03.17.2018
ELVIS COSTELLO TAMES THE ELEMENTS DURING NEW YORK CONCERT RUN
Centerline: Jim Bessman: March 14th 2018
Paraphrasing W.C. Fields in A Fatal Glass of Beer, last Wednesday night (March 7) in Brooklyn and much of the nor’easter-wracked Eastern seaboard wasn’t a fit night out for man or beast. But Elvis Costello & The Imposters rose to the occasion for the many hearty souls who still braved the elements for the first of four New York area shows (Port Chester’s Capitol Theatre hosted the next three, last Thursday, Friday and Sunday nights).
Taking the stage to the perfect choice of Rosemary Clooney’s “Snow,” Elvis & Co.. were on fire from the get-go, rattling off an initial volley of front-loaded favorites (“Wonder Woman,” “Girls Talk,” “Big Tears,” “Miracle Man,” Radio Radio” and “This is Hell”) with such blazing abandon that drummer Pete Thomas seemed on the verge of spontaneously combusting at any moment.
Maybe the audience needed a breather when the pace finally did slow down a bit for ballads like “Deep Dark Truthful Mirror” and “Motel Matches” (the latter always a Costello vocal tour de force), but the band didn’t: They kicked it right back up again with rockers like “(I Don’t Want to Go to) Chelsea” and “Waiting for the End of the World.” Read More….