08.07.2019
ELVIS COSTELLO AND BLONDIE ARE STILL THIS CENTURY’S MODEL AT THE GREEK
Variety: Chris Willman: August 6th 2019
“I’m not the kind of girl who gives up just like that,” sang Debbie Harry, repeatedly — as is the custom in “The Tide is High” — before, in concert, also repeatedly, she cajolingly demanded to know, “Are you?”
Well, no, Debbie, we are not that kind of girl at all, answered the responsive cheers of the full house, eager to be part of the resilience as well as the resistance Monday night at the Greek Theatre. The joys of survivor-ship were a big part of what was being celebrated in the co-headlining bill of last millennium’s models, Blondie and Elvis Costello & the Imposters, closing in on the end of a short joint tour and sounding not much worse for the 40-years-on-from-1979 wear. “Rapture” doesn’t date, as it turns out, and neither does actual rapture.
The bill was a de facto tribute to powerhouse drummers, with mutual Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Famers holding down the beat. Still powering Blondie, Clem Burke played from behind plexiglas, and from the enthusiasm he mustered for the duty, it almost seemed as if the barrier might be for our protection, not his audio segregation. Pete Thomas, the Attraction-turned-Imposter, was three days away from his 65th birthday, Costello pointed out, and puts a punishing spin on that marker.
Costello used the performance of a recent song, “Unwanted Number,” as an excuse to riff at length, mid-song, on rock ‘n’ roll arithmetic, finally sticking the landing with some wry commentary on age. “One is the loneliest number! It takes two!” he shouted. “… Nineteenth nervous breakdown!… Twenty-four hours from Tulsa! 36-22-36! … Fifty ways to leave your lover! Highway 61! When I’m 64! Of course once you get above those numbers, there are not so many good songs,” he cracked. “I’ve still got a few good weeks left,” added Costello, who will join Thomas in being 65 toward the end of August. Read More….