03.05.2025
Elvis Costello At The State Theatre Of Ithaca
NYS Music: Stephen Lewis: March 2nd 2025
The Costello/Nieve shows exhibit a loose focus that dives with rock and roll aplomb into Costello’s expansive fifty-year songbook. There is a anything goes sensibility, as well an effortless freedom and willingness to experiment.
In a concert that combined intimacy, showmanship, and legendary songwriting, Costello and Nieve successfully built every song from the bottom up in real time, while revealing the essences of each. Ever the changing artist, and forever in a process of reinvention, Costello and his bandmate continue to confound musical expectations through instrumental prowess, unconventional arrangements, and stellar performances.