EC & I's Knoxville Mar 10 2005

Post by **spooky girlfriend** » Mon Mar 14, 2005 2:29 pm

Welcome, MM. Glad you enjoyed the show. I was at the Ryman the night before.

Hang around here and enjoy yourself. Don't get scared off easily.

mood swung · Post by **mood swung** » Mon Mar 14, 2005 3:03 pm

welcome, mimi! I didn't see elvis in a beige hat. I think steve was wearing a hat, but my memory is hazy on the color.

Goody2Shoes · Post by **Goody2Shoes** » Mon Mar 14, 2005 3:04 pm

That was Steve wearing the goofy beige hat. Elvis was wearing a goofy black one.

mimimartini · Post by **mimimartini** » Mon Mar 14, 2005 3:17 pm

Goody2Shoes wrote:That was Steve wearing the goofy beige hat. Elvis was wearing a goofy black one.

The whole time? I swear they switched them on the bus.........

Oh and how tall is Elvis? Is he like 5'5''......cause I didn't think he was that short.......but I was looking down at him at the bus. I just read part of his journal and I'm SO GLAD we didn't go to the hotel....he thinks that's creepy! Actually so do I.

Cheers!

MistakenForLilies · Post by **MistakenForLilies** » Mon Mar 14, 2005 7:07 pm

If it helps, I'm pretty sure Steve looked like this the whole time:

mimimartini · Post by **mimimartini** » Tue Mar 15, 2005 9:21 am

Ah ok so it was Steve! Well they were all great and I guess I'll just have to stick around longer next time! I'm sure he will be back to K-town.
I'm still very glad to have been able to get so close to two original members of EC's band. It was such a cool night!

Thanks!

oily slick · Post by **oily slick** » Tue Mar 15, 2005 5:13 pm

i like this thread where i am infamous and ever-fabulous. ah, my little world. hey bamboo--i think the dirty roses guy called me a name. just cause i said i didn't know these women. jeez.

these women being my good friends mood swung and goody2shoes. what nice company. mr and young swung seemed less elvis-struck than us board members. we'll just assume quiet reverence. i must have been sitting right behind little foole and spouse.

this was a fantastic show. he brought them to their feet (finally) 50 or so minutes from the end when they thought he was going off, and they stayed there while he pretty much ran 8 or 9 songs together. the 30 year old who was with me leaned over during that flurry and said "man, he is relentless". people who haven't seen elvis before are surprised by the effort. and he was wrestling with his throat, though he acted like he felt better during and after the show here than he did in nashville. fun to hear clown strike and high fidelity. a rip-roaring bedlam and funky love that burns were other highlights. elvis was gracious afterwards, though for the second night in a row he tried to run me down with his big shiney bus. well, not him personally, he has people who do that. look forward to the may st louis gig.

mood swung · Post by **mood swung** » Wed Mar 16, 2005 8:25 am

Goody2Shoes reports that, in a certain way, he seemed like Jesus.

Post by **spooky girlfriend** » Wed Mar 16, 2005 8:45 am

Jesus with a hat, that is.

Looking good, Goody.

johnfoyle · Post by **johnfoyle** » Thu Mar 17, 2005 6:21 am

http://www.metropulse.com/dir_zine/dir_ ... t_ear.html

The Metro Pulse

March 17, 2005 • Vol. 15, No. 11

Revenge of the Knoxville Girl

Elvis Costello once the snotty poet of punk, later collaborator with Burt Bacharach, has always kept us guessing, but his first-ever Knoxville show at the Tennessee Theatre last Thursday was of a different order altogether.

Weaving his classic, “Alison,” seamlessly into that other Elvis’s “Suspicious Minds” was one of the show’s several surprises. His old Attractions keyboardist, Steve Nieve, playing the theremin on several numbers was another.

Belying recent complaints that the Tennessee’s new beer-fueled audiences are obnoxiously drunk and rowdy, Costello kept the sold-out audience rapt, even when he stepped away from the microphone and sang part of “Scarlet Tide” a cappella, without amplification. No one in the sold-out theater hooted or whistled. As near as we could tell, for a minute or two, no one breathed.

But the most jaw-dropping moment came about halfway through the show, when Elvis took an uncharacteristic pause to announce an audience member’s 41st birthday, remarking in his English accent that “some wicked things have happened in this city.”

When he opened his next song, “I met a little girl in Knoxville, a town we all know well,” some people screamed. And he sang the bizarre ancient murder ballad about the young man who, for no obvious reason, bludgeons his lover to death and throws her in the river. He sang the whole dozen stanzas of the ballad slowly, and without a lyric sheet.

The old folk song, of shadowy origins, was already old as the hills when it was a bluegrass hit for the Louvin Brothers more than 50 years ago. It has gotten some punk cred in recent years, when Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds started performing it.

When anthropologists determined that the human bones found on a South Knoxville riverbank a few weeks ago belonged to an adolescent girl who lived more than a century ago, we naturally wondered if maybe she was the one “with the dark and roving eyes.”

mimimartini · Post by **mimimartini** » Thu Mar 17, 2005 11:47 am

Did you know that the song "Knoxville Girl" has been played several times before by other bands that came through Knoxville? One in particular is Joe buck Yourself who played with Rev. Horton Heat last time they did a show here.

Pretty crazy...we're getting known for murder through song in this town. And now that they've found that body by the river it just makes it all the more creepy.

MistakenForLilies · Post by **MistakenForLilies** » Thu Mar 17, 2005 8:58 pm

Here are more pictures from this show for those interested.

Wizard · Post by **Wizard** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 11:31 am

mood swung wrote:the rest of you knoxville gals and guys? what say you?

It’s been great reading everyone’s stories & seeing pics to the Knoxville concert. Thanks to all. I'm late to the dance, but better late than never I hope...

I’m a born-n-bred Knoxvillian who saw Elvis for the first time March 10 (My wife had seen him in Atlanta around ’78 or so, & she forewarned me about how Elvis might lack rapport & just play the songs straight ahead). We both regard Elvis Costello as one of the true all time greats, & are fans from the very beginning to his latest releases. Thankfully, his stage presence has progressed beyond the angry young man. His showmanship was first rate! Elvis w/ a cold or no, we both agreed it was the best concert we had ever attended. The great acoustics in the Tennessee Theatre, the tasteful lighting, & the great performances by Elvis (what a trooper he is), Steve, Pete, & Dave made for an unforgettable night. We yelled at the top of our lungs, sang, danced, & grinned the whole way through. It was magical!

Ironically, we sat directly behind goody2shoes, mood swung & her group.

Being maybe 40 feet away from the stage & Elvis was incredible. We brought a pair of binoculars, & reveled at seeing Elvis twitch an eyebrow, or sneer, or grin, or contort his hand for effect. His frequent poses & posturing were great, & cracked us both up.

The extended version of Clubland was our personal favorite, along w/ Knoxville Girl of course. The way he boomed “Elvis” near the end of The Delivery Man after cupping his hand in front of the microphone to where it only projected from the left speakers, & kept stepping farther away from the mic as the ending words trailed were nice touches (I guess this is a concert trademark since we saw him do this at the Austin City Limits show).

Personally, in concert, I think all TDM material stood right up there w/ his classics (as did When I was cruel #2).

Despite 29/30 songs, you can’t help but wish for the ones that got away. We both pined for Shipbuilding, Two Little Hitlers, Olivers Army, & Party Girl (we saw that he played that in Texas this past week). But we left grateful for all the wonderful songs he played. The man is an animal!

We saw Steve Earle a few months earlier at the Tennessee. It was also a great 2 hr. plus show; but seen from the balcony, it lost some of the great crowd energy that is generated upfront.

Thanks Elvis for finally coming to Knoxville. We are both still on cloud nine! We so badly want to see him again before this tour finishes out, but those darn jobs keep getting in the way…

ps, by chance did anyone pull off an audio recording of the show? I'd love to trade something for a possible copy.

mood swung · Post by **mood swung** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 1:00 pm

ditto that on the boot - someone mentioned trying, but they haven't been back on the board since. It might lift me out of my post-Elvis funk.

welcome, wizard - and thanks for the Knoxville Girl info. do I detect English professor?

Ironically, we sat directly behind goody2shoes, mood swung & her group.

glad it was ironic, and not rage-inducing! and let me apologize for whatever rude and embarassing things I/we did. but how did you know it was us?

and great photos, MfL. next time, I'll concentrate on my dancing and leave the photos to the pros.

Wizard · Post by **Wizard** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 1:19 pm

mood swung wrote:welcome, wizard - and thanks for the Knoxville Girl info. do I detect English professor?

Thanks. No, not a Prof, just a regular working joe, haha.

but how did you know it was us?

We saw you deftly taking pics w/ your cell phone, & we recognized the pic you posted of your son.

LittleFoole · Post by **LittleFoole** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 2:03 pm

oily slick wrote: these women being my good friends mood swung and goody2shoes. what nice company. mr and young swung seemed less elvis-struck than us board members. we'll just assume quiet reverence. i must have been sitting right behind little foole and spouse.

.

Hmmmmm, am trying to figure out just where all y'all were....LOL...we sat next to a "father and son" coupling in the first row (not the orchestra "pit") - I was quite impressed in that I saw a few people with a kid tagging along......'t'would never happen in my household - our son hates "loud noises" and our daughter is at the stage where "anything your parents like sucks!!!" ... LOL. It sounds like Mrs. Foole and I were at least in the vicinity of some fellow forumers....gee, if I'd only known, at the time. We were slightly off center, front row of the floor section (not the little orchestra section right up at the stage)....but I'd venture a guess there's nary a bad seat in the Theatre - it was smaller than I expected (was expecting something more along the lines of the Fox Theater in Detroit or the Tower Theater in Upper Darby/Philadelphia).......
Will definitely return to the "historic Tennessee Theatre" for future shows - hopefully EC will, as well !!!

oily slick · Post by **oily slick** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 3:20 pm

what was your seat number?

LittleFoole · Post by **LittleFoole** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 3:54 pm

oily slick wrote:what was your seat number?

Ummmmm, don't have the stubs at the moment (mrs foole may still have them in her purse, dunno) but I think it was around 104-ish, maybe ....
(orch center)....we were the third and fourth seats in towards center from the aisle (aisle 4 is the door we entered, if I remember correctly).
We sat next to a rather amusing chap and his son on the aisle end of the row, with a few rows of folks ahead of us in the orchestra "pit" itself. Closest I've ever been to the stage at any show, save, perhaps, for some Ramones shows in Trenton NJ a LONG LONG time ago

oily slick · Post by **oily slick** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 5:13 pm

can't place you. we were in orch center row B 107 and 108 and i was gonna say if you were in row A 107 and 108, you weren't very energetic. and that mrs foole sure had a big fuzzy coat which you might want to check the hood of for a little killian's.

LittleFoole · Post by **LittleFoole** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 5:29 pm

oily slick wrote:can't place you. we were in orch center row B 107 and 108 and i was gonna say if you were in row A 107 and 108, you weren't very energetic. and that mrs foole sure had a big fuzzy coat which you might want to check the hood of for a little killian's.

LOL....Hmmmm, perhaps we were row A 105/106 (or 103/104 ???) No, the Mrs. didn't have a fuzzy coat, and I doubt she'd've minded a lil Killians on it (although, at $5 a pop, spilling even a lil is a lot...hehheh) Am thinkin' it might've been 103/104....can't seem to be able to drag up pics of the seating chart from the "Theatre" like I did pre-concert....I believe we (or at least I) were "above average" in "energetic-ness"...LOL...was a truly good time !!!!!

EDIT : Found the seating chart on my comp - we were definitely in row A 103 and 104 !!! Sorry for any confusion

mimimartini · Post by **mimimartini** » Sat Mar 19, 2005 12:09 pm

We were in row E seats 5,6,7,8. How did you all manage to get such good seats? I stayed on the phone from the minute those tickets were on sale and that's the best I could do. They were still great seats though......

LittleFoole · Post by **LittleFoole** » Sat Mar 19, 2005 12:21 pm

mimimartini wrote:We were in row E seats 5,6,7,8. How did you all manage to get such good seats? I stayed on the phone from the minute those tickets were on sale and that's the best I could do. They were still great seats though......

Hey, mimimartini....honestly, I don't know - my wife procured them for my birthday.....she was very surprised, as they just kind of became available as she was on the phone - perhaps someone cancelled their order (or someone screwed up, which is likely...heh)??? Yes, after seeing the "historic Theatre" , I don't think there's a bad seat in the place - it's pretty tiny, compared to what I was expecting...LOL. I think EC was recieved well by Knoxville, and look fwd to his return !!!!!

johnfoyle · Post by **johnfoyle** » Mon Mar 28, 2005 5:47 pm

http://www.livejournal.com/users/adufre ... /2396.html

Elvis Costello & the Impostors featuring Tift Merrit show review

Elvis Costello & the Impostors featuring Tift Merrit
March 10, 2005 - The Tennessee Theater

Ever so often I try to get my fourteen (going-on-thirty-seven) year old sister to actually listen to good music. Anything to get the Third Eye Blind and Matchbox Twenty CDs out of her stereo. A few months ago she asked me if she could borrow my Elvis Costello CDs. So when the opportunity to see Costello at the newly renovated Tennessee Theater came up, I could only think of one person to take with me.

The Tennessee Theater looked amazing. The renovation completely blew me away. I have grown accustomed to the half-done look that had sustained throughout my years of attending concerts, symphonies, plays, and movies.

The opening act was Tift Merritt, and was my first experience hearing her music. She came out strong bouncing between the organ, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, and the tambourine (which also happens to be the title of her latest CD). Merritt was an excellent choice for an opening act for Costello. She is a very eclectic musician that sounds like a crossbreed of Norah Jones, Shelby Lynne, and Emmylou Harris. She also has the feel of someone that used to do singer/songwriter nights at coffee houses, and is now elevated to larger venues.

Elvis Costello is someone that I have only started listening to in the past few years. My father has disowned me more times than I care to remember for bringing Costello CDs in the house. Having my own home, I do not have to worry about that anymore. Costello has been on my short list of people I wanted desperately to see live since I first heard 'This Year's Model.' I got my chance on the 10th, and the wait was worth it. Costello performed both his new and old tracks with a healthy amount of bravado. He did not move around much on stage, but he isn't a spring chicken anymore. I had not heard the Oscar-nominated "Scarlet Tide" and "Clown Strike" before, and they were terrific finds. He also did an amazing cover of The Louvin Brothers' "Knoxville Girl." To close out the show he interlaced his own song "Alison" with Elvis Presley's "Suspicious Minds" which would have made The King happy. Well, that and a fried banana and peanut butter sandwich would have made The King happy.

verbal gymnastics · Post by **verbal gymnastics** » Wed Mar 30, 2005 6:13 am

Does anyone know who the lucky audience member was who Elvis wished Happy Birthday to? What a lovely present - I hope she was there!

oily slick · Post by **oily slick** » Wed Mar 30, 2005 10:47 am

it was a him and he was 41. a woman in the first row of the orchestra pit pestered him relentlessly w/ a message which he tried to read, then finally took. in a bit he read it and used it to say the birthday boy was surely a fine man, but bad things had happened in this town and then segued into "knoxville girl".