Karen Oberlin sings Elvis, London, 23 and 24 June

Pretty self-explanatory
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Neil.
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Karen Oberlin sings Elvis, London, 23 and 24 June

Post by Neil. »

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supplydavid
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Re: Karen Oberlin sings Elvis, London, 23 and 24 June

Post by supplydavid »

this sounds like it would be a good night out, coming to London but later in June so will miss it, hopefully someone from the forum will attend and report back
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Man out of Time
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Re: Karen Oberlin sings Elvis, London, 23 and 24 June

Post by Man out of Time »

By way of a preview, this review of Karen Oberlin's "His Aim Is True - A Tribute to Elvis Costello" by Stephen Holden was published in the New York Times on 31 July 2015:

Review: Karen Oberlin’s ‘His Aim Is True,’ a Tribute to Elvis Costello

Karen Oberlin’s extensively researched, beautifully executed tribute to the music of Elvis Costello answers a question that has been gnawing at me for years: Why have so few of Mr. Costello’s songs achieved the status of modern standards? For all this time, I had assumed that his raw, unwelcoming voice, with its strangulated diction, was the reason. Surely, a better-equipped singer could untangle his knotty lyrics and sharpen the melodic profiles of songs that Mr. Costello presented as impassioned downbeat mystery stories.

But no. In the show, “His Aim Is True: The Singular Songs of Elvis Costello,” Ms. Oberlin’s warm pop voice, tinged with just the right edge of post-punk impatience, revealed Mr. Costello’s songs to be resistant to explication. Even with the most knowing interpreter, his hyper-clever, verbose musings remain cryptic. To one degree or another, they are codes to be cracked — or not.

On Thursday evening, Ms. Oberlin’s excellent band — led by Tedd Firth on piano and featuring Steve Doyle on bass and Sean Harkness on guitar and harmony vocals — made a powerful case for Mr. Costello’s body of work as a genre unto itself, closer to bebop than to pop or punk rock.

Because Mr. Costello came out of the punk movement, his self-presentation, even now, conveys a tone of defiance and contempt. No matter how insightfully interpreted, his clotted verbiage suggests a songwriter choking on his emotions while paradoxically avoiding the tiniest hint of sentimentality. Ballads like “Almost Blue” and “I’m in the Mood Again,” which Ms. Oberlin infused with a tinge of irony, were the closest the program came to surrendering to pop convention.

The key to a great ballad like “Almost Blue” was the word “almost.” The song leads you toward a cathartic release of tears, then leaves you frustrated and dry-eyed on the edge of an abyss.

Thursday’s show confirmed Mr. Firth to be the most gifted, stylistically far-ranging musical director on the New York nightclub scene. Several of his brilliant piano solos plunged deep into an esoteric realm where tempos shifted and collided and listeners were pitched about on the high seas of jazz.

For Ms. Oberlin, “His Aim Is True” is a major leap forward into full-scale noir, an artistic demimonde that she illuminates with a dark blue glow."

MOOT
sheeptotheslaughter
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Re: Karen Oberlin sings Elvis, London, 23 and 24 June

Post by sheeptotheslaughter »

Neil. wrote:In case anyone's interested!

https://www.pizzaexpresslive.com/whats- ... lin-643008
Looking forward to it.


I have noticed the bass player is TBA it couldn't be Sulky from the geeks and stalkers could it?
Neil.
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Re: Karen Oberlin sings Elvis, London, 23 and 24 June

Post by Neil. »

Karen was great, even though she did fumble quite a few of the lyrics!

Man Out of Time
Shipbuilding
Beyond Belief
Everyday I Write the Book
Aubergine
Almost Blue
Shouldn't You Keep That to Yourself
Mistress and Maid (with her son)
I'm in the Mood Again
God Give Me Strength
Shot with His Own Gun
Blood Count
PLU
The Birds Will Still Be Singing

Sheep, have I missed any?
Alan
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Re: Karen Oberlin sings Elvis, London, 23 and 24 June

Post by Alan »

Neil. wrote:Karen was great, even though she did fumble quite a few of the lyrics!

Man Out of Time
Shipbuilding
Beyond Belief
Everyday I Write the Book
Aubergine
Almost Blue
Shouldn't You Keep That to Yourself
Mistress and Maid (with her son)
I'm in the Mood Again
God Give Me Strength
Shot with His Own Gun
Blood Count
PLU
The Birds Will Still Be Singing

Sheep, have I missed any?
Assuming this relates to the 1st night (Fri 23rd), she also sang Alison fairly early on.

I agree this was an excellent show: Karen has a great voice, and as per the above there was a good balance of hits vs. lesser known stuff. The piano-double bass combo backing her were really good too - I had the impression that they hadn't had very much time to rehearse, so the quality of their musicianship was all the more impressive.

Only surprise to me, given the location of the venue, was that she didn't play Chelsea!
Alan
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Re: Karen Oberlin sings Elvis, London, 23 and 24 June

Post by Alan »

Just remembered that she sang Veronica as well
sheeptotheslaughter
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Joined: Thu Nov 27, 2008 10:51 am

Re: Karen Oberlin sings Elvis, London, 23 and 24 June

Post by sheeptotheslaughter »

Neil. wrote:Karen was great, even though she did fumble quite a few of the lyrics!

Man Out of Time
Shipbuilding
Beyond Belief
Everyday I Write the Book
Aubergine
Almost Blue
Shouldn't You Keep That to Yourself
Mistress and Maid (with her son)
I'm in the Mood Again
God Give Me Strength
Shot with His Own Gun
Blood Count
PLU
The Birds Will Still Be Singing

Sheep, have I missed any?
Alan is right she sang Veronica too, you're obviously too modest to say Karen passed the mike to us for a couple of lines in PLU and I think we nailed it :D

Her husband David was a great guy too and thanked the three of us for coming. He said he thought the Saturday would be the better show as they were a bit jet lagged.

It was a really great night out. I started to try and track the songs on my phone but Lady B told me off so I stopped after beyond belief.

I thought the lesser well known songs were the best, I really loved shouldnt you have kept that to yourself and Blood count. The off mike version of the birds will still be singing was great too.
Neil.
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Joined: Mon Jun 13, 2005 6:14 am
Location: London

Re: Karen Oberlin sings Elvis, London, 23 and 24 June

Post by Neil. »

Yep, you're quite right, she did Alison and Veronica the night we went!

And yes, haha, re 'Chelsea'!!!

Alan, I wish you'd said 'hi' but I guess you didn't know who we were!
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