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- Concert in - oewCostello Costell High at His Point
LByRICHTURNBULL ByRICHTURNBU - L Elvis Costello and the Rubinoos at Ithaca Colleg e . April 4 , 1979 . Like a lot of new wave acts , Elvis Costello and the Attractions should be seen to be appreciated . Without actually witnessing his contorted musical attack and shifting demeanor onstage , you might be led to believe that Costello is a sneering bastard who snarls and snarls and snarls . Not - so ; during his - minute set at the e70 minut Ben Light Wednesday night , Gym70 Costello demonstrated an unusual warmth he smiled and seemed happy to be playing , and when the audience finally pressed up close to the stage for the encore , he actually looked satisfied , as if the whole concert was just one big , delightful party . This unusual side of Elvis Costello was quite unexpected , particularly in view of the reports - of the seething , surly - minute e45 minut shows ehess h been known give 4to 5on this tour . In the midst of the dcrowdss crow ecstatic reaction to Elvis as rock star , I realized that the idea of fame and adulation was probably very tunny to him , yet oncenow he almost took it in stride there was even a brief plug for Armed Forces stuck in the Arme d middle of the set . What this means is that you can still laugh at Costello or rather that you can laugh with him . Success nhasntt has made him any less vital a I pop personality , and think Costello above all realizes this . It took the band four songs to overcome an initially shoddy sound mix , but even that ndidntt did prevent the power and glory of Go Goonn o Squad which could - have been a paean to the ggstrong ostronn str - - arms blockading the stage from carefully ecstatic fans from spreading over the audience and making them stand up and feel . About midway through the set , the Attractions hit full tilt , thanks to a pounding version of Lipsti Lipstickk c Vogue , oCostelloss Costell best nnrotten trottete ro - - - woman anthem . The sound was like a spritely gargantuan , heavy and quick all at once , and featured some weighty drum work from Pete Thomas ; not since the hClashss Clas Topper Headon have I seen anyone hit the skins so hard . ¬ The way Elvis and the Attrac tions charged on and off stage made them seem very cool , but not in the same icy way as a band like Roxy Music . Steve Naive bounced around at his keyboards like a kid completely taken over , by the drone of his rocknroll rocknroll bassist Bruce Thomas stalked his
territory and threw occasional quick smiles at his drumming brother , and Elvis Elvis looked like a puppet controlled by an - insane , drug - riddled puppetteer , his jerky griddled dru movements during I I nDontt Do Want to Go to Chelsea coinciding with his jerky guitar playing . The bulk of Costellos Costellos show came from Armed Armed Forces , but where the material on the album is mostly quixotic and exper ¬ ¬ imental , onstage it was trans formed into throbbing hard rock . Olivers Arm y sounded men ¬ Oliver s acing instead of quirky , Bi Big g Boys became a thickly chorded powerhouse , and the stunning , supercharged Gre Greenn e Shirt was an exercise in forced rhythm I longed to beat my hands , my head , anything on the seat during the thunderous four - - note hook in unoter fo ¬ each verse . Even unreleased ma terial like Amateu Amateur r Hour and B - - was shot through Movi Moviess e maddened urgency . And just when withBI thought that perhaps the B
¬ Attractions had reached an ul timate peak , they charged back on for crackling encore versions of It Up the theme song Pu Pumpp m of the evening and Y Youu o Belong to Me . The one moment that stands out most in my mind was when Costello sang , in a hoarse voice that wavered and nearly cracked , My , . M y aim is true in Alis Alisonn o tItss I as close as he ever got to a ¬ plea for understanding , and Cos tello is right his aim is true , ¬ more so than almost any perform er in rock , and he heartily deserved all the adulation and acclaim he received . As if part of some divinely inspired plan to create a nearly perfect evening , flic Rubinoos , a - - based band who opened kBerkeleyele Ber y the based show , were nothing short of sensational . They may look like - junior - high kids gone berserk hjunior hig ( like the Talking Heads ten years ago , perhaps ? ) , but they know as much about what makes pop Continued on Page 13
oCostelloContinued Costell - Continued from Page 111 1 music tick as Nock Lowe does . - Their songs , from the srbonkers kbonkeer bon s - - adolescent I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend I to their covers of Plea Pleasee s Please Me and the Seeds Pushi Pushin n Too Hard , - - - - were made - ffoorrg - lgultutottnoonuosucso - ncos - n - gluttonous nsumption umptio power pop treats . Why they ndontt do have a huge following nmade co is beyond me maybe because theyrree a smart and funny band for ( as their lead perfect guitaristss Foghat parody demonstrated ) in an age where intelligence and humor arentt aren always given the necessary respect .
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