Elvis , National Stadium , Dublin, Sept. 2 '02
Photo. John Foyle
'We have played from Adelaide to Assissi, from Buxton to Berlin and from Copenhagen to Cain's Ballroom, Tulsa. '
Elvis , Aug. 05
Today , Sept. 2 , it's three years since Elvis played a concert here in Dublin. As the above quote shows he has recently played just about everywhere
else. So Dublin based fans just have to assume it has been a conscious decision on his part not to play here.
Thinking back to Sept. '02 it's interesting to consider the circumstances of the show - which , ultimately , may have lead to Elvis extended absence from Dublin stages.
It was a Monday evening show. The previous week had seen a particularly insane bit of tour scheduling for Elvis and co..The week had started with shows in Monaco and Switzerland.They then flew to New York for an appearance on breakfast tv on the Friday morning.
The show in Dublin hadn't sold out ; I met people who had received free tickets the weekend before, just to get seats filled. Indeed this lack of sales meant the fixed seating in front of the stage wasn't removed , something that usually happens if sales are good. Just like this year , the weather was very hot, with the unventilated National Stadium being particularly humid. Most of the 'papered' audience were also tired after a typical end-of-summer weekend. The venue usually hosts boxing fights so the staff are usually former pugilists , with all the menacing , stony faced bulk that comes with that.
Into this oppressive atmosphere arrives a , possibly , jet-lagged Elvis and co. So many other factors were also, for Elvis , part of this trip to
Dublin. This was the city where his relationship with Cait was ending. It was also where he had spent part of the summer helping his mother come to live.A hundred and one things must have been going through his mind.Of course , most fans wouldn't have known all that at the time.
A lame performance by Chris Difford left crowd particularly relaxed. Elvis and co. started....and stopped after a few songs. Elvis just wasn't happy with the sound and everyone left the stage while it was sorted out. Combined with the heat , this loss of momentum was never really recovered.
Back then Elvis had the particularly tiresome stage technique of , after an hour , 'finishing' and saying goodbye. Us regulars knew it was a ruse - many of the more casual fans didn't and left. Talking to some days later I was told that they just couldn't wait to get out , the show was shite etc.
The show , of course , picked up in the 'second half' , with a lot of those remaining eventually getting to their feet and crowding the stage front. Come the evenings end most were happy. I was somewhat under whelmed. It was the first tour I had followed on the 'net . All that hot summer I seemed to be reading about great shows etc. And now I had seen a show that a walked away from without that feeling of elation that I remembered from past concerts.
Perhaps Elvis was pre-occupied by things and just was not up to going that little bit that was needed to provoke the audience. Or maybe it was just
the hot, muggy conditions. Put it down to bad circumstances , I thought . He'll do better next time which , considering his almost yearly Dublin appearances since 1978 , would be soon enough.
As I said , here we are , three years later and not one show. Traveling to see him , as I have , in the U.S. , Scotland ( twice) and England (and Denmark next month) since has been great. I have been able to combine it with sight-seeing etc. and have metloads of Costello fans, getting all kinds of perspectives on his work etc.
However I'd love to see him back here. I'm tired of telling people here how great his shows and the two recent albums are , and getting polite, blank faces,and mumbled comments about past glories. Since nearly very major - and minor- act includes at least one Irish date in their schedule Elvis' total invisibility means he is being forgotten. And that is a shame.
He did make an Irish appearance of sorts in Dec. 02. Co-hosting the radio show Mystery Train (from presumably the Donnybrook , Dublin RTE studios , but a unattributed link from a U.K. location wouldn't have been out of the question) he spoke of having just that day finished a song for Howard Tate. It was , of course , Either Side Of The Same Town. Singing it in Memphis in 2004 ( April 18. 04, early show) he , in the middle of the song , commented -
' This here song is about when you have an 'ex' who lives in the same town as you , you might see somebody come down the street and think they look
awfully familiar , maybe they used to be the person you loved, maybe it's the other way around....'
It's lyric may tell us all we need to know about the reasons for his absence -
Nothing will ever be the same
All of the promises we made seem hollow
But there are still streets in this town
Marked with your shadow
So if you see me, look surprised
If you don't, then pass me by
And I may even brush your sleeve
As you turn to leave
Now it's hard to act like strangers
When we used to be so strong
Everything is changing
And most of it is wrong
What do we know of anything?
Two fools of some renown
Either side of the same town
Somewhere, there's a light
I can sense it
Oh, though I may fall back again
Although it's a fight
I know I must remain
Now it's hard to keep ignoring
Someone you recognize
And if I seem contented
It's only my disguise
What do we know of anything?
Two fools of some renown
Either side of the same town
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The Sept.02 got these reviews -
http://www.elviscostello.info/articles/ ... 0903a.html
Elvis Costello: jamming
Acoustic Costello switches on the fans
Elvis Costello
Review: Niamh Hooper
http://www.elviscostello.info/articles/ ... 0925a.html
Review of concert from 2002-09-02: Dublin, National
Stadium - with Imposters
Hot Press, 2002-09-05
- Troy Barrott
http://www.elviscostello.info/articles/ ... 0907a.html
Review of concert from 2002-09-02: Dublin, National
Stadium - with Imposters
Irish Times, 2002-09-07
- Tony Clayton-Lea
- Any advice as to where that may be ?