Elvis in Chicago (December 20, 2010)

Pretty self-explanatory
sweetest punch
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Re: Elvis in Chicago (December 20, 2010)

Post by sweetest punch »

Last edited by sweetest punch on Tue Dec 21, 2010 3:12 pm, 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.
johnfoyle
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Re: Elvis in Chicago (December 20, 2010)

Post by johnfoyle »

Gallery-

http://www.suntimes.com/photos/gallerie ... ry=2966840

http://www.spinner.com/2010/12/21/elvis ... live-solo/

Dec 21st 2010
Anna Deem

With large snowflakes projected on the curtains behind him, Elvis Costello took the stage at the Chicago Theatre on Monday night for a sold-out solo acoustic show that was billed as a special "career-spanning once-in-a-lifetime event."

Indeed, Costello lived up to his "consummate showman" title as he stood humbled before the massive audience, which gave standing ovations after nearly every song in his two-hour long set. Decked out in a smart dark gray suit and matching hat, Costello wasted little time chatting with the crowd and instead blazed through most of his set. Kicking his performance off with '(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes,' Costello mixed in classics such as his set list with classics like 'Alison,' 'New Amsterdam' and 'Green Shirt' with newer fare such as 'A Slow Drag With Josephine,' 'Jimmie Standing in the Rain' and 'The Spell That You Cast' from 2010's 'National Ransom.'

"The last time I was in this theater, there was another singer singing after me and I only sang a few songs," Costello said, finally addressing the crowd. "We'll make up for that tonight." The room cheered and Costello launched into 'Veronica,' a song he penned with Paul McCartney for his 1989 album, 'Spike.' After each song, Costello graciously bowed and raised his glass to the crowd, clearly showing how appreciative he was of their dedication.

"So this is where the people in reindeer sweaters come out and dance," Costello joked as he sat down in front of a music stand. Instead of dancers, Costello played 'St. Stephen's Day Murders,' a tongue-in-cheek Christmas tune he co-wrote with the Chieftains in 1991. Trading in his acoustic guitar for an electric one, Costello tore through 'Watching the Detectives' several songs later, extending the solo and transforming the song's reggae melody into a feedback-laden punk rock affair, much to the crowd's delight as they sang along excitedly.

Their voices carried over into the encore, where Costello played over half a dozen songs, including a classic cover of the Animals' 'Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood.' Although the holiday season isn't over just yet, it was clear as Costello's set wound down that Christmas came early for fans in Chicago.


http://www.suntimes.com/2966840-417/cos ... arino.html

Christmas with Elvis Costello: killing, cold, and a great catalog

BY MARK GUARINO

Dec 21, 2010

Christmas with Elvis Costello evidently does not include chestnuts roasting, sleigh bells ringing or children singing while dressed as Eskimos. Monday night at the Chicago Theatre, he paid homage to the season but in a way more expected from this acerbic rocker: a song about poisoning the family clan over the Christmas ham and another that imagines winter winds as tentacles coming to get you.

The holiday concert was in part an annual promotion for WXRT-FM (93.1) and also a chance for Costello to perform alone, armed with only his charisma and songbook. Both go far.

The single acoustic guitar in Costello’s hands wasn’t the only instrument in the room. The barest of settings illuminated just how potent his voice is, either reaching a high falsetto on songs like “Either Side of the Same Town,” or commanding a hushed authority on “I Hope,” a song from “National Ransom,” a new album. On the former, as well as “A Slow Drag With Josephine,” another new song, he strolled away from the microphone and sang without amplification. To his credit, the entire theater grew quiet and his voice carried all 3,600 seats.

Songs mixed together casually. “New Amsterdam” turned into a tribute to John Lennon’s melancholia, including passages of “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away” and “I’m a Loser.” “Radio Sweetheart” blended into Van Morrison’s “Jackie Wilson Said,” and “So Like Candy” became “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood” by the Animals. Even “Allison,” saved for near the end, borrowed elements from musicals, “Over the Rainbow” and “Somewhere.”

The familiar became less so through versions that strayed from their originals. On “Watching the Detectives,” Costello created digitized loops from his electric guitar, resulting in layers of sound that in the end wasn’t successful but pried the audience away from expectations. More satisfying were “Beyond Belief,” its dizzying flow of words sounding particularly neurotic, and “God’s Comic,” from the days Costello used to write song portraits inked with deadly black humor.

Then there were those Christmas songs. On “St. Stephen’s Day Murders,” a song he co-wrote with Paddy Moloney of the Chieftains, Costello imagined a deadly family dinner the day after Christmas.

But the greatest contribution to the holiday canon may be “Winter Song,” a song Costello introduced from the late British folk-rock songwriter Alan Hull. The song turns the season on its head, connecting the menace of the winter gales to the personal cold front taking place on city sidewalks each day.

“Do you spare a thought for the homeless tramp who wishes he was dead / Or do you pull the bedclothes higher, dream of summertime instead?” Costello sang quietly, while sitting. With each verse, “Winter comes howling in.”

Then, just a half hour later, exiting into State St. as the first snow of an evening storm fell, it did for real.

Mark Guarino is a Chicago critic and writer. Visit mark-guarino.com.
johnfoyle
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Re: Elvis in Chicago (December 20, 2010)

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Jeremy Dylan
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Re: Elvis in Chicago (December 20, 2010)

Post by Jeremy Dylan »

Elvis had a voice that sounded like whiskey should taste

Ha!
charliestumpy
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Re: Elvis in Chicago (December 20, 2010)

Post by charliestumpy »

Seasonal ta for the link to lovely "Little wing-You've been cheatin'-OTR-Somewhere" etc medley.
Last edited by charliestumpy on Wed Dec 22, 2010 3:37 am, edited 1 time in total.
'Sometimes via the senses, mostly in the mind (or pocket)'.
CraigatCoF
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Re: Elvis in Chicago (December 20, 2010)

Post by CraigatCoF »

Just a tremendous show! I think I'm still a bit overwhelmed by the show, and the great time I had in Chicago, walking around a snow-blanketed Millennium Park, earlier today. Got 10 videos, including Winter Song and St. Stephen's Day Murders, and will get those uploaded tomorrow for everyone. Until then:

Everyday I Write the Book - http://youtu.be/vtNp36a5-1I?hd=1
Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood - http://youtu.be/skllqEtlCmg?hd=1
Beyond Belief - http://youtu.be/TljRWRw2m-U?hd=1
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Top balcony
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Re: Elvis in Chicago (December 20, 2010)

Post by Top balcony »

Big thanks for these goodies and the ones still in Santa's sack...

Must have been wonderful to be part of the congregation .

Speaking of which the fantastic Alabama 3 started life as "The First Presleyterian Church of Elvis the Divine (UK)". I'd previously believed that this was referrence to the other Elvis, but maybe not?

Anyway thanks again for sharing.

Colin Top Balcony
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supplydavid
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Re: Elvis in Chicago (December 20, 2010)

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Has anyone got a recording?
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Re: Elvis in Chicago (December 20, 2010)

Post by CraigatCoF »

Here's Winter Song - http://youtu.be/wYAOKFVx1gA?hd=1

Will get St. Stephen's Day Murders up next. While waiting on that, here's a couple of things for the setlist wiki:

EC started at 8:31. Main set ended at 9:51. 1st encore ended at 10:32. Show ended at 10:51.
First encore was Voice in the Dark through Sulphur to Sugarcane. 2nd encore was Bullets for the New-Born King through PLU.
Last edited by CraigatCoF on Wed Dec 22, 2010 1:56 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Elvis in Chicago (December 20, 2010)

Post by johnfoyle »

Just listened to the radio interview - Elvis listed Korea as one of the Asian countries he will be playing in next year. Interesting.
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Top balcony
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Re: Elvis in Chicago (December 20, 2010)

Post by Top balcony »

CraigatCoF wrote:Here's Winter Song - http://youtu.be/wYAOKFVx1gA?hd=1
.
Thanks again for this - what a treat.

Can anyone fill in the blanks for me? At the start he's chatting to the crowd and it appears to go "...t-shirt...my family's from the north west of England.." Any ideas what this is comment is about?

Thanks

Colin Top Balcony
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Re: Elvis in Chicago (December 20, 2010)

Post by CraigatCoF »

Here's St. Stephen's Day Murders - http://youtu.be/VK94xnSg968?hd=1

A few more:
Man Out of Time - http://youtu.be/Yrskc0eI2Ng?hd=1
Radio Sweetheart / Jackie Wilson Said - http://youtu.be/zbFG5G_rujM?hd=1
Jimmie Standing in the Rain - http://youtu.be/2ip2UF8vJ5E?hd=1

Still have 2 more to upload (Bullets and S to S), but they will have to wait until tomorrow.
Last edited by CraigatCoF on Thu Dec 23, 2010 2:46 am, edited 3 times in total.
johnfoyle
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Re: Elvis in Chicago (December 20, 2010)

Post by johnfoyle »

Can anyone fill in the blanks for me? At the start he's chatting to the crowd and it appears to go "...t-shirt...my family's from the north west of England.." Any ideas what this is comment is about?
It's probably a variation on a comment Elvis has made before -


I look like I’ve been dragged through a hedge backwards but I wear suits because I’ve just never felt like a t-shirt kind of guy. Since I was 18. A t-shirt is something to sleep in on a cold winter’s night. When you haven’t got your Winceyette pyjamas.

Elvis, The Word, Aug. '05

http://www.elviscostellofans.com/phpBB3 ... t=Cornbury
CraigatCoF
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Re: Elvis in Chicago (December 20, 2010)

Post by CraigatCoF »

More videos (not mine):

PLU - http://youtu.be/ZvQA25r_yDc
Winter Song - http://youtu.be/53vn2_nrdoY (with the answer to the t-shirt question)
A Voice in the Dark - http://youtu.be/AO4u6gMzQCA
History History
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Re: Elvis in Chicago (December 20, 2010)

Post by History History »

Winter Song has always reminded me of Peace In Our Time. Elvis once said that the chorus of Peace in Our Time was based on another song but I've never discovered which song it was. Does anybody know the song?

.
johnfoyle
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Re: Elvis in Chicago (December 20, 2010)

Post by johnfoyle »

Elvis once said that the chorus of Peace in Our Time was based on another song but I've never discovered which song it was. Does anybody know the song?

From Elvis' GCW sleevenote-

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


The song does have a pretty melody that was inspired by Paul Simon’s “Rene And Georgette Magritte With Their Dog After The War”
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Re: Elvis in Chicago (December 20, 2010)

Post by CraigatCoF »

Here's Bullets for the New-Born King - http://youtu.be/Op3qsy3B0Jk?hd=1.
And Sulphur to Sugarcane - http://youtu.be/tzV--PCedDU?hd=1.
Last edited by CraigatCoF on Thu Dec 23, 2010 4:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Elvis in Chicago (December 20, 2010)

Post by History History »

Thanks John. Despite loving the Paul Simon song AND having the sleeve notes for GCW, this somehow escaped my notice!
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Top balcony
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Re: Elvis in Chicago (December 20, 2010)

Post by Top balcony »

CraigatCoF wrote:More videos (not mine):
Winter Song - http://youtu.be/53vn2_nrdoY (with the answer to the t-shirt question)
Many thanks for the above. Elvis is right about the North West / North East divide.

Colin Top Balcony
sweetest punch
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Re: Elvis in Chicago (December 20, 2010)

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.
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Re: Elvis in Chicago (December 20, 2010)

Post by johnfoyle »

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docinwestchester
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Re: Elvis in Chicago (December 20, 2010)

Post by docinwestchester »

sweetest punch wrote:The show is on Dime: http://www.dimeadozen.org/torrents-deta ... ?id=337279
What a great show! And a setlist to die for...

What's the deal with Green Shirt? It seems like he played it by request at the Citibank show and now it's in the rotation?
charliestumpy
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Re: Elvis in Chicago (December 20, 2010)

Post by charliestumpy »

Has please anyone links to vid. or e.g. mp3s of:

12. New Amsterdam / You've Got To Hide Your Love Away - including I'm A Loser


28. National Ransom - including Workin' Man Blues

Seasonal etc ta.
'Sometimes via the senses, mostly in the mind (or pocket)'.
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Re: Elvis in Chicago (December 20, 2010)

Post by EarlManchester »

charliestumpy wrote:Has please anyone links to vid. or e.g. mp3s of:
12. New Amsterdam / You've Got To Hide Your Love Away - including I'm A Loser
28. National Ransom - including Workin' Man Blues
New Amsterdam / You've Got To Hide Your Love Away (including a snippet of "I'm A Loser") [5:17]
192 kbps / 7.25 MB - http://www.mediafire.com/?f4u1ikbn2f5u4kt

National Ransom (including a snippet of "Workin' Man Blues") [4:21]
192 kbps / 5.96 MB - http://www.mediafire.com/?b7ezmo0thdd5y7z

I Hope [3:01]
192 kbps / 4.19 MB - http://www.mediafire.com/?sjtshlgadptc4et

Standard caveat emptor: the above links are on Mediafire, so mind the ads and the pop-ups, and if you're on Windows, ensure your virus protection is running, because pop-ups on Mediafire and similar sites may contain spyware, trojans, and other things harmful to PCs.
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Re: Elvis in Chicago (December 20, 2010)

Post by johnfoyle »

Video of the radio interview is now up -

http://wxrt.radio.com/2010/12/28/video- ... in-studio/
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