E.C./A.T., Boston , July 12 '06

johnfoyle · Post by **johnfoyle** » Thu Jul 13, 2006 6:34 am

http://www.boston.com/ae/music/articles ... ival_show/

MUSIC REVIEW
Costello stages a Big Easy revival show

By Sarah Rodman, Globe Staff | July 13, 2006

The best advertisement for a visit to post-Katrina New Orleans isn't being produced by the Louisiana tourism office. Veteran rock tunesmith Elvis Costello and Big Easy musical treasure Allen Toussaint have teamed up for a tour this summer that serves as a striking reminder of the ebullient music of the city.

Last night at the Bank of America Pavilion Costello exhorted the three-quarters-capacity crowd to take a journey to the region to support its economic recovery. But if anyone is buying plane tickets today it was not Costello's words that did the trick but the mighty rock and soul performance that he, Toussaint, the Imposters, and the Crescent City Horns cooked up for more than two hours.

Part protest -- an action figure of President Bush was the only stage prop -- and part jamboree, the assembled group played most of the pair's recent album, ``The River in Reverse," and, as Costello put it, slapped ``a new coat of paint" on a passel of his greatest hits and deep cuts.

Most of the brightest colors were supplied by the four-man Crescent City Horns who added noir tones to ``Watching the Detectives," a calypso-style liveliness to ``Clubland," and punctuated Toussaint's playful ``A Certain Girl" with a series of bright brass exclamation points.

Toussaint sang only a handful of songs but made his presence known on the Steinway, enlivening the evening with licks both rollicking and solemn, sometimes on the same song as on the deceptively upbeat lament ``Who's Gonna Help a Brother Get Further?"

Costello seemed especially energized and was in strong voice -- crooning R&B tunes, yelping rockers, and applying his acidic bark to vigorous new protest songs -- and made it easy to believe him when he said that this was the most fun he'd ever had onstage.

Near the end of the evening the regal Toussaint transformed the lyrics of Paul Simon's gently weary ``American Tune" into both an elegy for lost ideals and a poignant rebuke of those who've lost them. It was stunning.

At the two-hour and 15-minute mark we reluctantly skipped out of the party to make our deadline to the determined grooves of ``Yes We Can Can." The band seemed as tireless as the crowd.

While there is nothing about Hurricane Katrina for which to be grateful, this collaboration, which Costello said wouldn't have happened without the storm, proved that devastation needn't be total when it comes to the essential spirit of a place.

That Costello and Toussaint are able to bottle that New Orleans essence and sprinkle it liberally across the country on this tour is a fine testament to that spirit.

HEAR WHAT ELVIS COSTELLO HAS TO SAY Check out an audio interview at http://www.boston.com/clips.

Poppet · Post by **Poppet** » Thu Jul 13, 2006 9:28 am

2 hr 15 min, still going,

and they started LATE! past 8pm (but not much) i think. i was pestering SoLikeCandy w/ IMs, maybe she'll remember what time i sent the !!! indicating, to my mind at least, that the show was starting, finally.

steve has shorn his head. makes sense to me, it's HOT. rain, rain, rain here. rained last night as well. muggy, rainy.

i didn't keep a set list. opened up w/ PLU. lots of new, smidge of old, including Poisoned Rose. and Pump It Up. damn, i am TIRED of that one.

good show. and, allen toussaint, OMG, the man can sure play that steinway. wow. steve did get a turn on it too, and allen took up the hammond B3. also, the theremin was used, but very little.

anybody else there?

Veronica · Post by **Veronica** » Thu Jul 13, 2006 11:45 am

I was there. (I also went to the Melody Tent in Hyannis last week.) I managed to sneak up to the stage when the guard at the end of the aisle wasn't looking. I enjoyed both shows very much, but I think that the acoustics at the Melody Tent were better. I also enjoyed the rotating stage
at that venue bacause I could see the hands of the keyboardists (Steve and AT) as the stage went slowly around.

I got one of the set lists (last night) from the stage, but they all were busy after the show ended, and I didn't stand around in the rain to wait for autographs. The set list, however, was pretty consistent with what was played in New York the two nights before.

Poppet · Post by **Poppet** » Thu Jul 13, 2006 3:37 pm

hi veronica!

oooh, revolving stage!! neat.

Who Shot Sam? · Post by **Who Shot Sam?** » Thu Jul 13, 2006 3:47 pm

That's nothing. They're doing a Coney Island date on the Tilt-a-Whirl!

kuanyin · Post by **kuanyin** » Thu Jul 13, 2006 7:58 pm

Yup, we were there. It was amazing.

Won't bore you here with all of my verbose ruminations and our backstage post-show story, but if you're interested it's on my MySpace blog (yes, the hideously addictive "MySpace"!):

http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fusea ... 739d2ea0c3

It really was one of the best shows I've ever seen.

Cheers!
T

alexv · Post by **alexv** » Thu Jul 13, 2006 11:22 pm

Kuanyn, my understated fellow Connecticutite, that's not a "backstage story". It's a chat with EC, and you are afraid to bore us? I for one wouldn't mind it if you could dig deeper and provide a sentence by sentence run down. Kudos to you and your hubby, Kuanyn.

johnfoyle · Post by **johnfoyle** » Fri Jul 14, 2006 12:56 am

http://theedge.bostonherald.com/musicNe ... eid=148216

Boston Herald

Costello, Toussaint make for joyous union

By Brett Milano/ Music

Friday, July 14, 2006

Elvis Costello would probably be the first to admit that he wasnâ€™t the greatest songwriter onstage Wednesday.

True, Costelloâ€™s catalog is far from shoddy. But he tends to aim high when he collaborates, having already worked with Burt Bacharach and, earlier this summer, with the Boston Pops. Now heâ€™s upped the ante by working with Allen Toussaint - not only one of New Orleansâ€™ master tunesmiths, but a pianist with decades of tradition at his fingertips.

From the start, when Toussaint strolled onstage during Costelloâ€™s New Orleans-inspired â€œMonkey to Man,â€

kuanyin · Post by **kuanyin** » Fri Jul 14, 2006 7:21 am

We were very lucky. Being able to chat in a more leisurely fashion with Mr. C. and fellow musicians was the icing on the cake after such a fantastic show.

We congratulated him on the baby news, and he graciously thanked us, but didn't elaborate. We told him it was a tremendous show and he said that he was really pleased about how it went, as well. We said this was our third night of three and that all had been wonderful, but this night had a particular energy. He replied with how hard it is to vary the song selection for these shows each night, as the preparation and rehersals necessary to coordinate such a large and diverse group of musicians is considerable, as well as the fact that special arrangements need to be written and songs tailored to include the additional instruments.

He also commented that (as he had said onstage, as well) that this was originally supposed to be the last night of the tour, but that they were heading on to Cuyahoga Falls and finishing in New Orleans (Anthony Brown commented on this as well and asked us where Cuyahoga Falls was...I'm ashamed to say that I honestly did not know. He said wherever it was, he'd be there!).

Mr. Costello seemed a bit drained (which is certainly no surprise given the monumentally energetic performance he had just delivered) but really happy about how the tour was going and really pleased about playing with Mr. Toussaint and this group of musicians. We congratulated him again, and he very genuinely thanked us for coming. As always, he was the consummate gentleman and host.

Cheers!
T

johnfoyle · Post by **johnfoyle** » Fri Jul 14, 2006 3:56 pm

http://www.thephoenix.com/article_ektid17641.aspx

The Phoenix, MA

Elvis Costello and Allen Toussaint

Foray to Funkytown

By: JIM SULLIVAN

7/14/2006 12:45:50 PM

Elvis Costello long ago established himself as the best songwriter of his generation. But he remains determined to explore every genre under the sun, collaborating with everyone from Billy Sherill to Paul McCartney, from the Brodsky Quartet to his wife Diana Krall, and Emmylou Harris to, most recently, New Orleans legend Allen Toussaint. The downside for fans of Costello the pop genius is that every now and again he overreaches and you just want him to go back to what he does best.

That was the case when Costello and Toussaint landed at the Bank of America Pavilion a week ago ( huh ? - J.F.) last Wednesday night to fend off a major downpour with a two-and-a-half hour workout in support of their new The River In Reverse (Verve Forecast). It was clearly the Costello show, but Toussaint, Costello pointed out, wrote new charts to nine Costello-penned tune they performed, and it was Toussaintâ€™s four-piece Crescent City Horns who imbued classics like â€œ(I Donâ€™t Want To Go to) Chelsea)â€

kuanyin · Post by **kuanyin** » Fri Jul 14, 2006 4:19 pm

That was the case when Costello and Toussaint landed at the Bank of America Pavilion a week ago ( huh ? - J.F.) last Wednesday night

Funny, it felt to me like it was only the night before last...how time flies!

Seriously, though, I'm pretty sure the actual print version of The Phoenix is a weekly, and the review is probably slated for next week's issue. Still funny, given the immediacy of the internet world.

Love the pic!

T

King Hoarse · Post by **King Hoarse** » Fri Jul 14, 2006 4:33 pm

and he obviously meant wasn't right?

Landed?

kuanyin · Post by **kuanyin** » Fri Jul 14, 2006 4:58 pm

You're right. It's a very poorly written sentence.

"That was the case" might be referring to "go[ing] back to what he does best," in which case it could be correct. Or it could be referring to "every now and again he overreaches," which would make more sense grammatically speaking, but it certainly doesn't seem like a negative review (which would be unthinkable given how amazing the show was), so you're right, it would be "was not the case." Ugh. I think I just gave myself a headache.

When I read "landed" I had the vision of aliens coming down to invade the Bastard of America Pavillion...

I'll stop criticizing and leave poor Jim Sullivan alone now.

Cheers,
T

And No Coffee Table · Post by **And No Coffee Table** » Fri Jul 14, 2006 7:51 pm

This setlist was submitted to the Elvis Costello Home Page. Can someone who was at the show identify songs 25 and 26? I'm guessing the Professor Longhair medley and "Ascension Day."

01. (What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love And Understanding?
02. Monkey To Man
03. On Your Way Down
04. A Certain Girl
05. Clown Strike
06. Tears, Tears And More Tears
07. (I Don't Want To Go To) Chelsea
08. Poisoned Rose
09. Broken Promise Land
10. Freedom For The Stallion
11. The River In Reverse
12. Who's Gonna Help Brother Get Further?
13. I Can't Stand Up For Falling Down
14. High Fidelity
15. Get Out Of My Life Woman
16. International Echo
17. Alison / Tracks Of My Tears
18. Clubland
19. The Greatest Love
Encore 1
20. Play Something Sweet (Brickyard Blues)
21. Deep Dark Truthful Mirror
22. Nearer To You
23. Watching The Detectives
24. Pump It Up
Encore 2
25. Piano Instrumental
26. ?
27. American Tune
28. Wonder Woman
29. Yes We Can Can
30. Shoo-Ra
31. Slippin' And Slidin'
32. The Sharpest Thorn

Veronica · Post by **Veronica** » Fri Jul 14, 2006 8:21 pm

The official from the stage setlist (although it seems to be a little out of order) says Big Chief Variations, then Ascension Day.

johnfoyle · Post by **johnfoyle** » Sat Jul 15, 2006 4:48 pm

http://homerpalooza.livejournal.com/472419.html

Palmrnal blogs -

>> On Wednesday night I saw Elvis Costello, with special guests Allen Toussaint (that's the Allen Toussaint who wrote "Working in a Coalmine") and a horn section from New Orleans. They played for two and a half hours; 33 songs in total. Longest concert I've ever been to, and amusingly enough it was by the two oldest musicians I've ever seen live. And even though Elvis Costello may look like a sack of meat pasties these days, he's still one of the coolest guys on the planet. It was a great show. Terrible crowd of aging yuppies, but still a great show.

MrBartholemew · Post by **MrBartholemew** » Sat Jul 15, 2006 6:46 pm

I too was at both Mass dates (as well as Pops) & sound was definitely better at Hyannis. Ditto too revolving stage. Liked that. Vocals at Fleet Pavilion were kinda screechy. But sound at that place always blows.

Veronica it must have been passed in of me & me pal Dot to grab set list from sound man. Dot was aggravated because he broke her Sharpest Thorn mood, but I was intrigued because I'd never thought of doing that!! And there I was right next to the board! I try & write the songs down on my Palm but it has no light and by the end of the show I'm writing things in Martian.

So glad othey did American Tune... had read about at Beacon show, figured it was a NY thing... and I CANT STAND UP which I've never seen him play.

kuanyin · Post by **kuanyin** » Sat Jul 15, 2006 7:58 pm

even though Elvis Costello may look like a sack of meat pasties

ouch.

Terrible crowd of aging yuppies

yeah, same to you buddy.

cranky in CT,
T

johnfoyle · Post by **johnfoyle** » Mon Jul 17, 2006 12:53 am

http://thetrack.bostonherald.com/sideTr ... eid=148625

Tracked Down
By Inside Track
Monday, July 17, 2006

(extract)

. . . Peter Wolf of J. Geils Band fame and singer-songwriter Elvis Costello having a tete-a-tete at Providenceâ€™s La Roca Restaurant . . .

http://www.boston.com/ae/celebrity/arti ... _papelbon/

Boston Globe

July 17, 2006

. . . . Those men in black grabbing a bite at Lala Rokh on Beacon Hill? Singers Peter Wolf and Elvis Costello, of course. . . .

verbal gymnastics · Post by **verbal gymnastics** » Mon Jul 17, 2006 5:00 am

kuanyin wrote:
even though Elvis Costello may look like a sack of meat pasties

Veggie pasties maybe...

I enjoyed your myspace review kuanyin. That's EXACTLY the type of thing we love on this site. You should read my posts boring people to tears every time I've met Elvis.

It's good of him to almost apologize for the lack of setlist variation but it's perfectly understandable.