EC & The Roots play New York's Brooklyn Bowl, Sep. 16, 2013

[docinwestchester]

What a show! From start to finish, a unique experience. Not knowing what to expect was half the fun. The other half was hearing these guys (and girls) play their collective asses off. We were at the edge of the very small stage...really really close. And me standing there with a camera in front of my face the whole time. I was truly afraid that EC himself would bust me and kick me out of the place. A few times he looked my way and I got scared!

Ghost Town was a highlight for me - a fantastic arrangement, perfect with The Roots and La Marisoul. All of the WUG songs sounded fresh and alive. The band was tight and clearly well rehearsed for this show.

I have a very good audio recording. I also video recorded the entire show, and it looks good. The video's audio is fairly distorted on the bass end, so I'll eventually dub my better audio. All the videos are being uploaded tonight on my channel:

https://www.youtube.com/user/elvisisking45

Here's Ghost Town (my favorite of the night). Watch EC spit out that classic line "Too much fighting on the dance floor!"

[verbal gymnastics]

Wow wow wow!

You lucky lucky people

[Otis Westinghouse]

Brilliant! Great to see Ghost Town (but didn't hear any Gansters intro, BA). Thanks very much. Going to try and listen to the WFUV broadcast today at work.

[monkey2man]

i gotta admit, i'm a little bummed they didn't play Come The Meantimes... ahh, how can I complain?

what an amazing show tonight! tons of surprises, elvis is sounding his best in years! i just count myself lucky i got to be there.

[John]

Unbelievable - how fantastic is that!

[sulky lad]

Thanks in advance for the recordings, Doc, it appears to have been a fantastic evening, I just hope there are many more gigs. I only wish there'd been an advance warning about the gig, I'm sure VG and I could have wangled a way of getting there had we had a bit more notice . Here's to more EC and Roots gigs !

[krm]

Great! just great!!!! You fortunate NYCers

[John]

There's a heap of photos here

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wfuv/

[bronxapostle]

I have a very good audio recording. I also video recorded the entire show, and it looks good. The video's audio is fairly distorted on the bass end, so I'll eventually dub my better audio. All the videos are being uploaded tonight on my channel:

glad to hear this doc just in case SOMETHING is not included in the broadcast! my audio is pretty poor...we were TOO CLOSE and i had really no hope of mine sounding any good. a real cool night. definitely the closest i have ever watched an entire show with me writing MY setlist upon the stage and resting SONY and my camera there periodically. really grateful they gave us this release party. it was a killer night.

I BEG ANYONE WHO HAS A HARD TICKET STUB THAT THEY DO NOT NEED TO THINK OF ME!!! PLEASE.

[jardine]

Well, drifting through the youtubes, haven't had this thrill since march 1978 listening, in Toronto, to live at the elmocambo. Yeh yeh...georgie fame in pump it up...this is FANTASTIC.

[bronxapostle]

Well, drifting through the youtubes, haven't had this thrill since march 1978 listening, in Toronto, to live at the elmocambo. Yeh yeh...georgie fame in pump it up...this is FANTASTIC.

YEAH YEAH!!!! he used to tag YEH YEH in Pads Paws and Claws in 1989...i think i only saw it once or twice. got to check the archives. the wiki is weak on info about this tune. but you are correct: Georgie Fame...a British legend, yes? need UK friends input here.

[Azmuda]

Video links:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjKoBMgIhU8 -- Wake Me Up -- 6:20
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kR78utjZjX0 -- Refuse To Be Saved -- 3:42
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-OyXg2YhtM -- Stick Out Your Tongue -- 5:54
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVMEIrEtMCk -- Watching The Detectives -- 5:45
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xag5dFD5M9A -- Shabby Doll -- 4:45
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5PHcCrBspc -- Sugar Won't Work / Tripwire -- 9:28
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTo6zYAkj1w -- Spooky Girlfriend -- 5:02
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=saOa04GSFQ4 -- Cinco Minutos Con Vos -- 6:33
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhRcozs5nXU -- Ghost Town -- 4:35
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXJR7BuAH1g -- (I Don't Want To Go To) Chelsea -- 3:43
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ewxEUYg0j4 -- Walk Us Uptown -- 3:34
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8H-lXNqYG94 -- I Want You -- 12:01
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0SMu_IHaEA -- Wise Up Ghost -- 5:55
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCjTeQZuHQw -- Pump It Up -- 5:16
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZ9s2A9dtIg -- I Found Out -- 4:36

docinwestchester rulz!

[John]

WFUV have just said that they are playing the whole concert.

[bronxapostle]

AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[krm]

sweden is listening right now!

[docinwestchester]

Thanks for posting those YouTube links. Looking forward to listening to a nice soundboard recording in 15 minutes.

[sulky lad]

A soundboard, whoopee , just wish there had been a SBD of the Picket, Liverpool in 2007. It's not an analogue SBD, is is BA

[eduardopaulo]

WFUV broadcast not working here. Must be my connection.
And thanks for the fantastic videos, Doc!

[docinwestchester]

WFUV is starting at the very beginning...The Roots on stage intro. In terms of getting the complete show, this is promising.

[John]

Coming in loud and clear in the UK.

[docinwestchester]

Coming in loud and clear in the UK.

How cool is that?

[John]

It was a good day to take off, plenty of time to prepare for this.

[Azmuda]

http://instagram.com/p/eWfAkKE28U/#

[strangerinthehouse]

Thanks for posting those YouTube links. Looking forward to listening to a nice soundboard recording in 15 minutes.

That's what I'm hoping for. So far it's sounding great. Glad they are doing this. Thanks Doc for your clips too. I watched "Ghost Town" before work and had the melody stuck in my head for most of the morning.

[sweetest punch]

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/ ... t-20130917

Elvis Costello and the Roots Celebrate 'Crazy Experiment'

Collaborators debut 'Wise Up Ghost' and remix Attractions favorites

"Good morning," Questlove of the Roots announced with a grin just after 10 p.m. last night, taking the throne behind a white Ludwig drum kit. "Welcome to what we call the manifestation of a dream."

For this leader and his band of nine at Brooklyn Bowl, their year-long dream was about to be realized: revealing their once-secret studio collaboration with Elvis Costello. And for the 600 crammed into the bowling-alley venue, hours before the release of Wise Up Ghost and Other Songs, it was a wakeup call: these songs would be performed only once.

Questlove grooved as he introduced each member, each of them in turn built on the heavy lounge-funk foundation of the new song "Wake Me Up." "What more can I say?" he said, resting for a beat: "Elvis Costello, y'all!"

The singer emerged from backstage in a fedora, waving his left hand and taking the microphone with the other. "In the name of the father and the son/In the name of gasoline and a gun," Costello crooned during the opener's grim nod to religion and war.

From there the set burst with unexpected treats, divided between fresh and favorite songs, including heavier arrangements of Costello's Attractions-era classics "Watching the Detectives" and "(I Don't Want to Go to) Chelsea." At the side of the stage, Roots guitarist Captain Kirk Douglas shredded all night, often in shadows but never missed. Throughout the night Questlove gave cues and countdowns and directed a horn section from his perch, always with one eye on Costello.

Among the new ones, "Stick Out Your Tongue" proved quintessential from Wise Up Ghost's work of psychedelic soul and hip-hop throb. Between songs Questlove smiled at the distant clatter of a ball striking pins. "Is someone still bowling?" he asked.

"I got my bowling shoes with me," Costello replied.

Diane Birch arrived and harmonized with little more than a whisper on "Tripwire," a sweet lullaby beauty that would have fit well on Imperial Bedroom. A second guest, Marisoul of La Santa Cecilia, joined for three songs, beginning with "Spooky Girlfriend," a nugget from 2002's When I Was Cruel. She wore zebra-striped stockings and a babydoll dress, and she boomed on "Cincos Minutos Con Vos." Costello chewed gum between measures, fixing his gaze on lyrics he was still learning, as his face creased behind thick-framed glasses with every high note. On "I Want You," his barnburner from Blood and Chocolate, the band jammed for more than 10 minutes as a spotlight illuminated the frontman, who appeared only slightly winded as they cleared the stage.

For those close enough to see, a three-song encore was visible on the floor set list. The crowd demanded more, and the group returned with the album's title track. "When you gonna riiiiise up? Wise up, ghost," Costello snarled through a megaphone as cymbals, guitar and horns stormed in, striking an eerie balance between Alfred Hitchcock and Jimi Hendrix.

"Pump It Up" proved a welcome thrill, even if Costello was slightly behind the beat. He recovered for the unexpected closer, John Lennon's "I Found Out," before joining the band to take a bow minutes before midnight – just as Wise Up Ghost went on sale.

"Please support our crazy experiments," Questlove said. "Get home safely."

Set list:

"Wake Me Up"
"Refuse to Be Saved"
"Stick Out Your Tongue"
"Watching the Detectives"
"Shabby Doll"
"Sugar Won't Work"
"Tripwire" (with Diane Birch)
"Spooky Girlfriend" (with La Marisoul)
"Cincos Minutos Con Vos" (with La Marisoul)
"Ghost Town" (with La Marisoul)
"(I Don't Want to Go to) Chelsea"
"Walk Us Uptown"
"I Want You"
"Wise Up Ghost"
"Pump It Up"
"I Found Out"