Elvis & The Imposters play Rockland Trust Bank Pavilion Boston, July 23, 2019

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Elvis & The Imposters play Rockland Trust Bank Pavilion Boston, July 23, 2019

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Elvis and the Imposters join Blondie for a show at the Rockland Trust Bank Pavilion in Boston on Tuesday July 23, 2019. This venue has had many names over the years and has also been moved about.

According to Wikipedia, it was the Blue Hills Bank Pavilion when EC and the Imposters played two nights there in July 2015. When Elvis and the Imposters played there with Allen Toussaint in July 2006, it was the Bank of America Pavilion. It was also the Bank of America Pavilion in July 2005, when EC and the Imposters played there with Emmylou Harris. In June 2002 and July 2003 it was the FleetBoston Pavilion when EC and the Imposters played there. Prior to that, in August 1996, it was the Harborlights Pavilion when EC and the Attractions played there, although it was in a different location to where it is now.

Whatever it is now called and wherever it is, who is going to be there for the show with Blondie?

MOOT
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Re: Elvis & The Imposters play Rockland Trust Bank Pavilion Boston, July 23, 2019

Post by Man out of Time »

Bump.... Is anyone (apart from ECsongbysong) going to be at this show tomorrow?

MOOT
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Re: Elvis & The Imposters play Rockland Trust Bank Pavilion Boston, July 23, 2019

Post by bronxapostle »

Man out of Time wrote:Bump.... Is anyone (apart from ECsongbysong) going to be at this show tomorrow?

MOOT

Pretty certain that ECsongbysong was NOT going tonight but headed westward after Mohegan. But certainly some Yankees in our fold will report in later....I HOPE!!
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Re: Elvis & The Imposters play Rockland Trust Bank Pavilion Boston, July 23, 2019

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https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/elvis-co ... e25b2.html

Setlist

Pump It Up
Miracle Man
Clubland
Accidents Will Happen
Green Shirt
Photographs Can Lie
Mr. & Mrs. Hush
Beyond Belief
Watching the Detectives
Less Than Zero
Burnt Sugar Is So Bitter
This Year's Girl
I Can't Stand Up for Falling Down
High Fidelity
Everyday I Write the Book
Alison

Encore:
Man Out of Time
Radio Radio
(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding
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Re: Elvis & The Imposters play Rockland Trust Bank Pavilion Boston, July 23, 2019

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http://artsfuse.org/186638/rock-concert ... sing-edge/

Rock Concert Review: Elvis Costello and Blondie — Fun, with Some Surprising Edge

What could have simply passed for a nostalgic classic-rock spin turned out to be an expansive smorgasbord, frustratingly uneven at times, yet given to flashes of fervor and surprise.

The late ’70s intersection of punk and new wave yielded a broad, interesting range of musical styles beyond straight agit-rock — and two of the era’s most popular purveyors of that music split the bill on Tuesday at the now-named Rockland Trust Bank Pavilion. However, what could have simply passed for a nostalgic classic-rock spin through the hits for both British songsmith Elvis Costello and the New York outfit Blondie turned out to be an expansive smorgasbord, frustratingly uneven at times, yet given to flashes of fervor and surprise.

“You never know how things are going to turn out,” Blondie frontwoman Debbie Harry piped to the packed crowd at the waterfront tent after her band moseyed through a mid-set detour into rapper Lil Nas X’s recent No. 1 country-trap hit “Old Town Road.” But when she hit the stage with panache in a glittery riding helmet and mylar jacket to kick off Blondie’s opening 90-minute set with early hit “One Way or Another,” Harry showed little spunk or strength in her voice and one had to think the show might be a rough go. Granted, at a hard-to-believe 74, Harry’s only a year younger than Mick Jagger, so one might expect some drop-off in the vocal department.

On follow-up “Hanging on the Telephone” (another favorite from 1978 high-water mark Parallel Lines), Harry spoke through some of the lyrics, if to great effect, and Blondie built from there. They needed to boost the musical animation to match a barrage of imagery on three rear screens (women in “nasty” catsuits for “Doom or Destiny” and drag-club scenes for “Fun,” both from 2017’s Pollinator).

But when standout drummer Clem Burke doffed his white jacket to sport his black CBGB T-shirt and turn a brief solo into the driving, crackling disco beat of “Call Me,” Harry came to life as well, her ooohs escalating into full-bore vocals and fist pumps to the chorus. She continued to pick her spots and pace herself, settling into the casual rap phrasing of “Rapture” (whose strange style was once rejected, she told fans) yet giving her full vocal oomph in “Atomic,” which revved up the tempo near the end for an embarrassing if entertaining guitar romp by Tommy Kessler, who roved the wings, flicked picks to fans, and played behind his head.

Seated original guitarist Chris Stein savored his chosen moments as well, evoking spaghetti-western lines in “Atomic” as well as thumb-picking deep, buzzing leads in “Rapture.” But the set’s main takeaway was Blondie’s stylistic wanderlust, from the Latin feel of “Wipe Off My Sweat” (Burke busting out timbale fills and Kessler switching to a mounted acoustic for flamenco turns), the humming guitar atmospheres of “Fade Away and Radiate,” and the island-flavored “The Tide is High.” Harry prompted fans to echo that song’s “Oh no!” punctuation, then bassist Leigh Foxx slipped into a familiar slinky line and Harry modestly sang “Groove is in the Heart,” the 1990 club/dance hit by Deee-Lite. Similarly, she tacked Donna Summers’ “I Feel Love” at the end of “Heart of Glass.” Add a couple of keytar turns by Matt Katz-Bohen to boost ’80s flashbacks and all of Blondie’s old and new members were spotlighted, although Burke’s flamboyant pulse helped keep the group’s danceable showmanship both alive and grounded.

Elvis Costello had his own troubles at the very start of his 90-minute whirl when “Pump It Up” fell prey to static in the sound system. But Costello, 64, was the one who was pumped up, clearly putting last year’s surgery to remove a malignant tumor behind him, giving a busy touring slate with the Imposters (essentially his old Attractions with new bassist Davey Faragher). Costello played his guitar with a flourish, raising arms to exhort the crowd in his opening run of oldies “Miracle Man,” “Clubland” (with Steve Nieve tinkling away on grand piano) and – without following through on a threat to cover Justin Bieber — “Accidents Will Happen.”

Costello’s band wielded more punch (due in part to the super-solid Pete Thomas’ loudly mixed pop on the drums) than their show at the Boch Wang Theatre last fall, when much of the set was devoted to their fine, stylish new album Look Now. But Costello slowed things down to inject two of those songs at the Pavilion, the haltingly crooned “Photographs Can Lie” (about a young woman’s cheating father, teased with “The Look of Love” in a nod to collaborator Burt Bacharach) and the lesser, more pedestrian “Mr. and Mrs. Hush.” Then the band returned to vintage fare with a booming “Beyond Belief” dropping into the sinuous reggae groove of a tour-de-force “Watching the Detectives,” Costello digging in with a menacing vocal and lashing, atonal guitar while movie posters flashed on the screens.

With backup singers Kitten Karoi and Briana Lee joining him front, Costello lent rambling thoughts on songs that Elvis Presley might sing today before a take on Sam and Dave’s soulful “I Can’t Stand Up for Falling Down” and his own nugget “High Fidelity.” They lent delightful vocal counterpoint to a bouncy “Everyday I Write the Book,” which stretched into a too-long band introduction, before saved with a tagged-on “Alison” that began with Costello singing alone over light chords. Alas, since his catalog’s more sprawling than Blondie’s, the rambling asides took away chances to tuck a couple more classics into a seemingly short 90 minutes.

“Will you still love, a man out of time,” Costello sang in an encore that closed with a blast through “Radio Radio” (which he famously ripped into against orders on “Saturday Night Live” in 1977 and was banned on the show for 12 years) and Nick Lowe’s “(What’s So Funny ’Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding?” In turn, his shows’ usual good-hearted finale was accented with a more-than-usual political bent. On the backdrop, imagery urged the crowd not to join the military, an American flag was overlapped by a sickle, and quotes declared “Thou shall not kill” and “Stop adoration of the warrior class.” It was a pointed, sobering insertion that broke the happy nostalgia balloon, adding food for thought on a night that mixed fun with a sometimes surprising edge from two bands that shared – and share – an era.

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Re: Elvis & The Imposters play Rockland Trust Bank Pavilion Boston, July 23, 2019

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Review by Jim Sullivan, posted on Rock & Roll Globe on July 25, 2019.

"CONCERTS: Blondie and Elvis Costello & the Imposters at Rockland Trust Bank Pavilion in Boston, Tuesday July 23rd, 2019
The King and Queen of New Wave hit Beantown on their blockbuster summer tour

Oh, I just don’t know where to begin …

Well, I do actually. With fear of Elvis or, maybe fear about Elvis. We’re talking Costello, of course. But I also had fear about Elvis Presley, when in early August 1977 the RCA promo man offered me tickets to the kickoff of Elvis’s latest comeback tour, a concert in a Portland, Maine arena. I was Music Director at a college radio station in the state – that’s why the potential perk came my way -and I politely declined. I feared – you know – fat Elvis, Vegas Elvis, the Elvis who didn’t matter anymore in a punk rock world or – as John Lennon so acidly put it – the Elvis died when he joined the Army. (I later got straight about all that; thanks Peter Guralnick.)

That was Elvis No. 1. My fear about Elvis Costello prior to the July 23rd concert at Boston’s Rockland Trust Bank Pavilion was fear of the mature, tame, old-man, hat-wearing Elvis, the Elvis I really hadn’t paid much attention to in more than a decade. (Note: Elvis is but two years older than I am.)

What I’d heard of his 21st century music didn’t strike me as much more than “well-crafted.” Well intentioned maybe, probably lyrically astute, but bland. Mind you, I wasn’t paying rapt attention, but what I heard didn’t penetrate my core anymore and I lost interest. Which is to say I’ve been off Elvis’s mystery train for a spell.

The Elvis I saw in 1978 at Boston’s Orpheum Theatre penetrated the core very much – even if he played maybe hour tops (no encore) and turned up the howling guitar feedback at the end to drive us out of the room. He had those power-packed first two albums, My Aim Is True and This Year’s Model, from which to pluck and man did he and the Attractions kick out the jams. Anger, tainted love, bitterness and spite never felt so good.

That isn’t the Elvis Costello of 2019, of course, and shouldn’t be. He’s not angry – anymore. He’s a cagey entertainer and he’s been that for some time. (Remember the Spinning Songbook tour of 1986, where he acted like a game show host and he and the band played whatever song the wheel stopped at?)

But what I saw and heard in Boston this week shook me in a way I hadn’t quite expected. He frontloaded the show toward those glory days – starting with “Pump It Up,” “Miracle Man,” “Clubland,” Accidents Will Happen” and “Green Shirt,” hit mid-set stride with “Watching the Detectives,” “Less Than Zero” and “This Year’s Girl” and closed the regular set climatically wit “Alison.” For encores, “Man Out of Time.” “Radio, Radio” and “(What’s So Funny About) Peace, Love and Understanding.”

On “Alison”: Most people still think it’s this sweet, romantic song, but El’s protagonist really thinks “someone should put out the big light because I can’t stand to see you that way.” That means killing her.

On “Radio, Radio”: one of my favorite Costello songs ever – y’all know the SNL story and the last-second switcheroo – and so pertinent back then, with FM radio shutting out most of the fresh punk rockers and Costello singing he wanted “to bite the hand the feeds me.” Today … radio airplay means diddly squat, there are few rock or alt-rock stations around, and it’s all about streaming and Spotify and lack of gatekeepers and access-for-all and the song seems, well, quaint. Ferocious but quaint. Odd mix.

On “Green Shirt”: Tense and pulsing, it may be the best song about how TV newscasts (and newscasters). “She takes all the red, yellow, orange and green and turns them into black and white,” sings Elvis. (On the backing scrim, a slot machine-like trio of changing images, with FAKE popping up every so often. Guessing El is referring not to Trump’s idea of fake news but the reality of fake news spread by Trump.) It’s a perfect song about how the female newscaster flirts with us (always!) but more about how complexities are winnowed down into simplicity for the TV audience.

On “Watching the Detectives”: A great tension-filled, noir-ish song from the get-go, with multiple interpretations. It’s punctuated by one of the greatest killing lines in rock – “It only takes my little fingers to blow you away” – and Tuesday night it was accompanied by visuals depicting a myriad of pulp novels and movies on the video scrim: Naked Alibi, The Lodger, Born to Kill etc.

Elvis’s backing band consisted of three Imposters, bassist Danny Faragher and Attractions drummer Pete Thomas and keyboardist Steve Nieve. They were complemented by two soul sisters, backing vocalists, Kitten Kuroi and Briana Lee, who did some stellar turns, especially on an elongated funked-up jam on “Everyday I Write the Book.” Elvis didn’t treat these songs as dusty, old artifacts or obligatory hits. (He did joke after the first few songs that having gotten the “hits” out of the way; he’d now do Justin Bieber songs. He did not follow through with the threat.)

He did do a bit of Duran Duran’s “Rio” channeling the first Elvis. “I need to imagine that Elvis Presley hadn’t died in 1977,” said the living Elvis, “and had gone on to do the hits of the ‘80s. Didn’t we want him to sing Morrissey?” Elvis added that he wouldn’t want to hear Morrissey sing Morrissey (anymore), no doubt given Moz’s very vocal pivot to the right wing. “But he would have been perfect for ‘Rio.’” After a snatch of that, he chatted up his opening, co-headlining pals Blondie envisioning Presley doing “Heart of Glass.” Whereupon he jokingly chastised himself for rambling and launched into Sam & Dave’s “I Can’t Stand Up for Falling Down,” a highlight of the High Fidelity album. Well played.

This year’s Elvis was appropriately loquacious, but focused, determined to give us a few new morsels (“Mr. and Mrs. Hush,” “Burnt Sugar Is So Bitter”) without demanding that we must pay attention to the new stuff dammit! They fit in; they worked; it was an all-encompassing Elvis we got.
Photo credit: Roza Yarchun
Photo credit: Roza Yarchun
2019-07-23 Boston photo 01.jpg (88.23 KiB) Viewed 7932 times
I go back with Blondie, too. Numerous club and theater gigs, including the closing shebang at CBGB in 2006. I saw them at Boston’s House of Blues at 2010 and if they weren’t running on empty it was close to it. But there was a great revival of spirit in 2017 (aided by a strong new album, Pollinator, to pluck from) and that winning streak continued with this year’s set at the same shed, now under yet another bank’s name.

Deborah Harry is NOT Blondie – remember the early adverts stressing “Blondie is a group”? – but she’s always been the vocal and focal point. If she’s not the punk rock Marilyn Monroe she was in 1979, she’s still pretty damn sassy and sexy four decades down the road, all silvery and sparkly, sporting a blond wig.

And the band, anchored as always by ex-husband/co-songwriter/guitarist Chris Stein and Keith Moon-ish drummer Clem Burke – provided her with more than just a cushion to lay upon. They pushed it, too, stretching out “Rapture” and “Atomic” with noisy/artful guitar and drums excursions, with the ever-seated Stein seeming more and more like Blondie’s Robert Fripp, an eminence grise adding bent-note, prog-rock nuance and texture, if not visible emotion. Frankly, he’s pretty stoic up there. Harry and the “new” guys, bassist Leigh Foxx, guitarist Tommy Kessler and keyboardist Matt Katz-Bohen handle that emotional end.

What’s it all about? Blondie always mixed distant cool and hot passion, tongue-in-cheek humor, arch observation and street-wise savvy. They were comfortable, as it turned out, with a variety of styles barely hinted at on their debut LP.

On Tuesday night, the incendiary “Atomic” – which really has no obvious meaning per se – suggested something nuclear, what with the backing visuals of flames and fallout shelter signs. That, too, was a theme suggested earlier during the quiet, menacing “Fade Away and Radiate.” Good thing we can just see those as nostalgia, given Reagan is gone and we no longer have to worry about Armageddon. (Just kidding, folks. Boy am I kidding. We’re still living in, as Costello sang at the end of his set, “troubled times.”)

Blondie began as the “girl group” of NYC punk and started the show in that vein with “One Way Or Another” and the Nerves’ “Hanging on the Telephone” – upbeat, hook-packed songs that sounded cheerful, but underneath you realize the sly singer is going to give her man the slip (in the first one) and she’s just struck by frustration and inertia in the second.

As with Costello later, you again realized what a strong catalog Blondie has – the lilting “Maria,” the island rhythmic sway of “The Tide Is High,” the new wave/disco pulse of “Call Me” and “Heart of Glass.” The latter closed the regular set – a glass heart shattering on the video behind them – and Blondie was back with Harry’s solo funk tune, “You’re Too Hot” – “Don’t touch me, you’re too hot” being the entirety of the lyrics – and then the gorgeous “Dreaming,” with that lovely self-referential tie-in lyric of “Fade away – and radiate” tucked in.

Blondie and Elvis Costello and the Imposters each had 90-minute sets. They both, as my grade school teachers might have said, used their time wisely. All in all, a very good night for the older folks of late-70s new wave, both fans and performers."

For anyone who is interested, Jim Sullivan's review of Elvis and the A's show at the Orpheum Theater in Boston on May 4, 1978 is archived on the EC Wiki here.

MOOT
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