Elvis and The Imposters, Rancho Mirage, CA, 10 July 2009

Pretty self-explanatory
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sweetest punch
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Elvis and The Imposters, Rancho Mirage, CA, 10 July 2009

Post by sweetest punch »

http://www.mydesert.com/article/2009050 ... ow+in+July
So, he will be touring with the Imposters in July!!
Hope he comes to Europe later this year.
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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ahawkman
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Re: Elvis and The Imposters, Rancho Mirage, CA, 10 July 2009

Post by ahawkman »

Rancho Mirage (Palm Springs) is a curious choice for EC. He's never played there it seems. It's an area noted mostly for retirees and gaysters, not that there's anything wrong with either :). Not only that, he's playing an Indian casino (his new Wayne Newton lounge act 'stash will fit in quite nicely). To be fair,these casinos are getting a lot of big acts these days, so it's not too surprising. And this is a new venue, pretty swank looking, only 2,000 capacity. Looks like the wife is playing there in August too.

Seems like it's the last concert before a little break.... wonder if the band is going to hang around for a few days in the 110 degree heat...nah.

Anyway, it's the closest he'll come to my city on this tour, so I may have to check it out. I'll be interested to see the set lists of Imposters concerts leading up to this.
woz
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Re: Elvis and The Imposters, Rancho Mirage, CA, 10 July 2009

Post by woz »

Who else is going? Based on the setlists from the past couple of days, this looks like it will be an amazing show.

Look forward to seeing and meeting everyone.

Cheers.
johnfoyle
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Re: Elvis and The Imposters, Rancho Mirage, CA, 10 July 2009

Post by johnfoyle »

http://www.mydesert.com/article/2009071 ... festyles01

Elvis Costello: His aim's still true

Bruce Fessier

The Desert Sun • July 10, 2009

He recently played a country song from his new narrative-driven “Secret, Profane and Sugarcane” CD followed by “Watching the Detectives” from his “angry young man” phase in the 1970s.

So don't be surprised if he begins his first concert in the Coachella Valley tonight with a song from the Rat Pack.

Told that the venue — The Show at Agua Caliente — is on Bob Hope Drive, just north of Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra drives, he said, “There's the first three songs.”

Costello, 55, has recorded and performed with the classical Brodsky Quartet and with former sidemen for Elvis Presley, who inspired the former Declan Patrick MacManus' professional first name.

(Costello is his paternal grandmother's maiden name).

He's married to jazz great Diana Krall and he's known as one of the most inventive songwriters in pop music.

But Costello gained fame with such songs as “Pump It Up,” “My Aim Is True” and “Radio, Radio” (which he famously sang on “Saturday Night Live” after being told not to) despite having no formal music education.

He didn't learn musical notation, he said, until he was in his late 30s.

“Once I got through that, I found it was a joy to be able to communicate with musicians who get their code exclusively off the page,” he said by telephone Tuesday. “It's strange I left it so long, but now I have written some things. I'm not setting myself up in competition with any great composers, but I've managed to write a couple of orchestral instrumental pieces and I can arrange my songs. When I do the show with the Utah Symphony, the bulk of arrangements are my own now.”

Costello also hosts a music interview show on the Sundance Channel, titled “Spectacle,” resuming next fall, that he says touts music appreciation.

He's interviewed such varied guests as Herbie Hancock, Lou Reed and his personal favorite, Smokey Robinson, who let him sing lead with him on the Miracles classic, “You've Really Got A Hold On Me.”
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ahawkman
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Re: Elvis and The Imposters, Rancho Mirage, CA, 10 July 2009

Post by ahawkman »

I'll be there tonight, Woz. I may be at the pool happy hour before the show. I'll be wearing a Green Shirt with an orange EC button. Send me a meesage through this site if you'd like. Looking forward to a good time!
MOJO
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Re: Elvis and The Imposters, Rancho Mirage, CA, 10 July 2009

Post by MOJO »

I think I am going to this show, too. I don't have tickets, but my friend and I intend on buying at the box office. I hope it's not sold out.

Looking forward to dehydrating my body with booze in the hot desert heat. Plan to drink responsibly at least for the first hour or two.
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Re: Elvis and The Imposters, Rancho Mirage, CA, 10 July 2009

Post by johnfoyle »

http://www.mydesert.com/article/2009071 ... tylesfront

Image
Elvis Costello on stage at The Show at Agua Caliente Casino Resort Spa.
(Wade Byars, The Desert Sun)

Slideshow http://www.mydesert.com/apps/pbcs.dll/g ... tylesfront


Elvis Costello rocks The Show

Bruce Fessier • The Desert Sun • July 11, 2009


Elvis Costello brought his real deal band to The Show at Agua Caliente Casino Resort Spa on Friday night.

This wasn't his country or classical music ensemble.

These were the Imposters — two-thirds of Costello's original backup band, the Attractions, started in 1977 — a rock-oriented band capable of playing a little of everything, including Costello's latest, country- sounding, narrative-driven CD, “Secret, Profane and Sugarcane.”

And, while the group's newest member, bass player Dave Faragher, did wear a white cowboy hat Friday's show was a straight-ahead rock 'n' roll night.

Costello, an English guitarist with the look of a middle-aged film noir character with his receding hairline, glasses and mustache, gave the near-capacity crowd in the theater-styled hall a sampling of his new material and rock standards of the past 32 years.

He's been called one of the most versatile singer-songwriters in modern rock.

Most of Friday night's songs were tunes that critics praised but didn't get radio play as exemplified by the well-received “Radio, Radio.”

Dressed in a dark suit with turquoise tie, and a bright red shirt, Costello didn't open with Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Bob Hope songs, as he hinted for his first appearance in Rancho Mirage, but he did make his second song “Stella Hurt,” about a girl whose “velvet gloves and country clubs were never going to hold her.”

So enthralled by Costello, many in the crowd screamed when he merely lifted his guitar in a classic rocker pose.

The crowd recognized his fourth song, “I Don't Want To Go To (Chelsea)” from the opening strains.

The connection between band and audience was made from the start.
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Otis Westinghouse
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Re: Elvis and The Imposters, Rancho Mirage, CA, 10 July 2009

Post by Otis Westinghouse »

johnfoyle wrote:Costello, 55
Steady on - not quite!

Nice clips. Following the earlier lamentations from the English brethren of the lack of EC & the Is on these shores since 2005, this just makes me feel sadder still.
There's more to life than books, you know, but not much more
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Re: Elvis and The Imposters, Rancho Mirage, CA, 10 July 2009

Post by johnfoyle »

http://sid-dreamerm.blogspot.com/2009/0 ... asino.html

Saturday, July 11, 2009

Elvis Costello at Aguas Caliente Casino: 7/10/2009

Posted by DreamerM


I left this show convinced of two facts. One; Elvis Costello kicks ass. Two: I do not know enough about his catalog, his history, and music in general to fully appreciate how much ass he really kicks.


On the drive home, my mom had to explain to me that His rendition of a deeply romantic love song called "Alison" contained snippets of "fuck you" songs from the 60s like "Tears of a Clown." Songs which I, being a child of the 90s and 00s, have never even heard of before: a hole in my education that I was never aware of before now.

Elvis Costello is way smarter then me. That's the third fact I left convinced of. He's also the only rocking frontman I can think off off the top of my head who performs in a suit and tie. I guess in recent years he's toned down his Buddy Holly style: wearing smaller glasses and incorperating touches like a violet tie and patterned turquoise shirt into his wardrobe. He plays his gold-top slung low, or his telecaster suspended in front of him with one hand: punkish moves Buddy Holly never did. And you'll still catch Elvis wiggling his legs like back in the day. More then anything else he has that quality that just dictates that when HE'S onstage, it doesn't really matter who else is there or what they're doing: he's the one you look at. That's a quality you can't teach: you either have it or you don't, and Costello, like Springsteen, and Reznor, has it in spades.

Which isn't to say his band wasn't worth watching. His back-up band for this tour was called The Imposters, and consisted of a stout, goateed drummer, a bass player all bedecked in head-to-toe white, complete with a white cowboy hat, and a keyboardist who's rig of keyboards, sythesizers, and odd gadgets would make him the source of the most interesting wailing, space-agey sounds. He even took a cue from one of Costellos lyrics and played a note with his toe, and him not so young neither!


Too bad the Casino audience sucked. For starters, any audience comprised of mostly middle-aged white people (and some younger white people) seemed unable to manage such tricky feets as "clap in rhythm" or even "Stand up out of their chairs." Costello was clearly gesturing that he wanted the people of orchestra level to gather at the foot of the stage, and since he did so during a roundy rousing number, quite a few people down in front tried to comply, only to either get dispersed by a house bouncer or by their own misguided sense of propriety. Bad audience karma. Blarg.


Speaking of house bouncers, this leads me to the biggest problem of the night.

Short.

This show was too short!

The show did not start until 9pm. It ended, after a highly abreviated encore, promptly at 10:35, the house lights came on less then a millisecond after the band had left the stage.
B.B King also had this problem: the man could have played all night, but there was a house curfew to meet.

This is the downside of gigs at Casinos. This theater was large, state-of-the-art and beautiful, but the casino wants the show to end early. Their whole motivation for hosting the show is to funnel people through the casino, and they want to make sure the show ends with plenty of time for the audience members to gamble some more.

I know I'll be trying to see Elvis again, but not until I've done some serious homework. And hopefully, not at a Casino.
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strangerinthehouse
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Re: Elvis and The Imposters, Rancho Mirage, CA, 10 July 2009

Post by strangerinthehouse »

The Rancho Mirage show has made it to dime:

http://www.dimeadozen.org/torrents-deta ... ?id=257311
Elvis Costello and The Imposters
Agua Caliente Casino
Rancho Mirage, CA
July 10, 2009

A great show until it ended. Which was way too soon. Probably the shortest headlining show I've ever seen EC do - and definitely the shortest two song-let's-get-the-heck-outta-here encore. No opening act, a $125 ticket price, and a 91 minute show. You do the math.

On the bright side, the show while it lasted was great, with some obscure tunes and EC attempting some extended bits of guitar wizardry. (The Detectives/Almost Blue thing is 13 minutes long and very cool.) One of only four US shows with the Imposters squeezed in between two legs of Elvis' tour with The Sugarcanes. The recording sounds excellent and the venue was fantastic. A very small theater with a big stage, great sound system and taper friendly security. Check it out.

Sonics>Battery Box>Sony D7 DAT>ProTools (for level adjustment, compression, eq, and song separation)>flac, Recorded from the 7th row.

Taped and mastered by JB. Please don't sell or convert to lossy format.


CD 1 (43:20)

01. No Hiding Place
02. Stella Hurt
03. Mystery Dance
04. (I Don't Want To Go To) Chelsea
05. Accidents Will Happen
06. You Belong To Me
07. Everyday I Write The Book (different arrangement)
08. I Hope You're Happy Now
09. Radio Radio
10. Motel Matches
11. Blame It On Cain
12. Radio Sweetheat/Jackie Wilson Said (full band)


CD 2 (48:04)

01. Sulphur To Sugarcane
02. Watching The Detectives
03. Almost Blue
04. Watching The Detectives (reprise)
05. Beyond Belief
06. Monkey To Man
07. Alison/Tracks Of My Tears/Tears Of A Clown/No More Tearstained Make-Up/Suspicious Minds
---------------------------
08. Pump It Up
09. (What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love And Understanding?
And you try so hard
to be like the big boys
@shellacandvinyl
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ahawkman
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Re: Elvis and The Imposters, Rancho Mirage, CA, 10 July 2009

Post by ahawkman »

Agree with the comments above, Elvis was in great voice, loved the set list, the sound was terrific, and the venue is excellent. Another 20-30 min would have been perfect. My buddy and I ran down to the front for the encore, so only 2 songs was a letdown.

(Warning: Long story below, let's call it diary of a fanatic)
My afternoon was kind of fun. I drove up from San Diego around 1 pm, came the back way through the mountains, it was a frigging BEAUTIFUL drive. Hit the desert floor around 3, and for those of you not familiar, the Palm Springs area is HOT in summer. Like 115 F hot with a bit of humidity to make it even more comfortable. So you'd better park your car in shade or it's an oven that will cook you to a crisp upon your return. But I digress.

I was headed toward my buddy's house a few miles past the casino (I don't know how he can live there in summer, must be part lizard) so I decided to stop in at the place and scope it out. Plus, who knows, maybe I'll run into the band, ha. So I park it, walk inside the casino, look around a bit. It's a noisy mess, the usual crowd of mouth breathers who apparently are bad at math. I see the box office and entrance to the theater at the far end of the casino so I head over to check it out. Try one of the doors, locked of course. A second later some guy comes out for a smoke break (no smoking in the theater but anything goes in the casino), so I ask him if "the man" has arrived. "Nope." Not sure whether to believe him, was he really going to say, "Sure he's in there now, come on in!", so I file it away under "maybe, maybe not". I asked the lady at the box office what types of tickets were left, there were lots left in the upper levels (I would estimate there were about 1,600 people at the 2,000 seat venue that night).

Well, nothing exciting so far, but I am persistent if nothing else. I wander over to the hotel shops and restaurants, pretty empty, and the high-end restaurant isn't open yet. The pool area is at the far end of the concourse so I step outside to check it out. Being inside, I had temporarily forgotten that it was a bazillion degrees outside and I nearly passed out 3 steps from the door. After regaining my senses, I see some misters by some nice chairs near the pool. Well, near the pool enclosure actually, since there is a locked gate and it says "hotel guests only." I'll just sit by the misters until someone opens the gate so I can pop in all nonchalant-like. Just for the record, misters don't really help at all when you're sitting in the mid-afternoon sun in Palm Springs in July. I was afraid my hair was going to catch fire. Anyway, gate is open in a few minutes and I do in fact pop in. Look around to see if I recognize anyone, but I doubt those non-native blokes could handle this heat, even in the shade. Luxury cabana tents would be the most likely spot, but they stand empty. There's supposed to be this happy hour thing later, so I ask the bartender what types of beer they will have since I don't see any taps and the cooler looks bereft of anything remotely worth drinking. She looks at me like I'm from Mars, like what does it matter, I'll tell you why it matters, it matters because I wouldn't drink the crap you have back there for all the tea in China. I decide I'd better drink somewhere else before the concert.

Despite the rambling narrative, only about 20 min had elapsed since I had arrived. Still, I'd better head over to my buddy's house, no doubt he's waiting impatiently. I guess there will be no Elvis sighting, so I head back into the building. There is a casual restaurant on the right as I enter, can't really see in because there's a wall that obstructs most of the view from where I stand. Well, one never knows, might as well take a quick peek. Place is virtually empty, save one group near the very back. Damn, that looks like ELVIS sitting with some unrecognized folks. Ignoring the "please wait here to be seated" sign, I take a few halting steps into the restaurant, craning my neck forward and peering intently to see if it's really true or if I'm the victim of an overzealous imagination. IT'S HIM, I can't believe it!!!! I'm still 80 feet away, and I haven't been detected by either Elvis or the staff. I am forced to admit to the reader that despite the long odds of stalking, er finding, er "running into" Elvis, I was enough of a cockeyed optimist to bring my MAIT album cover and a Sharpie with me. It's still in the car though, I wasn't THAT optimistic. I hesitate for only a second, take a quick parting glance to confirm it's not a desert mirage, and sprint out toward the parking garage. That lasted about 10 steps, because I find it's impossible to run in these damn flip flops, so I end up half jogging, half speed-walking through the casino. Is there a rule against this I wonder; will they think I swiped a stack of $100 chips and am making my getaway? I am a man on a mission though, and I get through the casino without incident. Step outside and am slapped in the face by what feels to be a 5,000 Watt blow dryer set on high about 1 inch from my forehead. Car is only a couple hundred yards away in the covered garage. I continue my odd-looking gait to the car and back into the casino. I feel REALLY conspicuous now, zigzagging through the slot machines with this bright yellow album cover. I decide to hold it edge forward in front of me to cut a swath through anyone who is fool enough to get in my way. Luckily the slot players are transfixed by those stupid machines and wouldn't have noticed if my hair actually WAS on fire. Down the concourse, into the entryway, PLEASE STILL BE THERE, whew, yes, no change in the scenery. Well except now I am standing by the receptionist in a somewhat disheveled state and the combination of excitement, exertion, and heat has resulted in profuse sweating so that I look like a human Niagara Falls as I stand there, yellow album in hand. The receptionist is a professional though, and asks me if I'd like to be seated. Geez, I don't know, should I just go straight in, ask, and get out? What's the protocol here? I decide yes, I'll take a seat, assess the situation, and it will give me time to stop dripping. Where would I like to sit? The staff is onto me by now, but they are cool. It's not like there's a mob of people or anything; I am the mob, party of one. I go for a booth one table removed from the table of my keen interest. As I near the booth, album and sharpie in hand, I wonder if Elvis will notice me and maybe give me a signal to come over and take care of things. But not to be. Hard to say if he even noticed me or the album. I suspect he's gotten used to people gawking, pointing, etc., and just ignores them for the most part. So I sit there for a minute trying to figure out who he's with. No one I recognize. 2 couples both 50-ish. Elvis is doing most of the talking, though the guy nearest him, another Brit, is doing his best to help keep the convo going. The other 3 all paying attention, but aren't saying a word. Ok, I need to ask him for the autograph, but minutes go by and I can't seem to find a good spot to intervene. Also, it has appeared from the start that they could get up and leave at any minute, there were only a few cups on the table and everyone seemed finished. That would be an easy time to ask I think. Elvis is facing straight toward my right side, and I am TRYING to act normal, but of course I am looking over every 10 seconds for a chance to butt in. Nothing doing, I can't even get the famous raised eyebrow that might signal a go-ahead. Now I'm at 5 minutes, and I'm in no-man's-land. I can hear most of the conversation, Elvis is holding court, telling various music related stories. I can't figure out the make up of this group, but to hazard a guess I'd say the folks either paid to spend time with Elvis or were contest winners or something. Again, the other Brit seemed most at ease and at least talked a bit, but I got the feeling that these folks were not long-time friends of Elvis. Happily, none of them were facing me, so they were oblivious to my personal mini-drama being played out behind their backs. I still have no idea if Elvis knows I'm there and waiting and now I'm approaching 10 minutes sitting there with a glass of water, studying the album cover like it is something of extreme interest that I hadn't already memorized 32 years ago. I'm trying not to TOTALLY eavesdrop, but Elvis seems to be telling a Frank Sinatra story, now Elvis is singing (I have forgotten the exact song, but it was an imitation of Frank doing a cover of some ballad and interjecting "JACK!"). Pretty funny. Another couple of minutes pass, and I see nothing to indicate this group is going anywhere anytime soon.

I decide I just have to get up and go for it. I stand up and move toward the table, but Elvis is talking and I can't just butt in. So I stand 5 feet away from the table, hands behind the back, like a headwaiter in flip flops, waiting for SOMEONE to notice me. I have taken awkwardness to a new extreme. About 15 seconds (or was it 15 years?!) later, eyes are upon me and I step right up. I introduce myself, Elvis shakes my hand and I ask if he would autograph the album. "To Tony.... Elvis Costello" Nice! A little small talk about the album, yes I've had it since it was released. I refrain from telling him I'm his biggest fan ever and even manage a weak one-liner, "Looking forward to tonight, I'll be in the front row..... of the balcony." I also refrain from telling him that I have plenty to talk to him about and since these folks are just taking up space, why don't I just pull up a chair and sit down. I say thanks again, goodbye, and I attempt to make a calm, cool exit even though I'm flying pretty high. Happy to say the album is already framed and hanging on the wall in the study (ok alcove) of my house.

That's my story, hope you enjoyed it. Let me say here that I know the whole escapade was pretty geeky, especially for a grown man, but believe me when I tell you that Elvis is the only person on earth that would engender such behavior on my part. I am posting it here because I figure that some of you will find it amusing or interesting. My wife and friends just think I'm nuts.

Cheers,
Tony
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Ypsilanti
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Re: Elvis and The Imposters, Rancho Mirage, CA, 10 July 2009

Post by Ypsilanti »

Hey, Hawkman Tony,
That's quite a story--and well told, too! Thanks for posting!
Hats off to you for scoring that autograph!
So I keep this fancy to myself
I keep my lipstick twisted tight
woz
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Re: Elvis and The Imposters, Rancho Mirage, CA, 10 July 2009

Post by woz »

Great time and great stories. Spoke with Elvis, Tennesse Thomas and Steve (not together) and really enjoyed the show.

He's a shot from the first encore.
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MOJO
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Re: Elvis and The Imposters, Rancho Mirage, CA, 10 July 2009

Post by MOJO »

Nice post, hawkman. I made it to this show. My friend's family has a house in La Quinta. We had a pre-show party consisting of fresh lime, tequila, ice, and a smokeable chocolate treat I brought from NorCal. I ordered tickets by phone and was told I had 5th row tickets. I think I asked, "5th row, floor", and the service rep said, "Yes." I was stoked. When we arrived at the casino, we were confronted with some of the ugliest people I've ever seen. That sounds horrible, I know, because I am far from a looker myself. It seemed like there were a lot of toothless desert rat types running around the casino floor. One woman I saw had some purple leather top with vertical straps cutting through her chest flesh. Man, at that point, I really thought I was having a bad trip or something. For one minute, I was actually afraid. Anyhow, we entered the venue and our seats were not 5th row floor, but 5th floor mezzanine. LAME. I sat there for one song and walked down to the floor (no problems with security!). My friend soon followed. My friend made one comment which made me laugh... he said, "Wow, there are a lot of cougars around here..." I had no idea what that meant. He explained. I laughed and then thought... whoa, cougar madness... Hope I never hit the cougar level... or have I? Yikes. The show was too short. E.C. sounded great. Dave F. really lost weight. I hardly recognized him. I'm not going to casino shows anymore. They are always short. We returned to my friend's bitchin' pad and continued where we left off. I am looking forward to the Sugarcane show in Saratoga.
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Re: Elvis and The Imposters, Rancho Mirage, CA, 10 July 2009

Post by johnfoyle »

Listening to the recording of this , I spotted a interloped song extract. As 'Dectectives goes into Almost Blue , Steve plays the melody from Serge Gainsbourg's "Je t'aime... moi non plus" .
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Re: Elvis and The Imposters, Rancho Mirage, CA, 10 July 2009

Post by Man out of Time »

Review from Corriere della Sera by Matthew Persivale (or Matteo Persivale) on 17 August 2009:

"TOUR CON LA VECCHIA BAND, LA NUOVA E LA UTAH SYMPHONY

Costello: «Abbasso i cliché Canto l' opera e il bluegrass»

RANCHO MIRAGE (California) - Nel mondo musicale di Elvis Costello può capitare che venga commissionata da un teatro danese un' opera lirica (poi rimasta incompiuta). E qualche anno dopo alcune di quelle arie mai utilizzate diventano canzoni. In un disco bluegrass. «Riarrangiandole per "Secret, Profane and Sugarcane" (il suo nuovo cd, ndr) ho cominciato a pensare ai tasselli mancanti... raccontare una storia con le canzoni è come scrivere un romanzo a puntate - ha spiegato in un' intervista a una tv californiana prima del concerto di Rancho Mirage - Quando la gente pensa all' opera pensa a tanti cliché a una donna con l' elmo da vichinga in testa, ma la realtà è più sfaccettata». Insomma, la musica è come un puzzle, e il compito dell' artista è la costante ricerca dei pezzi con i quali fare sì che il quadro finale abbia un senso - punk, new wave, rock' n' roll, country, blues, musica da camera, folk, balletto, bluegrass. L' opera. Ma finisce per mancare sempre qualcosa: è la condanna di Elvis Costello: attraversare i decenni, gli stili - e imparare a leggere la notazione musicale nel 1993 alla soglia dei 40 anni per poter lavorare con un quartetto d' archi, tra i suoi «prof» anche il grande direttore Michael Tilson Thomas discepolo di Leonard Bernstein - sempre alla ricerca del pezzo mancante al suo puzzle musicale. Sul palco del casinò Agua Caliente di Rancho Mirage, nel mezzo del deserto fuori Los Angeles, Elvis Costello era circondato il mese scorso da due terzi della sua vecchia band anni ' 70, i gloriosi Attractions, ribattezzata «The Imposters», gli impostori: e con loro si è divertito a ripercorrere trentacinque anni di carriera riarrangiando i vecchi successi con lo stessa irriverenza verso il proprio monumento di cui fa sublime sfoggio, per esempio, Bob Dylan. E così il suo primo successo del 1977 «Watching the detectives» finisce in un medley improbabile con «Almost blue» (previa una micro-citazione di Serge Gainsbourg rapida come un battito di ciglia) che diventa a sua volta un' inquietante danse macabre. Gli anni ' 80 di «Everyday I write the book» arrivano velati da un po' di sorprendente nostalgia, come al ralenti, e non c' è rispettosa filologia neppure per il glorioso inno «Radio Radio», con i tempi accelerati ai limiti delle possibilità umane. Perché il passato, per Costello, si illumina sempre alla luce del presente. Mr. MacManus (è il suo vero cognome) aveva minacciato, a Rancho Mirage, di dedicare tutto l' inizio del concerto ai vecchi successi di Frank Sinatra e Dean Martin (che passarono qui buona parte degli anni ' 60, e a loro sono dedicati due vialoni nelle vicinanze), decidendo poi di evitare il bizzarro hommage all' ultimo momento (c' è un limite anche al suo eclettismo). Pochi giorni dopo Costello ha già cambiato veste: parcheggiati gli Imposters indossa i panni del menestrello bluegrass per qualche apparizione dedicata al nuovo cd, e poi ecco una serie di concerti con la Utah Symphony. Con i suoi capolavori new wave riscritti per orchestra, «con al posto delle chitarre elettriche quegli archi meravigliosi». Matteo Persivale

RIPRODUZIONE RISERVATA
Persivale Matteo

Pagina 33
(17 agosto 2009) - Corriere della Sera"

Or in "English" via Google Translate:

"RANCHO MIRAGE (California) - In the world of music of Elvis Costello there is sometimes commissioned by a Danish theater a 'opera (then unfinished). And a few years later some of those tunes ever used become songs. In a hard bluegrass. "Refashioned for" Secret, Profane and Sugarcane "(his new cd, ed) I began to think of the missing pieces ... tell a story with the songs is like writing a serial novel - explained in an 'interview with a tv California before the concert of Rancho Mirage - When people think to 'work thinks many clichés to a woman with the' Viking helmet on his head, but the reality is more nuanced. "In short, music is like a puzzle, and the task of 'artist is the constant search of the pieces with which to ensure that the final picture has a meaning - punk, new wave, rock' n 'roll, country, blues, music chamber, folk, ballet, bluegrass. L 'opera. But always end up missing something: it is the conviction of Elvis Costello: through the decades, styles - and learn how to read music notation in 1993 at the age of 40 to work with a quartet 'arches, among his "Prof. "also the great director Michael Tilson Thomas disciple of Leonard Bernstein - always looking for the missing piece to his musical puzzle. On stage at the Agua Caliente Casino in Rancho Mirage, in the middle of the desert outside Los Angeles, Elvis Costello was surrounded last month by two-thirds of his old band '70s, the glorious Attractions, renamed "The Imposters," impostors: and with them it was fun to go over thirty five years of career rearranging the old hits with the same irreverence toward the monument which includes sublime display, for example, Bob Dylan.   And so his first hit of 1977, "Watching the Detectives" ends in an unlikely medley with "Almost Blue" (after a micro-quote Serge Gainsbourg quick as a blink), which in turn becomes a 'disturbing danse macabre. The years' 80's "Everyday I write the book" arrive veiled by a little 'surprising nostalgia, like in slow motion, and there' is respectful philology even for the glorious hymn "Radio Radio", with accelerated time limits of human possibilities. Because the past, for Costello, always lights in the light of this. Mr. MacManus (his real name) had threatened, in Rancho Mirage, to devote all the 'start of the concert to the old hits of Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin (who passed here most of the' 60s, and they are dedicated two avenues nearby), then deciding to avoid the bizarre homage to 'last moment (c' is a limit to its eclecticism). A few days after Costello has already changed as: parked the Imposters takes on the role of the minstrel bluegrass for a few appearances dedicated to the new CD, and then here is a series of concerts with the Utah Symphony. With its new wave masterpieces rewritten for orchestra, "in place of electric guitars with those arches wonderful."

No idea why an Italian newspaper should publish a review of a show at Rancho Mirage in California, but they did.

MOOT
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