There are three things I already know about Elvis Costello's set. Here we go:
1) Despite not having all the bells and whistles, he'll be as good or better than The Police.
2) While he's playing, the crowd will still be filing in, will be only half-interested or, knowing Route 22/30, will still be stuck in traffic.
3) It will be excruciatingly brief.
This is the second time in two years that Elvis (at left) has turned up here as an opener, the last one being with Bob Dylan at the Petersen Center. While 45 minutes of Elvis is better than no Elvis, it would be nice if he would play another real show here. The last time he did was the unforgettable two-hour-plus evening in July 2005 at the Chevrolet Amphitheatre, one of the best concerts ever at the venue and the PG's Concert of the Year.
In a more perfect world, Elvis, being the best songwriter of his generation and having significantly more albums than The Police, would be the headliner. That way The Police could play the faster, punkier 45-minute set — with a speedy "Roxanne" and fewer jazzy interludes along the way — that a lot of their older fans want anyway. And Elvis could explore his deep catalog with a more expansive set (as long as he goes easy on the new Momofuku, because, frankly, it's no Armed Forces).
Unfortunately, he's not as cute as Sting and only has two bona fide hits (one of them not being "Alison") so that ain't happening...
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