Elvis and The Sugarcanes, Redbank, NJ, 9 Jun 2009

[sweetest punch]

See: https://tickets.elviscostello.com/

[jmm]

Anyone else going to the tour kickoff on Tuesday?

Looking forward to hearing The Crooked Line again as in SF at Hardly Strictly

[bronxapostle]

me, my brother and the GOOD SONY will be there jmm....ba

[always dancing]

I am going to that and the Beacon...double header...I will be dancing ...see you there

[bronxapostle]

well, today is the day. God willing, i'll give my report when home tonight. ENJOY ALL!, ba

[migdd]

Looking forward you your report, ba. Hope you can get a setlist!

[bronxapostle]

i am a PROFESSIONAL!!! i have been writing setlists since my FIRST concert in 1974....the almighty URIAH HEEP!!!!!!!! and i chronicle ALL my 86 EC shows so far and tally them up. i think i will acquire my 550th different song tonight!!!!!!!! cheers, ba

[jmm]

The show was great. A nice mix of SPS (only missed 2 or 3 songs) with highlights for me being The Crooked Line, She Handed Me a Mirror, Sulfur to Sugarcane and Femme Fatale.

Opened with My Resistance is Low - new stuff and covers! Lots of KoA - highlights of America w/o Tears, Brilliant Mistake and My Little Angel.

Most surprising entry Everyday I Write the Book

Most anticipated and fufilled Red Shoes, The Butcher's Boy and Blame it on Cain.

Nice to hear Stranger in the House and Tonight the Bottle Let me Down.

No How Deep Is the Red so no "red trifecta"

More later

[bronxapostle]

jmm just about got it all...cept THE RACE IS ON and a fantastic rework LITTLE PALACES. STORY IN YOUR VOICE. will do whole setlist when awake....night night. did i say FANTASTIC as always!

[johnfoyle]

John O posts to listserv-

Elvis Costello & the Sugarcanes - Count Basie Theater - Red Bank, NJ - 6/9/09

7 pcs - upright bass, mandolin, lap guitar, accordian, fiddle, guitars



8:05
My reststance is low
My All time doll
Tonight the bottle let me down
Stranger in the house!!!
Our lttle angel (best version ever)
Femme fatale (brilliant)
(great count Basie story/fair l Lynn story)
I feel a chill..
hidden shame
The delivery man (dark & haunting version)
The Butcher Boy (duh!)
Blame it on Cain
Indoor fireworks
I dreamed of my old lover
Story in your voice
(lots of calls for "rock n roll - ain't gonna happen-EC answers with..)
She handed Me a Mirror
Brand new song-Five small words (uptempo, bright, hooky)
EDIWTB!!! (total rework-nice harmonies)
She was no good
Little palaces!
Complicated shadows
Down among the Wines & Spirits
Brilliant Mistake (of course)(best live harmonies ever!!)

9:40

Encore #1
Red cotton
The crooked line
American without tears (w/singalong)
Sulphur to Sugarcane
The Race is on (most Rockin tune of the night)
Red shoes (slow ballad)
10:22 end


On the stage setlist but did not appear:
How Deep is the Red
Mystery Train
Friend of the Devil/Condemned
Alison/Changing Partner
I Don’t Want to Go Home
The Scarlet Tide
PLU


Songs like Our Little Angel, Brilliant Mistake, American Without Tears and
even The Delivery Man really show the weakness of the material from the new
album which sounds almost identical live as they did on the CD which I think
is due to the live nature of the recordings.

Fans like us will really enjoy the shows, they are quite different from
anything Elvis has done in a long time. The musicianship might be the best
I've ever heard at an Elvis show, certainly since I saw him with the Jazz
Passengers and the Mingus Orchestra. Casual fans seemed quite annoyed and
kept screaming for RAWK music and many actually left early. The tour
promoters should consider advertising these as country shows so folks will
know what to expect.

Some of the reworks were absolutely brilliant, especially Red Shoes, The
Delivery Man and EDIWTB. I would have loved to have heard The Scarlet Tide
or Friend of the Devil with this band. In fact, I would suggest Elvis pare
down the offerings from SP&S and add more covers and earlier material.

BTW, if you ever get a chance to see a show at the Count Basie, do it. The
sound and the size are far superior to the Beacon.

[Who Shot Sam?]

Sounds good. Unfortunately I'm sure there will be more than a few of the RAWK!!! crew tonight at the Beacon.

[Emotional Toothpaste]

Must be a tough balance fro Elvis to try and please the RAWK fans and the true fans. I for one could do without hearing PLU, Pump It Up, or any of the old classics. Give me the new stuff or rework the old stuff and make it new. Good for Elvis. What a great setlist!

[bronxapostle]

good news folks....my tape sounds sweet, but a couple bad tape flips marred the near perfect recording. sweet sounding hall. i'll do my best with it the same and look for any other's recording too. cheers, ba p.s. EVERYONE wish me better luck tonight!!!!

[jmm]

I'm sure through BA's magic you'll all get to hear just how annoying the RAWK lady was - but at least you'll be spared the woman who was behind us!!

Still it was a wonderful show and I'm all for just select "chestnuts" vs the catalouge. While I'd love a show that goes on that long and for instace the mini-tour to support 30 years compliations was a GREAT straight ahead rock show

A little variety IS Mr. EC (or DPAM), isn't it?

[johnfoyle]

http://www.app.com/article/20090611/ENT/906110313/1031


Elvis Costello (left) performs with the Sugarcanes on Tuesday at the Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank. (STAFF PHOTO: MICHAEL SYPNIEWSKI)


June 11, 2009

A mellow Costello opens tour in Red Bank

By ALEX BIESE
STAFF WRITER

Teenagers, 20-somethings, baby boomers and everyone in between lined Monmouth Street in Red Bank on Tuesday evening ready to worship at the altar of Elvis Costello. And for those who came prepared to listen, the night proved to be an epic knockout.

Costello and the Sugarcanes launched their tour in support of Costello's latest album, "Secret, Profane and Sugarcane," with a show Tuesday night at the Count Basie Theatre, and from the first tune of the night — the Hoagy Carmichael and Harold Adamson cover "My Resistance is Low" — it was clear that the show was to be a special evening and anything but a greatest-hits affair.

Sure, there were some popular Costello tunes scattered throughout the evening, including a slow and elegant reconstruction of "Everyday I Write the Book" that wouldn't have felt out of place if played by Bob Dylan's current touring band and an evening-closing run through "(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes."

But for the most part, Costello and his six-man backing string band had a specific old-timey purpose in mind, and they would not be swayed from that path, no matter how many times one woman in the crowd shouted for "rock 'n' roll!"

One of the most telling points of the evening came before the start of the fourth number, the rare gem "Stranger in the House."

"This is a song that was written 32 years ago for the album 'My Aim Is True,' " Costello told the crowd, who responded with great applause.

"Don't get too excited," he cautioned. "It didn't make the record. But it did take me to Nashville."

The song, a lush and melancholy tune that has come to only fit Costello's voice better with time, typified the evening. While there was no getting around the fact that Costello was the man behind several classic rock staples, including the "My Aim Is True" tracks "Watching the Detectives," "Alison" and "Less Than Zero," on Tuesday night he was in town to show a sadder, wiser and altogether more American-sounding side of himself.

Part of his strategy for Americanizing his sound, it seems, is to draw on the work of some of America's finest songwriters. Along with Carmichael and Adamson's "My Resistance Is Low," Costello tried his hand at Merle Haggard's "Tonight the Bottle Let Me Down" and Lou Reed's "Femme Fatale," all to powerful and winning results.

From the stage, Costello acknowledged the sense of American musical history that the Basie holds thanks to its namesake.

"It's our first night onstage together, and we could not have found a more beautiful theater to play in. And there's absolutely no pressure whatsoever because it's named after Count Basie," he said.

Costello released the country- and bluegrass-influenced "Secret, Profane and Sugarcane" on June 2, and while his Red Bank show contained 11 of the 13 songs from that excellent record, it was clear on Tuesday night that not quite all of the kinks had been worked out of Costello and the Sugarcanes' live presentation.

It may have been the fact that this was the first night of the tour, or that there was no warm-up act, but it took a few songs for the sound mix to even off and find the suitable levels, and the lighting cues never seemed to fully sync up with what was happening onstage, leading to moments where either the stage was too dark or the house lights were inexplicably on.

[bronxapostle]

yeah, i guess that annoying RAWK bimbo was maybe why we did NOT get the second encore tuesday.

[sweetest punch]

Brilliant mistake: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ul2eWx2IPX4

[sweetest punch]

Femme Fatal: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5N0TobopqI
Everyday I Write The Book: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p56IKTopayA