Elvis & The Imposters play Minneapolis, MN, November 23, 2019

Pretty self-explanatory
Post Reply
User avatar
Man out of Time
Posts: 1827
Joined: Fri Jul 06, 2007 8:15 am
Location: just off the coast of Europe
Contact:

Elvis & The Imposters play Minneapolis, MN, November 23, 2019

Post by Man out of Time »

On Saturday November 23, 2019 Elvis and The Imposters, with Kitten Kuroi and Briana Lee play the State Theatre in Minneapolis, MN. This is Elvis' third appearance at the theatre, the first occasion having been in April 1978.

According to Wikipedia the State Theatre opened in 1921. Between 1921 and 1978, the State Theatre was used primarily as a movie house. From 1978 to 1989, the building was the home of Jesus People Church. After nearly two years of renovation at a cost of $8.8 million, the State Theatre re-opened in November 1991. It has a capacity of 2,181.
Minneapolis State Theatre seating plan 2019-11-17
Minneapolis State Theatre seating plan 2019-11-17
2019-11-23 Minneapolis seating plan.png (152.83 KiB) Viewed 10604 times
As the seating plan (above) shows, ticket sales are strong, with only those seats shown in blue still for sale. Those shaded grey are sold.

Who's going?

MOOT
The Gentleman
Posts: 253
Joined: Wed Jul 30, 2003 4:40 pm

Re: Elvis & The Imposters play Minneapolis, MN, November 23, 2019

Post by The Gentleman »

I’ll be there.
sweetest punch
Posts: 5963
Joined: Sat Apr 03, 2004 5:49 am
Location: Belgium

Re: Elvis & The Imposters play Minneapolis, MN, November 23, 2019

Post by sweetest punch »

Only a few hours away...
Since you put me down, it seems i've been very gloomy. You may laugh but pretty girls look right through me.
User avatar
And No Coffee Table
Posts: 3521
Joined: Thu Aug 21, 2003 2:57 pm

Re: Elvis & The Imposters play Minneapolis, MN, November 23, 2019

Post by And No Coffee Table »

https://twitter.com/brianadlee/status/1 ... 2026933253
Briana Lee wrote:Cheering for @KittenKuroi tonight! She’s holding down bgvs like a champ.
User avatar
And No Coffee Table
Posts: 3521
Joined: Thu Aug 21, 2003 2:57 pm

Re: Elvis & The Imposters play Minneapolis, MN, November 23, 2019

Post by And No Coffee Table »

http://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/inde ... inneapolis

01. Strict Time
02. Clubland
03. Green Shirt
04. Accidents Will Happen - including Be Real
05. Lip Service
06. New Lace Sleeves
07. Little Triggers
08. 45
09. (I Don't Want To Go To) Chelsea
10. Stations Of The Cross
11. Watching The Detectives - including Invisible Lady
12. A Face In The Crowd
13. Blood & Hot Sauce
14. Mystery Dance
15. Monkey To Man - including The Monkey
16. Pump It Up
17. Radio, Radio
18. High Fidelity
19. Alison - including You've Been Cheatin' and I'm Gonna Make You Love Me
20. (What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love And Understanding?


https://twitter.com/KittenKuroi/status/ ... 4004449280
Kitten Kuroi wrote:I missed my sis, my road dawg, fellow bawselady, @brianadlee tonight so much!! But, I'm glad she's recovering and getting better. Keep sending out all the healing vibes for her!!
sweetest punch
Posts: 5963
Joined: Sat Apr 03, 2004 5:49 am
Location: Belgium

Re: Elvis & The Imposters play Minneapolis, MN, November 23, 2019

Post by sweetest punch »

http://www.startribune.com/elvis-costel ... 565393202/

Elvis Costello's aim was true but his voice wasn't in Minneapolis
His State Theatre show was as disappointing as last year's Northrop gig was satisfying.

What becomes a punk-rock legend most? When they evolve and impress as serious musicmakers. Think the Clash’s Joe Strummer, the Replacements’ Paul Westerberg and Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong.

Then there’s Elvis Costello, who is in a league of his own, becoming the Cole Porter of punk, offering R&B, country, jazz, rock and sophisticated pop, among other styles, during a Rock Hall of Fame career featuring one remarkably rewarding album after another.

On Saturday at the sold-out State Theatre in Minneapolis, Costello, 65, even proffered two selections from a forthcoming musical about a Wyoming radio announcer who ends up running for political office; it’s based on a Budd Schulberg story that was adapted into a 1957 movie, “A Face in the Crowd,” starring Andy Griffith.

Sitting at a grand piano, Costello delivered the impassioned country-soul ballad “A Face in the Crowd” and the country-gospel tent revival “Blood and Hot Sauce,” which was dripping with Randy Newman-like Southern-ness, cynicism and irony. Those numbers were easily the highlights of a concert that was surprisingly short of them.

If Costello’s performance last November at Northrop was one of his most satisfying here, dating back to 1978 at the defunct Longhorn punk club (which he mentioned Saturday), then this return engagement was a rare disappointment.

Costello and his band, the Imposters, were not always in sync. At times, his voice was ragged, as if he might be fighting the same flu that sidelined backup singer Briana Lee on Saturday. Moreover, the performance seemed strikingly short by comparison — 105 minutes and 21 selections vs. 150 minutes last year when he thrilled with 30 tunes.

Looking dapper with a red fedora and sequined black sport jacket, Costello offered a cross-section of tunes from his entire career, with an emphasis on his 1977 debut “My Aim Is True” and other early crowd-pleasers.

Although he was his usual garrulous and witty self between songs, he seemed musically a little out of sorts much of the night. “Green Shirt” from 1979 felt restrained. “Accidents Will Happen,” also from ’79, felt like a collision of bad timing between Costello and longtime keyboardist Steve Nieve. “New Lace Sleeves” (1981) felt like a formless piece searching for a musical style.

Even “(I Don’t Want to Go to) Chelsea,” a favorite from Costello’s second LP in ’78, seemed disjointed, with the band failing to find its groove. The ensuing “Stations of the Cross,” a 2010 sophisticated cinematic epic, failed to engage the audience even though Costello was singing on one knee at one point and ended the piece with raucous guitar jamming.

At least, 1977’s “Watching the Detectives” earned an enthusiastic reaction for Costello’s vocals with an affected Southern accent coupled with video projections of old movie posters and pulp-novel covers for irresistible titles like “Naked Alibi” and “Murder Plays a Ukulele.”

The concert turned around on the two exceptional tunes from “A Face in the Crowd” but still was uneven thereafter. Fueled by Nieve’s Farfisa-sounding organ, the fast and furious “Mystery Dance” (1977) and the rocking “Monkey to Man” (2004) were Costello at his up-tempo finest on Saturday, then his voice lost its force on “Radio Radio” (1978) and went totally low fidelity on “High Fidelity” (1980).

While “Alison” was unforgettable last year when Costello was flanked by his two female backup singers at center stage, this time he gave the 1977 pining regret a new treatment, ending it by grafting on the Temptations’ Motown classic “I’m Gonna Make You Love Me” complete with spot-on falsetto. It was wonderful evidence of Costello’s musical creativity and knowledge.

It reminded the faithful that no matter the musical style, no matter the issues with Costello’s band or voice, his aim is true.
Since you put me down, it seems i've been very gloomy. You may laugh but pretty girls look right through me.
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 play Minneapolis, MN, November 23, 2019

Post by sulky lad »

It reminded the faithful that no matter the musical style, no matter the issues with Costello’s band or voice, his aim is true.
:roll: :roll: :roll:
Must be real hard work being a reviewer :shock:
sweetest punch
Posts: 5963
Joined: Sat Apr 03, 2004 5:49 am
Location: Belgium

Re: Elvis & The Imposters play Minneapolis, MN, November 23, 2019

Post by sweetest punch »

http://www.citypages.com/music/elvis-co ... /565413252

Elvis Costello earns fans’ trust at the State

Sometimes you tour just to tour. That’s the ethos Elvis Costello and his Imposters brought to the State Theatre with their “JusTrust” show Saturday night. No new album to promote; the band simply is out there to play, and they simply ask the audience to trust them.

And Costello, the new wave survivor and tireless interpreter of all manner of chamber pop and torch music, has earned our trust.

Was it a greatest hits show? Well, yes… and also, no. Take a look at that setlist below. You know the words to most of those songs, but the arrangements might have thrown you for a loop. The show was an adventurous trip through Costello’s body of work, and a tantalizing tiny sliver of a glimpse into what’s to come.

Opening to the strains of gospel music and testifying, Elvis strode onstage looking a bit like our own beloved Prince, or maybe more like Beck, with a sequined black jacket and a badass red hat tilted ever so slightly just right.

The proceedings opened with 1981’s bouncy “Strict Time,” then with a quick “Good evening, friends,” Costello tore it up with “Clubland,” from the same album, Trust. Always a bit underrated as a guitarist, he really played the hell out of his Fender. The song turned into a long jam, which telegraphed how the evening would go. “Green Shirt” had a more pronounced guitar snarl, and the whole song took on an otherworldly “space disco” sound.

Costello lauded the grandeur of the surroundings, saying that the band hadn’t always played “beautiful palaces” like the State. He reminisced about the long-gone local punk-rock ground zero, Jay’s Longhorn. Elvis said that they “used to play the littlest club in town… and then everyone claimed to have been there.”

His storytelling was funny, a little rambling, and ended with a recollection of “trying to rid the world of alcohol” and waking up in a taxi either in extreme southern Texas or northern Mexico in love with the driver. Unfortunately, she was into Pink Floyd, and Elvis… wasn’t. We’ve all been there.

Returning to the music, Costello and the Imposters served up a stately, soaring version of 1979’s “Accidents Will Happen.” Like a good number of songs, the version was slightly different in feel. A little loungey? Maybe a little. It kept the audience on their toes, as we were singing along.

Then it was 1-2-3-4-ROCKANDROLL for This Year’s Model’s “Lip Service,” played straight and aimed for the gut. Costello continued to mine his past with a very R&B version of “New Lace Sleeves” and a murderously slow “Little Triggers” before waxing poetic about records and his parents.

“I wouldn’t be here without records,” Costello said. “Everything I know is from records, and the occasional comic book or pulp novel.” Apparently, his parents met from opposite sides of a record store counter; he appropriately dedicated 2002’s groovy and elastic “45” to them.

“(I Don’t Want to) Go to Chelsea” turned into an extended psychedelic romp, and a dubbed-out version of 1977’s “Watching the Detectives” told a longer story than the one from My Aim Is True.

Costello promised new music in 2020 in the form of a planned stage musical adaptation of A Face in the Crowd about a “good for nothing, double-talking, hard-drinking, pill-popping hillbilly from Fox, Wyoming.” Saturday night the audience heard the title track and the killer “Blood & Hot Sauce.”

Elvis played these two songs at longtime keyboardist Steve Nieve’s grand piano, and the latter really referred back to the gospel sounds that opened the show. It was a mini revival with just Costello and his backing singer bringing the soul.

When Elvis returned to his beloved guitar, the set got louder, and the full house started to consider standing up.

“Pump It Up” did the trick.

From then on, the band disposed of all sonic experimentation, and simply brought the fire. By the time of band introductions, everyone (at least on the main floor) was on their feet and cheering.

“Radio, Radio” was a reminder of Elvis’s punk rock roots. Everything about the song is defiant. If you haven’t seen the footage of Elvis Costello and the Attractions on Saturday Night Live in 1977, do yourself a solid. The song, on vinyl or in concert, is always an ass-kicker. Then “Alison” proved not to have lost any of its tortured creepiness through the years.

Nick Lowe’s “(What’s So Funny ’Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding” was a perfect ending. Costello may not have written it, but it really is as much his at this point. The world’s a mess, so what’s wrong with aiming for something better? Deliver the message with ringing guitar and whip crack drums? Yes, please.

There was no encore, and that was sort of fabulous. It’s not like the audience was cheated. Count ’em. That is a 20.5 song set list delivered in just under two hours. What else could a fan want? Elvis left the building better than he found it.
Since you put me down, it seems i've been very gloomy. You may laugh but pretty girls look right through me.
Post Reply