I’m sure lots of our mothers told us the same thing when we were growing up: “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.” Unfortunately, in this case, a pair of press tickets and a filing deadline preclude me from adhering to that old adage.
Oh man, this one was a bummer. I love Elvis Costello. I grew up with his music, adore his songwriting, respect his musicianship, and revere his place in the lineage of alternative music. But if Saturday night’s show is any indication, it may be time for my personal favorite Elvis to hang up the fedora and Jazzmaster.
Returning to Miami Beach’s Fillmore a scant 18 months after his most recent appearance and promising a set of classic material—this tour was billed as “Radio Soul!: The Early Songs of Elvis Costello”—it seemed a great way to spend a sweltering summer night. But over the course of a particularly long show, one that ran well past the two-hour mark and covered 28 songs, a tour-closing Miami crowd was subjected to shaky vocals, poor sound mixing, interminable stage banter that would have been cringe-inducing even at a local open mic night, and an otherwise talented artist and his band’s improvisational bent taken to its absolute nadir. Indeed, I’m talking about lifeless renderings of all-time classics like “Watching the Detectives,” “Clubland,” “Everyday I Write The Book,” “(I Don’t Want To Go To) Chelsea” and more.
Each of the other times I’ve seen Elvis Costello, he allowed his vocals to hang behind the beat—sometimes a bit too far behind. But in this instance, they were often falling completely out of time. Perhaps this would have been less noticeable if the vocals weren’t mixed so far in front of the rest of the band that they were completely inescapable—not to mention the fact that he tended to sound like he was doing an impression of himself. My plus-one made the point on our way out of the venue that “Alison” was the best moment of the night—because we could only hear the crowd singing the chorus rather than Costello himself.
Roughly midway through the show, the band moved to an alternate setup on stage right, bringing the musicians tighter together for an acoustic-ish set of songs that dragged on for far too long and was generally ill-advised. Folky renditions of tracks like “(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes” and “Clubland” jettisoned the magic of the original compositions, and a return to the fully electric band setup felt like a mercy by the time it arrived.
On more than one occasion throughout the show, I was struck by the thought that the tunes sounded much more dated live than they did on record. Perhaps it was the archaic organ sounds the keyboardist employed, or the toothless interpretations of beloved songs, or a general lack of energy from the band and the scarcely engaged crowd. Regardless of the reason, it’s an odd thought to reconcile when considering that the set list was culled from records released between 1977 and 1986.
Costello is a hero to myself and so many others, a genuine living legend who, pun intended, “wrote the book” for generations of alternative artists who he inspired. But in spite of that status, we’re talking about a guy who’s only 10 years older than Eddie Vedder, only five years older than Michael Stipe, and the same age as Gang of Four’s Jon King, an artist who just wrapped up a farewell tour that was roundly exalted for its tenacious, blissful intensity. Of course, these aren’t perfect comparisons, but they illustrate the fact that in this case, it’s hard to say that age is the only scapegoat. Maybe it’s just not realistic to expect all of our musical heroes to bring the same spark to the stage for nearly 50 years.
I feel terrible writing all this. Elvis, if you’re reading this (I hope and am confident you’re not): I still love you. I’m still going to listen to This Year’s Model another thousand times before I shake off my mortal coil. But I’m probably never going to see you live again.
SET LIST
Mystery Dance
Watching the Detectives
Green Shirt
Less Than Zero
Secondary Modern
Accidents Will Happen
Lipstick Vogue
Fish ’n’ Chip Paper
The Greatest Love
Opportunity
Uncomplicated / Shotgun
No Dancing
King Horse
Poisoned Rose
Deportee
Living in Paradise / Domino
Brilliant Mistake
(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes
Clubland
Everyday I Write the Book
Wonder Woman
I Can’t Stand Up for Falling Down
High Fidelity
Alison / I’m Gonna Make You Love Me
(I Don’t Want to Go to) Chelsea
Radio Radio
Pump It Up
(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding
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