From listserv -
Just back from show. Ornate old theater with
reserved seating. Hugely different from St. Louis last night aside from
the opening and some other parts. New habits - false endings of songs.
Completes "PLU", takes applause, then does chorus one more time. Also a
couple other songs like this. *Bad* trend - he's got his hands on a
metal slide and is "playing" some horribly wanky guitar sounds. "Needle
Time" was painful. Comment that "I always get sick when I come to Kansas"
(actually in Missouri) and said he almost didn't make the show tonight.
A good show but not as much fun for me since I was in front of the
stage last night and tonight I was about two-thirds back in the floor
section.
1. Uncomplicated
2. Clown Strike
3. Red Shoes
4. 45
5. Everyday I Write the Book (fast)
6. Chelsea
7. Clubland (w/ I Feel Pretty bit)
8. Country Darkness
9. Indoor Fireworks ("Toby Keith wouldn't record this because the
second verse mentions a martini.")
10. Tonight The Bottle Let Me Down (Show stopper just like last night
in SL)
11. Crooked Line (co-written w/ T-Bone for a movie - "They were too
cheap to pay for it so I'm doing it for you free.")
12. Waiting for the End of The World
13. Beyond Belief
14. Radio, Radio
15. Must You Throw Dirt in My Face (large bathroom break by crowd)
16. Detectives
17. Love That Burns
18. Bedlam
19. Monkey 2 Man
20. Needle Time (Slide guitar "solo")
21. Mystery Dance
22. Why Don't You Love Me Like You Used To Do?
23. Pump It Up (band intros)
24. (seated on front of stage) Don't Lose Your Grip on Love
25. (swaps seat with woman in front row and puts her on stage while he
sits in her seat) Alison/Suspicious Minds
26. You Really Got a Hold on Me (audience response parts - Pete stands
to sing in microphone over cymbals)
27. The Delivery Man/Butcher Boy (audience amazingly quiet) (tunes bass
E to D and plays low slide)
28. PLU (fake ending - additional chorus)
29. Scarlett Tide (w/ tedious "admit you lied and bring the boys back
home" lyric)
Lang
Kansas City Setlist
http://hausfraublog.blogspot.com/2005/0 ... l-get.html
posted by wifeandmom2
Thursday, August 04, 2005
good manners and bad breath will get you nowhere
I'm still reeling from yesterday's experience of seeing the world's greatest living rock legend, Elvis Costello. He played the Uptown in Kansas City, Missouri in a concert that was rescheduled from last May.
I loooooooooooooooooooove you, Elviiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis!!!
I'll skip the part about how the Uptown theatre needed to invest in airconditioning and a better sound system. I'd have sat naked in a blizzard to hear this man play. You could've stuffed putty in my ears, I'd still have gone.
I have been a big fan for a long time, but I've never had the opportunity to see him live. He did not disappoint. If you think I'm gushing now, get your rags because you'll have to wipe your monitors by the time I'm done.
His opening act, "Him" or "Hymn"...whatever, dont care...played lullabye music. They had a mandoline player, for Chrissakes! Their music was beautiful. They were very good. I'm sure that daycares all over America play their CD at naptime. However, given the tone that they'd set, I was bracing myself to hear a lot of Elvis' slower pieces. I was telling myself that it was enough just to be in the presence of a musical genius, that it didn't matter what he played. That's how much I love Elvis Costello.
When Elvis and his band took the stage, the revved it up immediately. They played a lot of old Attractions music. They played their mellower selections. They ran the gammut. I could list the songs he played, but you'd have to be a fan of similar dedication to understand. He's got 30+ years of material, and he ran through it all.
What do I love about Elvis Costello? The man is a musical genius. He's always exploring. He has some of the best lyrics ever written. He can be caustic, witty, deeply personal, embarrassingly private, tender and bitter all in one song. He can crank out musical masterpieces with the ease that most of us breathe. He is just amazing.
The people watching was good, too. After college, it's rare to be in among your own. The audience was definately pulled from a distinct demographic. I'd say the average age was 40, middle to upper income and white. Men outnumbered women. The fans were generally attractive, too, which was fun.
They had a bar at the Uptown and were serving beer and wine. I watched people come and go with beers in hand. The smell of marijuana smoke was conspicuously absent. I remember going to all kind of concerts when I was a kid and if you were smoking or not, you always left with a contact high. There was none of that at this event. I suppose my demographic has outgrown such nonsense!
There was one tiny, little, baby problem. Elvis committed the cardinal sin in the eyes of Missourians.
Kansas City sits on the border between Kansas and Missouri. The Uptown is on the Missouri side. He said that he almost didn't make this performance and that he seems to get sick every time he travels to Kansas. You could almost hear a grumble go through the crowd. This is all about cross-state stereotypes. I grew up in Missouri and now live in Kansas. Missourians see Kansas as being bland, one-dimensional, beige, and nouveau riche. Kansans, on the other hand, seem to think that crime is so bad in K. C., MO that they're at risk of being gunned down as they cross the state line. So referring to the venue's location as being situated in Kansas didn't sit well. Someone must have clued him in because he corrected himself as the evening progressed.
It was a minor oversight. My sister said that Tom Petty, while performing in Kansas, told the crowd it was great to be in Missouri. Nobody gets it right.
Elvis played for two and a half hours. He was dressed in a grey suit, with a black tie and a hot pink shirt. His shoes sparkled and had pointy toes. He looked every inch the rock star he is. He looked like he did the first time I remember seeing him on a poster back in 1978.
Apparently, the Kansas City show was the last show of an 11 month tour. At one point in the concert, Elvis stood back and watched the audience. He was clearly taking a snapshot in his mind. Looking out at the adoring mass of fans, he must've felt like he was seeing the culmination of a lifetime of creativity.
I am just so happy to have seen him. I've seen a lot of performers in my life...Paul McCartney, Queen, Elton John, Tom Petty, B. B. King, Count Basie...and I count Elvis Costello in the Top Three...maybe even No. 1. I don't think I stopped smiling all evening long.
I can die happy.
posted by wifeandmom2
Thursday, August 04, 2005
good manners and bad breath will get you nowhere
I'm still reeling from yesterday's experience of seeing the world's greatest living rock legend, Elvis Costello. He played the Uptown in Kansas City, Missouri in a concert that was rescheduled from last May.
I loooooooooooooooooooove you, Elviiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis!!!
I'll skip the part about how the Uptown theatre needed to invest in airconditioning and a better sound system. I'd have sat naked in a blizzard to hear this man play. You could've stuffed putty in my ears, I'd still have gone.
I have been a big fan for a long time, but I've never had the opportunity to see him live. He did not disappoint. If you think I'm gushing now, get your rags because you'll have to wipe your monitors by the time I'm done.
His opening act, "Him" or "Hymn"...whatever, dont care...played lullabye music. They had a mandoline player, for Chrissakes! Their music was beautiful. They were very good. I'm sure that daycares all over America play their CD at naptime. However, given the tone that they'd set, I was bracing myself to hear a lot of Elvis' slower pieces. I was telling myself that it was enough just to be in the presence of a musical genius, that it didn't matter what he played. That's how much I love Elvis Costello.
When Elvis and his band took the stage, the revved it up immediately. They played a lot of old Attractions music. They played their mellower selections. They ran the gammut. I could list the songs he played, but you'd have to be a fan of similar dedication to understand. He's got 30+ years of material, and he ran through it all.
What do I love about Elvis Costello? The man is a musical genius. He's always exploring. He has some of the best lyrics ever written. He can be caustic, witty, deeply personal, embarrassingly private, tender and bitter all in one song. He can crank out musical masterpieces with the ease that most of us breathe. He is just amazing.
The people watching was good, too. After college, it's rare to be in among your own. The audience was definately pulled from a distinct demographic. I'd say the average age was 40, middle to upper income and white. Men outnumbered women. The fans were generally attractive, too, which was fun.
They had a bar at the Uptown and were serving beer and wine. I watched people come and go with beers in hand. The smell of marijuana smoke was conspicuously absent. I remember going to all kind of concerts when I was a kid and if you were smoking or not, you always left with a contact high. There was none of that at this event. I suppose my demographic has outgrown such nonsense!
There was one tiny, little, baby problem. Elvis committed the cardinal sin in the eyes of Missourians.
Kansas City sits on the border between Kansas and Missouri. The Uptown is on the Missouri side. He said that he almost didn't make this performance and that he seems to get sick every time he travels to Kansas. You could almost hear a grumble go through the crowd. This is all about cross-state stereotypes. I grew up in Missouri and now live in Kansas. Missourians see Kansas as being bland, one-dimensional, beige, and nouveau riche. Kansans, on the other hand, seem to think that crime is so bad in K. C., MO that they're at risk of being gunned down as they cross the state line. So referring to the venue's location as being situated in Kansas didn't sit well. Someone must have clued him in because he corrected himself as the evening progressed.
It was a minor oversight. My sister said that Tom Petty, while performing in Kansas, told the crowd it was great to be in Missouri. Nobody gets it right.
Elvis played for two and a half hours. He was dressed in a grey suit, with a black tie and a hot pink shirt. His shoes sparkled and had pointy toes. He looked every inch the rock star he is. He looked like he did the first time I remember seeing him on a poster back in 1978.
Apparently, the Kansas City show was the last show of an 11 month tour. At one point in the concert, Elvis stood back and watched the audience. He was clearly taking a snapshot in his mind. Looking out at the adoring mass of fans, he must've felt like he was seeing the culmination of a lifetime of creativity.
I am just so happy to have seen him. I've seen a lot of performers in my life...Paul McCartney, Queen, Elton John, Tom Petty, B. B. King, Count Basie...and I count Elvis Costello in the Top Three...maybe even No. 1. I don't think I stopped smiling all evening long.
I can die happy.
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Uncomplicated
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EC in KC
Nice to see the setlist here! This was the very first time that I did not take a pen and paper along to write down the songs.
The show was great of course but the song selection.....well it's the luck of the draw I guess........St. Louis the night before had a much more appealing look for me I guess. Don't get me wrong, I loved the show but there were no great surprises.......had he broken into "Psycho" or "Suit of Lights" that would of put it over the top for me. There were no "Party Girl/You Little Fool back to back surprises like on the Cruel tour.....of course I did not expect those songs this time around 'cause Elvis is doing his TDM stuff........so I was ready. But look at the setlist....pretty ho-hum if you ask me. "Red Shoes" stood out for me, as well as "Crooked Line" and "Don't Lose Your Grip On Love". Never heard those before.....they were very nice! I did like the way he worked the chorus for the opener, "Uncomplicated"....wow what a great name for a song!
Again, it was a GREAT show! I wouldn't have missed it for the world!
See Ya!
Unc
The show was great of course but the song selection.....well it's the luck of the draw I guess........St. Louis the night before had a much more appealing look for me I guess. Don't get me wrong, I loved the show but there were no great surprises.......had he broken into "Psycho" or "Suit of Lights" that would of put it over the top for me. There were no "Party Girl/You Little Fool back to back surprises like on the Cruel tour.....of course I did not expect those songs this time around 'cause Elvis is doing his TDM stuff........so I was ready. But look at the setlist....pretty ho-hum if you ask me. "Red Shoes" stood out for me, as well as "Crooked Line" and "Don't Lose Your Grip On Love". Never heard those before.....they were very nice! I did like the way he worked the chorus for the opener, "Uncomplicated"....wow what a great name for a song!
Again, it was a GREAT show! I wouldn't have missed it for the world!
See Ya!
Unc
It's in your eyes..... It's in your eyes.....
http://www.slideroll.com/show.php?s=q46s9mms
Elvis Costello live in Kansas City, MO. August 3, 2005
- a slideshow! Excellent!
Elvis Costello live in Kansas City, MO. August 3, 2005
- a slideshow! Excellent!
http://www.pitch.com/Issues/2005-08-11/ ... yward.html
Pitch Weekly, MO August 11, 2005
Last Wednesday night, my friend Alexi and I went to the Uptown to see Elvis Costello and the Imposters.
After Brooklyn folk quartet Hem played a set as sweet and peaceful as a mother's touch, nearly lulling us to the sleep of a breast-fed infant -- and after we had refueled at the bar -- we jumped to our feet the instant Elvis bashed out his first chord. We were about 30 feet from the sparkly-boot-wearing Englishman, and about 7 feet from the massive clump of speakers delivering his unwavering, soulful yowl to the audience.
When I say we, however, I do not mean the entire audience -- I mean just me and Alexi. He and I danced happily through one and a half songs while the rest of the audience remained seated (except for a pocket of resistance across the theater and down front), until a middle-aged woman sitting behind us politely asked if we would move to the side so that she and her lazy-ass husband could passively enjoy the show. We slumped down in our seats, spirits crushed, hatred for all baby boomers roiling in our hearts.
Costello played like an over-rockin' man-machine for two hours before his first encore, running down all his hits and then some. We struck up a conversation with Hem singer Sally Ellyson, who had emerged to watch the show, and she told us that Costello had taken a cortisone injection in his throat that day just so he could perform. (Throat problems had forced him to postpone his KC engagement in May; this was the makeup date.) In spite of that, Costello played like we were the best crowd ever -- he even took a seat in the front row, inviting two undeserving attendees to sit on the stage while he played "Alison" from the audience. And still, the roomful of old farts could not muster the enthusiasm to stand.
Jason Harper
Pitch Weekly, MO August 11, 2005
Last Wednesday night, my friend Alexi and I went to the Uptown to see Elvis Costello and the Imposters.
After Brooklyn folk quartet Hem played a set as sweet and peaceful as a mother's touch, nearly lulling us to the sleep of a breast-fed infant -- and after we had refueled at the bar -- we jumped to our feet the instant Elvis bashed out his first chord. We were about 30 feet from the sparkly-boot-wearing Englishman, and about 7 feet from the massive clump of speakers delivering his unwavering, soulful yowl to the audience.
When I say we, however, I do not mean the entire audience -- I mean just me and Alexi. He and I danced happily through one and a half songs while the rest of the audience remained seated (except for a pocket of resistance across the theater and down front), until a middle-aged woman sitting behind us politely asked if we would move to the side so that she and her lazy-ass husband could passively enjoy the show. We slumped down in our seats, spirits crushed, hatred for all baby boomers roiling in our hearts.
Costello played like an over-rockin' man-machine for two hours before his first encore, running down all his hits and then some. We struck up a conversation with Hem singer Sally Ellyson, who had emerged to watch the show, and she told us that Costello had taken a cortisone injection in his throat that day just so he could perform. (Throat problems had forced him to postpone his KC engagement in May; this was the makeup date.) In spite of that, Costello played like we were the best crowd ever -- he even took a seat in the front row, inviting two undeserving attendees to sit on the stage while he played "Alison" from the audience. And still, the roomful of old farts could not muster the enthusiasm to stand.
Jason Harper
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I'm in full agreeance. The show must go on and all -- but in the throat?? Yikes.anjabro wrote:Good Lord...johnfoyle wrote:Costello had taken a cortisone injection in his throat that day just so he could perform.
I think I'd just pull a sicky...
http://www.forwardtoyesterday.com -- Where "hopelessly dated" is a compliment!
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Posted on Wed, Aug. 10, 2005
Elvis Costello and the Imposters
Aug. 3 at the Uptown Theater
Elvis Costello spent two hours on the Uptown stage Aug. 3 performing more than two dozen songs. He was supposed to perform in May, but he had to reschedule because of illness.
According to an insider with some backstage insight, Elvis Costello was so out-of-sorts before this show, he needed a shot (the hypodermic kind) to ease his illin’.
The show was going to go on no matter what, primarily because it was already a make-up gig for a show Costello postponed back in May, when he also got sick before coming to Kansas City.
Except for some minor and occasional hoarseness, Costello seemed fine once the show started. It lasted more than two hours, comprised more than two dozen songs and bristled with the kind of rock/punk/pop energy he usually generates as he trolls through a large catalog of his best originals and his favorite covers.
The acoustics in the theater, however, were another matter. Because he was feeling listless and low, our insider says, Costello and his band didn’t do a sound check. Maybe that explains why the overall sound, especially his vocals, was murky and tinny all night. Most of the time, his chatter between songs was incoherent from where I was (on the floor, a few rows in front of the balcony overhang).
Wednesday’s was one of the last shows of an 11-month tour that has taken Costello and his Imposters all over the world and that included shows with Emmylou Harris and Bob Dylan’s former guitarist, Larry Campbell. The sell-out crowd at the Uptown got the austere/budget version of the show, just Costello and three Imposters: Steve Nieve, Pete Thomas and Davey Faragher. If all that travel and performing has worn out their enthusiasm and worn down their endurance, they didn’t let it show. Instead, they played like they had a long-delinquent debt they wanted to clear.
Costello is touring on his latest record, “The Delivery Man,” which signified his return to the kind of bright, brainy and brawny post-wave rock songs he wrote so masterfully early in his career. Those new ones, like the album’s title track and “Monkey to Man,” dovetailed comfortably with old and older material, like “Red Shoes,” “Every Day I Write the Book,” “(I Don’t Wanna) Go to Chelsea,” “Pump It Up,” “Radio, Radio,” “Uncomplicated,” “Clown Strike” and “Indoor Fireworks.”
Considering he was more in the mood for three shots of NyQuil and 10 hours in the sack, Costello was in a playful mood. As he introduced “Crooked Line,” a song he and T-Bone Burnett wrote for a film, he said, “They were too cheap to pay for it so we’re doing it for free.”
He also made fun of commercial radio and dissed modern country music before his cover of Merle Haggard’s “Tonight the Bottle Let Me Down.” And during “Alison,” he took a seat in the front row and crooned to the woman whose seat he’d just taken.
He fused a few verses of “Suspicious Minds” into that song, part of an encore that included “(What’s So Funny About) Peace, Love and Understanding,” a cover of Smokey Robinson’s “You Really Got a Hold on Me” and a chilling, a cappella rendition of “Butcher Boy,” a traditional English ballad about love and suicide.
He ended with something just as forlorn but not as tragic, “The Scarlet Tide,” the Oscar-nominated song he also co-wrote with T-Bone Burnett for the film “Cold Mountain.” That made for a melancholic ending for a guy known for so much anger and energy. It made sense though, considering he spent most of the day feeling almost blue. — Timothy Finn
Posted on Wed, Aug. 10, 2005
Elvis Costello and the Imposters
Aug. 3 at the Uptown Theater
Elvis Costello spent two hours on the Uptown stage Aug. 3 performing more than two dozen songs. He was supposed to perform in May, but he had to reschedule because of illness.
According to an insider with some backstage insight, Elvis Costello was so out-of-sorts before this show, he needed a shot (the hypodermic kind) to ease his illin’.
The show was going to go on no matter what, primarily because it was already a make-up gig for a show Costello postponed back in May, when he also got sick before coming to Kansas City.
Except for some minor and occasional hoarseness, Costello seemed fine once the show started. It lasted more than two hours, comprised more than two dozen songs and bristled with the kind of rock/punk/pop energy he usually generates as he trolls through a large catalog of his best originals and his favorite covers.
The acoustics in the theater, however, were another matter. Because he was feeling listless and low, our insider says, Costello and his band didn’t do a sound check. Maybe that explains why the overall sound, especially his vocals, was murky and tinny all night. Most of the time, his chatter between songs was incoherent from where I was (on the floor, a few rows in front of the balcony overhang).
Wednesday’s was one of the last shows of an 11-month tour that has taken Costello and his Imposters all over the world and that included shows with Emmylou Harris and Bob Dylan’s former guitarist, Larry Campbell. The sell-out crowd at the Uptown got the austere/budget version of the show, just Costello and three Imposters: Steve Nieve, Pete Thomas and Davey Faragher. If all that travel and performing has worn out their enthusiasm and worn down their endurance, they didn’t let it show. Instead, they played like they had a long-delinquent debt they wanted to clear.
Costello is touring on his latest record, “The Delivery Man,” which signified his return to the kind of bright, brainy and brawny post-wave rock songs he wrote so masterfully early in his career. Those new ones, like the album’s title track and “Monkey to Man,” dovetailed comfortably with old and older material, like “Red Shoes,” “Every Day I Write the Book,” “(I Don’t Wanna) Go to Chelsea,” “Pump It Up,” “Radio, Radio,” “Uncomplicated,” “Clown Strike” and “Indoor Fireworks.”
Considering he was more in the mood for three shots of NyQuil and 10 hours in the sack, Costello was in a playful mood. As he introduced “Crooked Line,” a song he and T-Bone Burnett wrote for a film, he said, “They were too cheap to pay for it so we’re doing it for free.”
He also made fun of commercial radio and dissed modern country music before his cover of Merle Haggard’s “Tonight the Bottle Let Me Down.” And during “Alison,” he took a seat in the front row and crooned to the woman whose seat he’d just taken.
He fused a few verses of “Suspicious Minds” into that song, part of an encore that included “(What’s So Funny About) Peace, Love and Understanding,” a cover of Smokey Robinson’s “You Really Got a Hold on Me” and a chilling, a cappella rendition of “Butcher Boy,” a traditional English ballad about love and suicide.
He ended with something just as forlorn but not as tragic, “The Scarlet Tide,” the Oscar-nominated song he also co-wrote with T-Bone Burnett for the film “Cold Mountain.” That made for a melancholic ending for a guy known for so much anger and energy. It made sense though, considering he spent most of the day feeling almost blue. — Timothy Finn
Thanks for this review. Well written, funnily (and heartbreaking at the same time).
Tell me about cortisone. Bloody double-edged medication. You know it is bad for you, it is not going to heal the trouble, but voila!
It works (not so great but)...
Reacting to the comments of my collegues above, I think I get your jokes (not sure actually), but still the tease is harsh on Elvis.
Good he's got the Irish sense of humour, he can take the kiddin' boys, and swallow your tears ! (Courtesy of the poets,
here, I pay my respects to EC).
Tell me about cortisone. Bloody double-edged medication. You know it is bad for you, it is not going to heal the trouble, but voila!
It works (not so great but)...
Reacting to the comments of my collegues above, I think I get your jokes (not sure actually), but still the tease is harsh on Elvis.
Good he's got the Irish sense of humour, he can take the kiddin' boys, and swallow your tears ! (Courtesy of the poets,
here, I pay my respects to EC).
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http://www.elviscostello.info/pic/05/05 ... mark_woelf
2005-08-03: Kansas City, MO, Uptown Theatre - with the Imposters
Photos courtesy of Mark Woelf© 2005.
2005-08-03: Kansas City, MO, Uptown Theatre - with the Imposters
Photos courtesy of Mark Woelf© 2005.
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And then there was that movie, "Larger than Life" (dir. by Nicholas Ray) where it turns James Mason into an insane tyrant. (Haven't seen it all -- I usually love Nicholas Ray but just couldn't bring myself to sit through this on TV...have to give it another try.)verena wrote:Tell me about cortisone. Bloody double-edged medication. You know it is bad for you, it is not going to heal the trouble, but voila! It works (not so great but)...
http://www.forwardtoyesterday.com -- Where "hopelessly dated" is a compliment!