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Am I right in remembering that the Royal Albert Hall was in The Man Who Knew Too Much? Or maybe it was a venue much like it. Whatever, this was a cool setting to see old Elvis, although not nearly as intimate as the Supper Club show a couple of years ago. I had a seat directly opposite the stage, about 10 rows above the soundboard, so there was a nice unobstructed view of the stage.
Elvis was in fine voice, although he started sounding a bit husky towards the end of the show. The sound was impeccable and the audience extremely well-behaved, although before "All This Useless Beauty" someone yelled out "Tramp the Dirt Down" and then kept going on about Margaret Thatcher. Elvis talked back a little bit, but this guy kept going on and on about Thatcher and how Elvis should play the song. Elvis said something to the effect that he couldn't stand the woman, especially for what she did recently (I think he said something about Pinochet, but I didn't quite catch it). "But I'm still not going to play the fucking song." And that ended it.
The song that received the biggest amount of applause when he started it was, surprisingly, "I Want You." Must be some weird British thing. Maybe somebody used it for a Levi's commercial or something. (Don't laugh. There's a Ladysmith Black Mambazo album out here now that has a sticker on it that says, "As featured in the Heinz commercial." True story.)
Everyone was happy to hear the old numbers and respectfully quiet for the newer ones. "A Good Year for the Roses" was a nice surprise, but no mention was made of George's run-in with the bridge abutment. The best song of the night, by far, was the last one, as it was performed sans electricity, Steve on the piano and Elvis belting it out in front of the monitors. It was fucking amazing, especially in the setting. You could hear a pin drop during the whole thing. Well worth the price of admission.
All in all a B+ Elvis concert. He tends to be playing around a little too much with his phrasing and timing for my tastes. Oftentimes he'd get a song going and then slow it down or stretch out certain parts. But maybe that's just me seeing him so much? The Bacharach numbers sounded good shorn of their orchestration and vocalization, especially "Painted From Memory." And "Shipbuilding" was just about perfect considering current events. Nice juxtaposition with "Peace, Love and Understanding," too.
So check it out when the show rolls into your home town. The tour t-shirts said Los Angeles and New York, fyi.
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