as powerful as ever, while Less Than Zero and (What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding finally succeeded in rousing the appreciative crowd to its feet.

Strange then that Elvis elected to end the evening with I Want You, from '86's Blood & Chocolate album, a break-up song so raw it's akin to open heart surgery with a rusty spoon.

That said, Costello threw himself into it 100% - clawing at the mic stand, his legs buckling as his voice soared - leaving us feeling wrung out by the time the house lights came up.

"Anyone here remember the Top Rank, Sophia Gardens or St David's Hall ?" he'd asked earlier in the show, reeling out the venues in the capital he'd played over the years.

Well, let's hope there's not too long a wait before he returns here again and we can add more names to that list.

Image

Image

Image
Last edited by sweetest punch on Mon Jun 18, 2018 11:57 am, edited 1 time in total.
Since you put me down, it seems i've been very gloomy. You may laugh but pretty girls look right through me.
User avatar
docinwestchester
Posts: 2321
Joined: Thu Apr 08, 2010 7:58 pm
Location: Westchester County, NY

Re: Elvis & The Imposters, Cardiff, June 17th 2018

Post by docinwestchester »

"Tears Before Bedtime and Shabby Doll - both taken from most Elvis fans' least favourite album, Imperial Bedroom - only served to dampen the buzz built up elsewhere."

Huh?
User avatar
verbal gymnastics
Posts: 13637
Joined: Wed Jun 11, 2003 6:44 am
Location: Magic lantern land

Re: Elvis & The Imposters, Cardiff, June 17th 2018

Post by verbal gymnastics »

docinwestchester wrote:
"Tears Before Bedtime and Shabby Doll - both taken from most Elvis fans' least favourite album, Imperial Bedroom - only served to dampen the buzz built up elsewhere."

Huh?
We need a poll! :lol:
Who’s this kid with his mumbo jumbo?
sheeptotheslaughter
Posts: 762
Joined: Thu Nov 27, 2008 10:51 am

Re: Elvis & The Imposters, Cardiff, June 17th 2018

Post by sheeptotheslaughter »

docinwestchester wrote:
"Tears Before Bedtime and Shabby Doll - both taken from most Elvis fans' least favourite album, Imperial Bedroom - only served to dampen the buzz built up elsewhere."

Huh?
must be a typo surely
edney
Posts: 69
Joined: Sun Feb 05, 2006 7:26 am
Location: Somerset

Re: Elvis & The Imposters, Cardiff, June 17th 2018

Post by edney »

[quote="sulky lad"]Setlist should read PIU instead of the first PLU[/quote]

Yes apologies for this. I was desperately trying to write down the songs as they were performed on my IPhone "Notes" and mistook PIU (Pump It Up) for PLU which of course was performed later in the show......
edney
Posts: 69
Joined: Sun Feb 05, 2006 7:26 am
Location: Somerset

Re: Elvis & The Imposters, Cardiff, June 17th 2018

Post by edney »

Cardiff Bay.

A new venture for me I must confess. I had been to Cardiff before but not the waterfront area in which the excellent Millenium Centre was situated. A Welsh friend of mine had suggested that the Bay was "lush", which I believe means in modern day parlance, "rather splendid" and she is probably right. But when I arrived the weather was very un-June like, drizzly and overcast and initially the place looked empty. Well it was a Sunday night I guess and Brazil were on the TV. My seat in the auditorium was probably the best I have ever had at a Costello gig. 3 rows from the front and dead centre. The man was almost within spitting distance and if this had been Cardiff's Top Rank in 1977/78, a gig that EC mentioned during the show, I probably would have been showered with the stuff. The show was due to start at the unfeasibly early time of 7.30 and would be over at 9.20 prompt. I guess, as this was a part of a Festival, this was the running order for all concerts. The sound was exemplary. No audio soup here, every single instrument could be heard individually, especially Davey's bass, though at times Costello's vocal mike was drowned out by his guitar on the more up tempo numbers. I try to avoid any information pre-gig that might give me some idea of what I was about to witness so all setlists of previous concerts are usually verboten. But this is EC, so I wanted to know what he'd been up to at both Nottingham & Blenheim in the hope that, with a new record due, he would be promoting it. But the signs were that this would be a "Greatest Hits plus" show. That disappointed me somewhat as I don't really need to hear "Pump It Up" or "Oliver's Army" again to be honest.... However the band began with an opening salvo of "Wonder Woman", "Girls Talk" and the first surprise of the evening "King Horse" and there were to be other nuggets inserted into the set list that I am guessing most of the audience sat near to me were totally unfamiliar with. I had not seen the current line-up with the girls on backing vocals before. I love the way that Costello is still trying to keep things fresh by inserting new elements into the music and the ladies provided a dynamic that lifted some of the familiar into slightly new territory. The band were in superb form. I know it's a cliché but this is one helluva group. Steve Nieve, in his Count Basie hat, was bouncing around like a schoolkid behind his keyboards and even though initially you couldn't really hear his input, he came to the fore on the acoustic segment after the interval. The first highlight was the "new" version of "Tears Before Bedtime", re-arranged by Davey. It's now a smouldering soulful ballad and utilizes the girls superbly, cleverly reprising the original background vocals in a startling new setting. Costello spoke briefly from time to time, but the emphasis was on cramming in as much music as possible..... "Monkey To Man", and the wonderful "Country Darkness" were inserted amongst the more familiar hits but even some of these sounded fresh as the proverbial daisy. "Chelsea" sounding like an out-take from a 1978 bootleg, a brooding "Watching The Detectives", with EC bathed in green light. After the encore we had the new version of "Oliver's Army", a spellbinding quasi-classical piano recital at the end of "Talking In The Dark" that EC joked would have been added to the original recording if they hadn't run out of tape and then, in quick succession, both the high and the low of the gig. A version of "You Shouldn't Look At Me That Way" that, I am not ashamed to admit, brought a tear to my eye and "She" which may have brought a hint of recognition amongst the punters but which, everytime I hear it, sounds like a betrayal of EC's impeccably good taste in music. The gig went on longer than anticipated, "PLU" is normally the final song to be performed but it looked as if Costello wanted to keep going and "Less Than Zero" and "I Want You" were duly added, much to Pete Thomas's surprise judging from the look on his face. The latter was punctuated by what sounds like his EC's best Jimi Hendrix. Indeed there was quite a lot of wailing guitar throughout this gig which, if I were being hyper-critical, got a little wearying after awhile. I have told myself that I have seen him too many times already and that the familiarity of doing so might start to take the edge off of the experience. But apart from feeling that it's my duty to keep watching him, he continually succeeds in surpassing expectations. 63 and yet he still shows no sign of slowing down.
sulky lad
Posts: 2425
Joined: Fri Jul 29, 2005 5:21 pm
Location: Out of the kitchen,she's gone with the wind

Re: Elvis & The Imposters, Cardiff, June 17th 2018

Post by sulky lad »

Pretty much the perfect review as I heard it Edney !! Massive thanks for this . I arrived late
and had to wait during Girls Talk before popping into my seat on row DD, one row behind Edney . The sound was nigh on perfect with Davey’s muscular bass to the fore but never drowning out the rest of the band. Indeed some guitar heroics were a little too extended but it was pretty damn fine . If you’re into 1978 boots, Edney, you might like my recording of this once I’ve finished working on it along with all the 40 year anniversary gigs ! :wink:
edney
Posts: 69
Joined: Sun Feb 05, 2006 7:26 am
Location: Somerset

Re: Elvis & The Imposters, Cardiff, June 17th 2018

Post by edney »

Thanks

Wish I'd known you were behind me I would have shared a beer with you afterwards.

As for the recording, that would be a wonderful memento.

Cheers

DaveE
Neil.
Posts: 1576
Joined: Mon Jun 13, 2005 6:14 am
Location: London

Re: Elvis & The Imposters, Cardiff, June 17th 2018

Post by Neil. »

Was the venue fairly full?
edney
Posts: 69
Joined: Sun Feb 05, 2006 7:26 am
Location: Somerset

Re: Elvis & The Imposters, Cardiff, June 17th 2018

Post by edney »

From what I remember it was.
sweetest punch
Posts: 5961
Joined: Sat Apr 03, 2004 5:49 am
Location: Belgium

Re: Elvis & The Imposters, Cardiff, June 17th 2018

Post by sweetest punch »

Since you put me down, it seems i've been very gloomy. You may laugh but pretty girls look right through me.
Neil.
Posts: 1576
Joined: Mon Jun 13, 2005 6:14 am
Location: London

Re: Elvis & The Imposters, Cardiff, June 17th 2018

Post by Neil. »

edney wrote:From what I remember it was.
"From what I remember" - whoa, musta been a good night!!!
sulky lad
Posts: 2425
Joined: Fri Jul 29, 2005 5:21 pm
Location: Out of the kitchen,she's gone with the wind

Re: Elvis & The Imposters, Cardiff, June 17th 2018

Post by sulky lad »

Not really , Neil, full of Welsh people :wink:
Neil.
Posts: 1576
Joined: Mon Jun 13, 2005 6:14 am
Location: London

Re: Elvis & The Imposters, Cardiff, June 17th 2018

Post by Neil. »

sulky lad wrote:Not really , Neil, full of Welsh people :wink:
Groan. :roll:
Post Reply