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parent: Awesome!

Re: Awesome! by tommie on 1999-10-04 22:51:17

Still left on my "gotta see" list is Elvis Costello (See "Today", 10/4/99). Please accept my jealosies, Tater.

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Re: Re: Awesome! by Amelia on 1999-10-05 09:38:35  |  Reply to this
  Elvis truly is King. And the Paramount Theater is luscious. And I am just as envious as Tommie, even though I have seen Elvis at least six times.
Re: Re: Awesome! by Kid Loco on 1999-10-05 18:12:28  |  Reply to this
  I have never really GOT Elvis Costello. He always seems a bit off to me. Nothing against him or his music, but its not my bag, baby.
Re: Re: Re: Awesome! by Amelia on 1999-10-06 23:38:44  |  Reply to this
  Darned kids these days. Just can't appreciate thoughtful music. Kid, perhaps you need to go back to some of his Angry Young Man stuff. Or is it just too tuneful and literate for you young folks with your brains all addled by that rap stuff?
Re: Re: Re: Re: Awesome! by Kid 'Don't You Understand?' Loco on 1999-10-10 19:48:17  |  Reply to this
  No, I do like thoughtful music. I hate r*p, and have wild loathings for most things that way. In fact on Saturday, I bought the original 6-inch of 'She Loves You' by The Beatles Impressive, huh? And no. I have heard Elvis C's music, and will reiterate I don't not like the guy, I just have other preferences. I thought I was allowed that option. Sorry.
Re: Re: Awesome! by Tetra Grammaton on 1999-10-07 16:10:45  |  Reply to this
  Some people just can't get past his voice. Even in its new De-Luxe format. It's a thing.
Re: Re: Re: Awesome! by Kid Loco on 1999-11-01 18:14:18  |  Reply to this
  Au contraire, I like his voice, and indeed some of his music, I now own the single of 'She', but I still wouldn't rank him as highly as some other people. This is no reflection on him. I STRESS I DON'T FIND HIS MUSIC TO BE MY CUP OF TEA. All respect to those who do, but I'm more of a John Lennon man myself. However, should the chance arise, I would go and see Mr. Costello, who I like but not overly so, but he never really plays my hometown with it being a sparsely populated wilderness.
Re: Re: Awesome! by tommie on 1999-10-08 00:37:20  |  Reply to this
  For me, his voice is part of the attraction.
Re: Re: Re: Awesome! by Amelia on 1999-10-09 02:41:18  |  Reply to this
  Is this pun intentional, as mine was in NERD?
You see, Elvis Costello's original back-up band was called The Attractions.
He toured with them again about three years ago, and the attractions' keyboardist Steve Nieve tours with him often.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Awesome! by tommie on 1999-10-09 12:39:02  |  Reply to this
  Nope. I didn't have a clue. In fact, I've not seen Elvis even once, contrary to my NERD statement (I was more interested in a "quality" entry than providing truth). I suppose it's just a coincidence. It's creepy, Amelia... the frequency of "coincidences" I seem to notice these days. By the way, where's Brock?
Re: Re: Awesome! by Amelia on 1999-10-10 20:15:48  |  Reply to this
  Oooh! Finally figured out his dates for coming to New York! Scott is going to order the tickets for us. EEELLLLLLVVVVIIISSSSS!!!!!!!!!
But why is New York media so poor at listing this sort of thing in an accessible way? I hope there are still tickets left. I should not have to find out by hearing of the tour from Tater and then stumbling over a poster outside the venue here!
Did he actually perform "I Want You"? I have never heard that live. I always thought it was the EC equivalent of the elusive live "St. Stephen."
Re: Re: Re: Awesome! by Amelia Again on 1999-10-25 20:04:00  |  Reply to this
  Elvis is King!
It turns out that my casual comparison to the Grateful Dead, above, was not so far off. This tour he played a sort of standard opening set, then came back for a long and rambling second set (though Tater considered it to be multiple encores, I think it was just a fragmented second set). He was onstage for nearly three hours, tearing it up. And he did perform a devastating rendition of "I Want You."
But I thought the real show-stopper was a nightmarish concerto version of "Watching the Detectives." He use a lot of strange waa-waa effects (that same guitar sounded so utterly different when he played it with Burt) and Steve seemed to be grabbing handfuls of piano keys and flinging them back down. It was like a Tim Burton film compressed into ten loud minutes.
Well, OK, there was another show-stopper, his nod to Burt, "I'll Never Fall in Love Again." He sang it very sweetly, just like Dionne Warwick -- a great tension breaker after his own more bitterly detailed songs on essentially the same topic.
And Tater is sooooo right about the Sinatra feel, except again, I find it kind of inverse. I think Sinatra got increasingly cynical with age, while Elvis these days is more rueful than angry. "When I Used to Be Cruel" was a lovely expression of that mood, one that had me actually in tears.
I counted up that this was my sixth time of seeing him. It's gotten to be like visiting an old friend from out of town. Last night he was on such a roll, reminding me of things that seemed important when we were younger, and realigning my interpretations of feelings I had long since filed away. And he played, and played, and played -- too long, really, to make a coherent show, but too enthusiastic about his point of view to quit before he was done.
I'm glad we closed the place down.