Elvis to play Greek Theatre in LA August 18?

[FAVEHOUR]

Pollstsr lists Elvis as playing the Greek on August 18th. Haven't found any other confirmation, but it fits the schedule.

[cre618]

Yup. Tickets on sale this Saturday. Anyone have the presale password for tomorrow?

http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/09004 ... orcatid=60

Thanks.

Jack

[woz]

This is an email from a relatively new local radio station The Sounds 100.3 here in L.A. This is not the password from the elviscostello.com site, but it is a presale option. I just checked and they have section B row S available. Good luck.

As you know, I'm a man of few words on the radio. I'll make this email quick, too. Thought you might like to score good seats for Elvis' concert at the Greek Theatre, August 18. Lucinda Williams will be there, too. http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/09004 ... orcatid=60Click Here for a special pre-sale offer. Look for the radio pre-sale button. The password to access early tickets is "TheSound" (all one word, not case sensitive). Tickets go on sale to the general public at 10 AM Saturday, but Sound Board members like you deserve first pick, right?

Also, be sure to register for our VIP backstage party before the concert by http://www.thesoundla.com/public/contest/listing/133Clicking Here .

My Aim Is True,

Larry Morgan
Morning DJ

P.S. Two other reminders:
You've taken The Sound Music Survey, right? If not, there's still time. Click Here! And you do listen to Andy every weekday at 3:00 when he thanks a listener, yes? Could be you, could be worth $3,000.

The Hard Rock Cafe Hollywood at Universal City Walk is hosting Sound Session 10 with Carolina Liar. Get on the guest list by Clicking Here . Seats are limited so be sure to RSVP soon.

Best of luck and look forward to seeing my usual Elvis friends at the show.

Take care,

Woz

[And No Coffee Table]

Lucinda Williams will be there, too.

Interesting, and Lucinda's site confirms it.
http://www.lucindawilliams.com/shows.php

[And No Coffee Table]

With Lucinda Williams opening the show and "There's A Story In Your Voice" in last night's setlist, there ought to be a duet at the Greek.

Maybe we'll get "Jailhouse Tears" too. (JIm Lauderdale even appears on the studio version!)

[johnfoyle]

Contest for tickets -

http://rockaholicsrewards.987fm.com/asp ... ?aid=64057

[wordnat]

I saw Adam & the Ants at the Greek in 1981 -- I should have been at home listening to TRUST instead! Stupid kid....

[johnfoyle]

Who's going?

[woz]

I'll be there. Looking forward to hearing more from SP&S than what he did at Amoeba and Rancho Mirage. Also looking forward to seeing Lucinda again.

[And No Coffee Table]

I'll be there as well.

[johnfoyle]

http://www.lucindawilliams.com/forum.php

(extract)

-just heard a rumor that T-Bone Burnett is going to play with Elvis =going to be a good night

[And No Coffee Table]

Yes, T Bone joined in for "Complicated Shadows" (on which he was barely audible) and "The Scarlet Tide" (singing the second verse). Lucinda and Elvis did both "Jailhouse Tears" and "Happy," the latter taking me completely by surprise thanks to avoiding reports from last night.

I can't remember ever seeing Elvis appear to enjoy himself so much onstage before!

It was good to meet Woz.

I posted this approximate setlist on the wiki. The order probably isn't exactly right.

Mystery Train
My All Time Doll
Tonight The Bottle Let Me Down
Down Among The Wines And Spirits
Blame It On Cain
Femme Fatale
The Delivery Man
The Butcher's Boy
Jailhouse Tears - with Lucinda Williams
Happy - with Lucinda Williams
Indoor Fireworks
Hidden Shame
Condemned Man
Friend Of The Devil
Five Small Words / Not Fade Away
Everyday I Write The Book
She Was No Good
Brilliant Mistake

Red Cotton
The Crooked Line
(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes
Sulphur To Sugarcane
Complicated Shadows - with T Bone Burnett
The Scarlet Tide - with T Bone Burnett
The Race Is On
Alison - including He'll Have To Go

[johnfoyle]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSO-mzsJOJc

Elvis Costello & The Sugarcanes with T Bone Burnett at the Greek Theatre, LA, Aug 18th 2009

[Ypsilanti]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSO-mzsJOJc

Elvis Costello & The Sugarcanes with T Bone Burnett at the Greek Theatre, LA, Aug 18th 2009

Wow! He changed the words again! Very nice!

[woz]

Just an amazing show. It seems the man is able to add or change a song and each version is so unique and creative you forget the original recorded version. This was clearly the case of Everyday I Write The Book and his performance of it last night.

Lucinda was terrific (too bad a lot of folks got there late and missed some of her songs).

It seems that going to Elvis shows is sort of like a homecoming. I see people I only know from prior shows and then get pleasantly surprised to meet someone who I read on this site but have never physically met. This happened last year at the Hollywood Bowl show and again last night where I met And No Coffee Table along with his wife. Saw many other regulars and the whole evening just had a great vibe.

I must concur with And No Coffee Table since my wife and I said the same thing: We haven't seen Elvis so happy on stage in a long time. That's not to say he hasn't been upbeat, pleasant and a great performer, but he seemed to really be enjoying himself as did the rest of the band. Speaking of which, the Sugarcanes were laughing and just having a great time the entire show.

If you have a chance to go see this act, do so as you won't be disappointed.

Have a great day.

[johnfoyle]

Blog account -

http://pospedpaul.blogspot.com/2009/08/ ... nging.html

[johnfoyle]

http://www.lucindawilliams.com/forum.php

tonyg posts

I hadn't bought an Elvis record since My Aim is True but I might pick up his latest after last night, a highly entertaining night under the stars in Hollywood listening to bluegrass and country and other roots music. The place was 3/4 empty when LW came on but it was full by the time her set was over 45 minutes later. There was this weird camouflage type stuff covering the sections on the extreme left and right rear. I have no idea what that was all about. I had heard the band do People Talkin in their sound check and I knew we were in for a good night since they sounded great. Chet did fine by himself and I think thats the best line up really. There was a false start on Jackson due to a suspect guitar string but that was over quickly. The Chet played a killer acoustic slide guitar and Jim Lauderdale was great as always. Most of the people sitting around me had never heard of Lucinda for some reason, but she got a great hand after every song. I was dead center, 20 rows from the stage, so I had a great view of Lu and the fellas. About 5 rows in front of me sat 2/3 of Spinal Tap, except they were in their middle aged men outfits.

Elvis was a revelation to me. He has a killer band and his new stuff was great. He had a lot of energy and seemed to be having a good time. He came on at 8:30 and played 2 hours. I only recognized 4 songs: the opening song Mystery Train, Every Day I Write the Book, Angels Wanna Play My Red Shoes, and Allison, all played in the Americana style. Lu came out and I enjoyed the performance of Jailhouse Tears much more than the studio version. The Elvis crowd loved it. It was weird to hear it played with mandolin, fiddle, accordian, dobro, and no drums.

I'm glad I went I would have been sorry to miss this one.

[sweetest punch]

Complicated Shadows: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6O_TGd2m8I
Alison: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zt8861rEqvU

[sweetest punch]

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_b ... eatre.html

Live: Elvis Costello at the Greek Theatre

He delivers a freshly inspired performance with his new band for his latest work, 'Secret, Profane & Sugarcane,' and also generates some musical sparks with opening act Lucinda Williams.

It's a funny thing in the world of rock music, but for some artists to get creatively amped up, it's necessary to pull the plug.

It worked for Bob Dylan, who returned to the wellspring of acoustic folk music in a couple of early-'90s albums before reasserting full command of his songwriting mastery in 1997's "Time Out of Mind," a musical renaissance from which he's never looked back.

It worked for Bruce Springsteen when he put the E Street Band on hiatus and assembled the Sessions Band to mine the richness of American folk and gospel influences in "We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions" album in 2006.

And it has been working wonders for Elvis Costello with his latest work, "Secret, Profane & Sugarcane," from which he drew generously Tuesday at the Greek Theatre in his gloriously energized return to Los Angeles.

If only every artist looking for a jolt of inspiration could snap his or her fingers and go out on the road with an extraordinary ensemble like the band that's backing Costello on this tour, which also incorporated cornerstone songs from throughout his prolific 32-year recording career.

The key Nashville-based musicians who played on the album are also with him live: dobro master Jerry Douglas, ace fiddler Stuart Duncan, mandolinist Mike Compton, bassist Dennis Crouch, accordionist Jeff Taylor and singer-guitarist (and crack songwriter in his own right) Jim Lauderdale.

If that lineup didn't generate enough sparks on its own, Costello also trotted out opening act Lucinda Williams, whom he lauded as "America's greatest songwriter," drolly adding "and my favorite female vocalist I'm not married to," thereby saving himself from any domestic disputes when he gets back home to his wife, Diana Krall, who comes to Los Angeles for two performances at the Hollywood Bowl this weekend.

Their duet on Williams' recent "Jailhouse Tears" was roots country at its dysfunctional best and that curiously rare breed of song that's actually a dialogue rather than merely a vehicle that allows two voices to harmonize.

Costello handled the part of the superficially repentant addict/loser boyfriend, "I'll prove it to you somehow / I'm done with every bit / Look at me I'm clean now," to which Williams shot back: "You're so full of [it]." Caustic as the song's exchanges are, Williams could barely refrain from laughing as she shared them with her delighted foil.

It dropped in perfectly amid Costello's own songs of life's clueless, shady, defiant or downright evil characters, each of which he inhabited with great zeal.

The bluegrass-rooted backing enhanced the feeling through the evening that the foibles, conceits and weaknesses Costello chronicles always have been and will be part of what Mark Twain best described as "the damned human race."

Early on he offered the album's leadoff track, "Down Among the Wines and Spirits," a locale he elaborates on as "where a man gets what he merits." And he practically gloated in "She Was No Good," a tawdry tale of an entertainer's life rooted in the story of European singing star Jenny Lind's first tour to the U.S. in the mid-19th century.

"Sulfur to Sugarcane," a lascivious journey to various ports of call around the country -- "the women in Poughkeepsie take their clothes off when they're tipsy" -- has quickly become nothing short of a show-stopper in his performances.

Costello applies a mishmash of songwriting styles to the themes he taps on the new album, from art song to Appalachian-style narrative, that sometimes leaves the recording feeling slightly disjointed. But together with the reconfigured versions of other selections from his repertoire, among them "(The Angels Want to Wear My) Red Shoes," "Blame It on Cain," "Everyday I Write the Book," they melded beautifully in concert.

"Secret, Profane & Sugarcane" producer T Bone Burnett strolled out from the wings near the end of the show for a vibrant reading of their collaboration "The Scarlet Tide," part of an extended encore in which Costello seemed outright reluctant to put a halt to the fun.

Williams, who has returned once more to make her home in Los Angeles after many years in Nashville, got a heroine's welcome at the start of her 40-minute opening set.

She also went largely acoustic, though guitarist Chet Lyster did employ an electric to great effect, adding amped-up sturm und twang to Williams' exercises in the ups and (mostly) downs of love that she's touched on in the 30 years since she released her first album.

The evening constituted a dream double-bill of two of the most exceptional singers and songwriters of the modern era.

[sweetest punch]

http://soundcheck.freedomblogging.com/2 ... gig/10709/

Elvis Costello connects the dots brilliantly at the Greek Theatre

Long before he became the host of a Sundance show enabling him to perform with everyone from Smokey Robinson to Kris Kristofferson, Elvis Costello was already something of a heritage preservationist and songbook revivalist, two traits on grand display during his outstanding performance Tuesday night at the Greek Theatre.

Right from the start of his career he dabbled in country –- any self-respecting fan knows all the words to “Radio Sweetheart” and “Stranger in the House,” the latter later recorded by George Jones. But Costello’s affinity with roots music and the myriad influences on his songwriting deepened with the dawn of the ’80s, when his Stax-soaked fourth album with the Attractions (1980’s double-stuffed Get Happy!!) led to tributes to forebears that have been overt (his 1981 country covers collection Almost Blue, its 1995 grab-bag sequel Kojak Variety) or intimately textured (the rustic brilliance of 1985’s King of America, produced by T Bone Burnett) … or sometimes mannered (the studio fantasias of 1983’s Imperial Bedroom and 1989’s Spike).

Since then, of course, his fascination with music other than rock has broadened alongside his record contract, resulting in wide-ranging experiments few artists of his stature have dared: classical collaborations with the Brodsky Quartet and Swedish mezzo-soprano Anne-Sofie von Otter … his first piece for ballet (2004’s Il Sogno) … his richly detailed recording with Burt Bacharach, 1998’s Painted from Memory.

That catholic approach, combined with his encyclopedic knowledge and erudite wit, is what makes his interview program Spectacle so unique and engaging.

This decade, however, Costello has routinely cast his eye back to the fundamentals of American music in the mid-20th century, be it jazz both balladic (2003’s North, inspired by wife Diana Krall) or booming (2006’s My Flame Turns Blue) or roots detours that pick up where King of America left off (2004’s The Delivery Man, 2006’s The River in Reverse, with Allen Toussaint).

All of them have been intriguing and (to varying degrees) creatively successful, but apart from the ragged glory of The Delivery Man none has been quite as rewarding as his latest foray: Secret, Profane & Sugarcane. A reteaming with Burnett, now arguably the most highly regarded Americana producer in action, the album reconnects Costello to folksier ways while attempting to do for his career what Raising Sand (another Burnett creation) did for Robert Plant and Alison Krauss.

Whether it will yield a clutch of Grammys remains to be seen, but that should hardly matter to fans fortunate enough to witness Tuesday’s show. Across 26 songs in two hours, Costello, fit and feisty as he turns 55 next week, brought his ongoing roots excavation into focus on stage, with a show that felt like the young ambition of Almost Blue finally fully realized.

Backed by a superb six-man band -– dubbed the Sugarcanes and including singer-songwriter Jim Lauderdale (an ideal harmony vocalist) and several leading bluegrass figures, including sharp fiddler Stuart Duncan, mandolin expert Mike Compton and Dobro ace Jerry Douglas –- Costello put together a package that played like a guest-free extended edition of Spectacle, nothing but the star presenting retooled favorites (his own and those by others) alongside fresh cuts.

Some of those, like a stormy character piece we’ll call “Dragging Me These Last Few Yards” –- a killer’s unrepentant adios as he faces execution, declaring “the last thing you’ll hear is my cold-hearted cackle” –- are so new they’re “not even on wax yet.” (The now-mustachioed Costello noted that “we’re gonna fix that tonight at midnight.”) Along with the syncopated “Five Small Words,” such unreleased gems were proof that this back-porch setting is bringing out the best in the prolific songwriter.

What’s more, it has heightened his skill for rearrangement, never more noticeably than in a rapidly waltzing rendition of the Velvet Underground’s “Femme Fatale” that packed the pulse and passion of Van Morrison’s “Astral Weeks,” with lush three-part harmonies to boot. Indeed, more so than how he smartly reworked his own material (a wonderfully bluesy “Blame It on Cain,” a peppier “Brilliant Mistake,” a sparser “Everyday I Write the Book”), Costello’s covers at the Greek were consistently marvelous.

Several were played straight (“Mystery Train” to open, Merle Haggard’s “Tonight the Bottle Let Me Down” not long after that, Jones’ “The Race Is On” in the encore). But others were whipped up to whirling speed, as in his ripping run through the Grateful Dead’s “Friend of the Devil” (with sterling accompaniment from Duncan and Douglas) or his lively sparring with opening act Lucinda Williams on the Rolling Stones’ “Happy.” (Lu, loose and low-key yet warm and winning in her own nine-song set, also joined for the deadbeat duet “Jailhouse Tears,” from her album Little Honey. It was almost as bawdy as the dirty-old-man tropes of Costello’s “Sulfur to Sugarcane.”)

By the time Burnett himself appeared for “Complicated Shadows” and “The Scarlet Tide” at the tail-end of the set, just before EC obliged with “Alison” with minutes to go before curfew, it was clear that none of Costello’s previous genre forays had led to such a terrific, meaningful live encounter.

I’ve heard grumbling from longtime fans that his latest album is proof his fire has gone out. I say it’s just the opposite: this Greek show, combined with the quickie joy of last year’s Momofuku, suggests he’s getting lit up all over again. Here’s hoping he ventures back onto this musical terrain again and again.

[johnfoyle]

http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117940 ... id=34&cs=1

Elvis Costello and the Sugarcanes
(Greek Theater; 5,700 seats; $67.50 top)


By PHIL GALLO

Presented by Nederlander Concerts. Reviewed Aug. 18, 2009.

Band: Elvis Costello, Jerry Douglas, Stuart Duncan, Dennis Crouch, Mike Compton, Jeff Taylor, Jim Lauderdale.
Guest: T Bone Burnett.
Also appearing: Lucinda Williams.

The inclusion of three world-class bluegrass soloists does not translate into an Elvis Goes Appalachian turnabout on the initial tour in support of his all-acoustic "Secret, Profane and Sugarcane" (Concord), which posted Costello's highest chart position (No. 13) in 29 years after its June release. Instead, the latest Costello show is a celebration of musicianship and maturity peppered with familiar covers, reworked faves and selections from the new album that, when they're steamy, sit among the evening's highlights.

Jerry Douglas' dobro, Stuart Duncan's fiddle and Mike Compton's mandolin -- not to mention the high vocal harmonies of rhythm guitarist Jim Lauderdale -- made Tuesday's two-hour show at the Greek Theater a study in vibrant musical colors that enhanced Costello's still-pristine vocals and extensive vocabulary.

Costello and his musicians have a striking command of the shadings, even when the subject matter turns dark. Bassist Dennis Crouch was impressively ominous on an as-yet-unrecorded tune about a death row prisoner's final hours; Douglas' dobro lines dripped like tears onto the melody of "Indoor Fireworks."

Two-thirds of the new album's 13 songs made their way into the 27-song set, highlighted by the buoyant "Hidden Shame," the amusing geographical tongue-twister "Sulphur to Sugarcane" and the boot-heel stomper "Down Among the Wine and Spirits." The ensemble's diversity was best exemplified in the transformation of "Angels Want to Wear My Red Shoes" into a Tex-Mex waltz that emphasized Jeff Taylor's accordion; the intricate weaving of instruments in another unrecorded number ("Five Small Words" is the likely title); and the bold and invigorating approach to "Brilliant Mistake." A sincere and measured ballad treatment of "Everyday I Write the Book" breathed new life into the top 40 tune from 1983's "Punch the Clock."

The list of covers read like a jukebox at some Southern hipster juke joint: Junior Parker's "Mystery Train," Merle Haggard's "Tonight, the Bottle Let Me Down," the Velvet Underground's "Femme Fatale," Buddy Holly's "Not Fade Away" and the Grateful Dead's "Friend of the Devil." Opening act Lucinda Williams joined Costello on the Rolling Stones' "Happy" after trading couplets on her "Jailhouse Tears," a bittersweet revenge tune they recorded together on Williams' "Little Honey" album. (Album producer T Bone Burnett played rhythm guitar with the band during the later encores.)

More than selling countrified Costello as a concept -- we first saw that on late '70s B-sides and 1983's "Almost Blue" -- the concert is a door opener for fans fearing yet another not-quite-committed direction from the singer. Whether he has been accompanied by string quartets, a solo piano or Burt Bacharach, Costello has consistently attempted to build new frames for old masterpieces. The older material has a precise fit here -- every tune feels thoughtfully rearranged, with nothing shoehorned in -- and in turn that makes the new material more welcoming. That used to be a lure for fans unsure of an artist's latest work, a method for selling records. It's anyone's guess if it can still work.

[johnfoyle]

http://www.crazydaysandnights.net/2009/ ... ne_19.html




http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_b ... geles.html


Photo: Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times


Spinal Tap and T-Bone Burnett help Elvis Costello spend quality time in Los Angeles
August 19, 2009

Elvis Costello’s show Tuesday night at the Greek Theatre had more than a fair share of only-in-L.A. moments.

First, there was a mini-Spinal Tap reunion in the front rows before Costello and his inspiring country-folk-bluegrass band the Sugarcanes took the stage.

Longtime pals and “This Is Spinal Tap” co-stars Michael McKean and Christopher Guest pulled up a couple of seats close to the action, where they were quickly greeted by actress Fran Drescher, a.k.a. Spinal Tap’s ultra-glib New York publicist Bobbi Flekman, who was seated a few rows away near playwright-screenwriter Callie Khouri. Jakob Dylan also was in the house.

Later, after inviting opening act Lucinda Williams onstage to duet with him on a couple of songs, Costello then brought out musician-producer T-Bone Burnett for “The Scarlet Tide.” The pair announced that immediately after the show they’d be heading into a local recording studio to see about working some more magic, like what they created on Costello’s latest album, “Secret, Profane & Sugarcane.”

Further exploiting Costello’s visit to the West Coast, 100.3 The Sound (KSWD-FM) personality Larry Morgan advised the crowd that the erudite and musically omnivorous singer and songwriter and, of late, host of the Sundance Channel’s outstanding “Spectacle: Elvis Costello With...” music interview and performance series, would be the station’s guest deejay at 6 p.m. Sunday. For 60 minutes, Morgan said, Costello will be spinning “whatever he dares to play.”

-- Randy Lewis

[And No Coffee Table]

The pair announced that immediately after the show they’d be heading into a local recording studio to see about working some more magic, like what they created on Costello’s latest album, “Secret, Profane & Sugarcane.”

Unless I've completely lost my mind, they didn't announce that from the stage, although I suppose they could have told Randy Lewis that after the show.

Elvis did say before "Condemned Man" that it was not yet available on record, but "we're going to fix that tonight at midnight." I took that as a reference to executions taking place at midnight, but who knows...

[sweetest punch]

Red Shoes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWAs1f-kO4s
Femme Fatale: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIK7G5Tosh8
Alison: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXjwtz9_cTM

[strangerinthehouse]

For those who missed it, the Greek Theater show is now on dime:
http://www.dimeadozen.org/torrents-deta ... ?id=262893

Elvis Costello and The Sugarcanes
Greek Theatre
Los Angeles, CA
August 18, 2009


Great show. Excellent sound, but there are some talkers. 10:30 venue curfew probably kept the show from being a bit longer. Recorded dead center Row 11. Cool version of the Rolling Stones song Happy with Lucinda Williams.

16 Bit/44.1

Sonics>Battery Box>Edirol R-09HR>ProTools (for level adjustment, compression, eq, and song separation)>flac.

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


Disc 1 (64:45)

01. Mystery Train
02. My All Time Doll
03. Tonight The Bottle Let Me Down
04. Down Among The Wines And Spirits
05. Blame It On Cain
06. Femme Fatale
07. The Delivery Man
08. The Butcher's Boy
09. Jailhouse Tears - with Lucinda Williams
10. Happy - with Lucinda Williams
11. Indoor Fireworks
12. Hidden Shame
13. Condemned Man
14. Friend Of The Devil
15. Everyday I Write The Book


Disc 2 (53:11)

01. Five Small Words/Not Fade Away
02. She Was No Good
03. Brilliant Mistake

Encore
04. Red Cotton
05. The Crooked Line
06. (The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes
07. Sulphur To Sugarcane
08. Complicated Shadows - with T-Bone Burnett
09. The Scarlet Tide - with T-Bone Burnett
10. The Race Is On
11. Alison/He'll Have To Go