Cactus Festival, Belgium- Rock'n'Roll in 1921
Rock’n’roll in 1921
Saturday, 9.45 pm
Despite the persistent rain falling by the bucketful, no one could wipe the blissful grins from our faces. And the reason for our joy? Elvis Costello. He chose to wear a silly, white boater, assembled a band of superb guns-for-hire (with guitarist Jim Lauderdale deserving special mention) and entertained himself with bluegrass, gypsy jazz and Americana for an hour...
Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow
Scotsman.com: Fiona Shepherd: 06.07.10
Judging by the modest attendance at this show, Elvis Costello's current country-fuelled incarnation appears to have flown under the radar. To date, his cover of George Jones's Good Year For The Roses remains his best known foray into maudlin country, but his long association with Texan producer and songwriter T Bone Burnett has kept him in touch with the musical wellspring of the southern United States...
Elvis Costello and the Sugarcanes, Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow
Herald Scotland: Keith Bruce: 05.07.10
Confounding our expectations and surprising us at every turn, Elvis was back in the building with a whole new company of musicians and yet another radical revision of his back catalogue.
Actually, it was more than that. Not only does Costello bring a fresh approach to his own music with each visit, he also leads his followers to rethink the whole history and breadth of the musical world he operates within...
A strange combination of Willie Nelson, George Formby and, of course, most of all himself!
Diesel Therapy: 01.07.10
… saw Elvis Costello at the Sage last night. The band were fabulous: Jerry Douglas (dobro), Stuart Duncan (fiddle), etc. As a non Elvis fan I was amazed at his talent. Great songs, witty delivery and what a voice. When he hits the high notes … You can’t ignore his wonderful soulful delivery...
Elvis Costello at Vicar Street, Dublin
Vanessa Monaghan: GoldenPlec.Com
There always seems to be one or two artists that you say ‘I wouldn’t mind seeing them’ but never get round to, Elvis Costello was one but I was still unsure what to expect.
Upon entering the venue the first thing I notice is that the audience seems to be more 40 and 50 somethings...
Old pros with a great line in nostalgia
The Irish Times: 03.07.10
"Old pros with a great line in nostalgia" - For some years we have stopped believing that he is the best thing since the invention of the wheel – his last truly brilliant album, in our opinion, was 2003’s North – but it would be a foolish person indeed to bet against him delivering a show that didn’t provide equal measures of reinvention, humour, cracking tunes and a staggering range of influences and references" - www...
Elvis Costello Live At The Sage, Gateshead, "Gig Of The Year, No Contest"
The Shields Gazette: Terry Kelly: 02.07.10
The other Elvis launched last night's brilliant musical cocktail with a Sun Records classic by The King.
Looking dapper in grey suit and tie, with a white hat perched on his head, Costello shouted "How are you?" to his Tyneside fans before tearing into Mystery Train...
Live at Vicar St
Irish Independent: 03.07.10
This organic, often languid, sound works well with expressive vocals of the Liverpool-raised singer of Irish stock.
Glorious
As expected, there's a strong emphasis on the newer material; although, in truth, the low-tempo pace soon tries the patience. Luckily, a stunning as-yet-unreleased song, 'Condemned Man', comes along to pin restless punters to their seats and it's followed by one of the new album's best songs, 'Complicated Shadows', which features some glorious virtuoso slide guitar from Jerry Douglas...
Fantastic concert at Liverpool Philharmonic Hall
Laura Davis: Liverpool Daily Post: 29.06.10
Costello was a man of few words but considerable wit , making light of England’s defeat in Sunday’s World Cup match – "Wayne Rooney? More like Mickey Rooney" – though he had been performing with Paul McCartney in Hyde Park at the time of the game...
Triumphant Liverpool return for maestro
Catherine Jones: Liverpool Echo: 29.06.10
TWO years ago he made a Capital of Culture appearance in this very hall alongside the RLPO.
But this time Elvis Costello was the main attraction in a return visit to the city that, if it didn’t actually breed him, certainly raised the teenage music maker...
St David's Hall, Cardiff: Dynamic and Masterful
Kate Clarke:
This being a solo tour I was half expecting Costello to lean on his gentler bluegrass numbers, but he has so many in built effects and settings on his voice he has no problem summoning up the drama and dynamics needed for his all-angels-and-edges rock, even without a band. So we got it all...
Elvis Costello: The New Theatre, Oxford
Reg Little: The Oxford Times: 28.06.10
his plan to play a solo show or it was going to be quite a night. Two hours later we had our answer as Elvis left the building, acoustic guitar held aloft, his suit still unbuttoned. A set that had begun with a no-nonsense Red Shoes, from his debut album, ended with one of the handful of impressive new songs delivered during an evening that reminded us of his mastery as a song writer...
Elvis Costello, St David's Hall, Cardiff
David Owens: South Wales Echo: 26.06.10
TWO musical greats hit Cardiff this week playing vastly different venues, yet both eagerly awaited by fans to whom both have acquired a somewhat god-like status.
Pre-empting McCartney at the Millennium Stadium this evening, the equally talented and highly acclaimed Elvis Costello played the smaller and more intimate St David’s Hall...
Interview with the South Wales Evening Post
Kate Clarke: South Wales Evening Post: 24.06.10
YOU might call Elvis Costello the ultimate magpie. He made venomous, tongue-twisting rock his calling card, before easing into sophisticated modern standards, smouldering through neglected R'n'B gems, teaming up with 1960s Bossa-pop maestro Burt Bacharach and exercising his classical ear...
"Like a child whose lollipop has plummeted down a ravine"
Ben Walsh: The Independent 23.06.10
"I've been wading through all this unbelievable junk/ And wondering if I should have given the world to the monkeys," he spits out with relish on "God's Comic" in this blistering solo set. It's about time we reclaimed our very own Elvis, and thanks to Richard Thompson's Meltdown we get a rare sighting (he now lives in New York with his wife, Diana Krall) of this British new-wave whiz...
Elvis Costello at the Royal Festival Hall
Tim Adams: The Guardian: 21.06.10
As Father's Day gifts go, it would be hard to imagine a better present than the one offered by Elvis Costello to his dad: the perfect concert at the Festival Hall. Elvis dedicated his second number Veronica (the song about his paternal grandmother that he wrote with Paul McCartney) to his old man, the 83-year old former big band singer, who was in attendance, and then proceeded to demonstrate all that he had learned in the 50-odd years since they first sang together...
Elvis Costello finds his inner Hillbilly
From the Atlanta Journal-Constitution
April 27, 2010, by Suzanne Van Atten
"Working their way through selections from Costello’s most recent “Sacred, Profane, and Sugarcane” album and interspersing numerous unique covers, the band shined brightest in the jaw-dropping redone versions of Costello’s signature songs, turning “New Amsterdam” into an inspiring folk song, adding just enough gothic darkness to “The Delivery Man” to send shivers up your spine, and converting Costello’s pop tune “Every Day I Write The Book” into a slow and deeply emotional love ballad that left today’s “hot new country” in the dust with it’s witty wordplay and rich harmony vocals from Lauderdale and Douglas...
Elvis Lives (Costello that is)
San Diego Union Tribune
April 12, 2010, by George Varga
"There were so many remarkable musical moments during Elvis Costello's superb solo concert last night at downtown's Balboa Theater that it's difficult to rate one above another...
...The new material he debuted, including the as yet unrecorded "Jimmie Standing in the Rain" and "Slow Drag with Josephine," was uniformly impressive...