Elvis Costello was so wound up Saturday night at the Bronco Bowl Theater he sounded like a 33 r.p.m. LP playing at 45.
Maybe he was trying to make up for lost time recording with Burt Bacharach. Or perhaps, at age 47, he’s finally rediscovered his inner punk. Whatever the reason, he spent much of the marathon show chasing the snarl and speed of his early days.
Jumping from the jackrabbit new wave of “High Fidelity’’ and “Lipstick Vogue’’ to hyperspeed versions of “Pump It Up,” “Beyond Belief,’’ and “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love & Understanding,’’ he spit out a dozen amphetamine rockers. He got plenty of extra fire from keyboardist Steve Nieve and drummer Pete Thomas (of the Attractions fame) and bassist Davey Farragher (Cracker, John Hiatt).
Elvis Costello returned to form Saturday night at the Bronco Bowl.
(JOHN F. RHODES / DMN) |
Although dubbed the Imposters, the band was the real deal - a spectacularly tight trio that made 20-year-old songs sound brand new. Mr. Nieve was particularly impressive, stirring Tilt-a-Whirl keyboards into “Radio, Radio’’ and adding crazy carnival sounds to the new track “15 Petals.’’ But Elvis was the undisputed ringmaster, in part because he sang as well as he ever has -- tortured and spasmodic one second, calm and soulful the next.
And as brilliant as he was pumping up the rock songs to warp speed, he also covered just about every stylistic nook and cranny in his songbook during the two-and-a-half-hour concert (which included a whopping 80-minute, 15-song encore).
Though he never dipped into the Bacharach material, Elvis the Crooner did emerge during “Almost Blue,’’ “Indoor Fireworks’’ -- his haunting country ballad from King of America - and “Allison,” which morphed beautifully into a tribute to the original Elvis on “Suspicious Minds.’’ Soul Brother Elvis made a brilliant segue from “Deep Dark Truthful Mirror” into Smokey Robinson’s “You Really Got a Hold on Me’’ and later recast “I Can’t Stand Up For Falling Down” as a Motown raveup. And then there was Arty Elvis, playing minimalist jazz guitar at the end of “Watching the Detectives’’ and spinning scary trip-hop in “When I Was Cruel, No. 2.’’
The latter was another new tune from When I Was Cruel , which came out in April to glowing reviews but widespread public indifference. Onstage, Elvis called it the “record that escaped,’’ and judging from the half-empty Bronco Bowl Theater, much of his fan base has also escaped.
That’s what happens when you take a long vacation in easy-listening land. But as Elvis showed Saturday night, it’s never too late to get back to the bare knuckle basics.
