Los Angeles Times, September 6, 2014: Difference between revisions
(+image links / +print edition headline) |
(formatting +tags) |
||
Line 13: | Line 13: | ||
Which Elvis Costello would the singer and songwriter born Declan MacManus ferry to the Hollywood Bowl for the first of a two-night stint with the Los Angeles Philharmonic? | Which Elvis Costello would the singer and songwriter born Declan MacManus ferry to the Hollywood Bowl for the first of a two-night stint with the Los Angeles Philharmonic? | ||
So many to choose from, each another piece of an emotional artist: the alienated idealist of "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace Love and Understanding"; the desperate obsessive of "Uncomplicated"; the soothsayer of Information Age malaise in "Satellite" or the furious critic in "Walk Us Uptown." | So many to choose from, each another piece of an emotional artist: the alienated idealist of "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding"; the desperate obsessive of "Uncomplicated"; the soothsayer of Information Age malaise in "Satellite" or the furious critic in "Walk Us Uptown." | ||
So deep is his catalog that Costello, who just turned 60, could have centered his tight, imaginative Friday set around specific themes — a night of bitterness, or devotion, or remorse — and emerged victorious. He seemed to admit as much in the opening line of his show, which used the full heft of the orchestra for 10 of 11 songs. "Oh, I just don't know where to begin," he sang, a man left speechless in "Accidents Will Happen" by volumes and varieties of ideas. | So deep is his catalog that Costello, who just turned 60, could have centered his tight, imaginative Friday set around specific themes — a night of bitterness, or devotion, or remorse — and emerged victorious. He seemed to admit as much in the opening line of his show, which used the full heft of the orchestra for 10 of 11 songs. "Oh, I just don't know where to begin," he sang, a man left speechless in "Accidents Will Happen" by volumes and varieties of ideas. | ||
Line 23: | Line 23: | ||
The singer's focus was on hope and love, and great lyrical couplets echoed throughout the Bowl. He presented the mournful "Shipbuilding" with a swirling, percussive vibe adapted, said Costello, from Chet Baker's improvised arrangement of the song. Befitting the confusing state described in his lyrics, of a depressed town pining for jobs through war money, the orchestra performed with tense fluidity. | The singer's focus was on hope and love, and great lyrical couplets echoed throughout the Bowl. He presented the mournful "Shipbuilding" with a swirling, percussive vibe adapted, said Costello, from Chet Baker's improvised arrangement of the song. Befitting the confusing state described in his lyrics, of a depressed town pining for jobs through war money, the orchestra performed with tense fluidity. | ||
"It's just a rumour that was spread around town, a telegram or a picture postcard," sang Costello. As conductor Scott Dunn spun woodwinds and brass, Costello resolved to hope: "Soon we'll be shipbuilding." | "It's just a rumour that was spread around town, a telegram or a picture postcard," sang Costello. As conductor Scott Dunn spun woodwinds and brass, Costello resolved to hope: ''"Soon we'll be shipbuilding."'' | ||
Dressed like a pimp headed to a funeral — black three piece suit, red fedora — Costello was warm and relaxed, his demeanor befitting the occasion (and far removed from his game-show host persona of his "Spectacular Spinning Songbook" shows). Instead of electric guitar, the artist and orchestra were accompanied by Costello's longtime pianist Steve Nieve and a rhythm section — bassist Dennis Crouch and drummer | Dressed like a pimp headed to a funeral — black three piece suit, red fedora — Costello was warm and relaxed, his demeanor befitting the occasion (and far removed from his game-show host persona of his "Spectacular Spinning Songbook" shows). Instead of electric guitar, the artist and orchestra were accompanied by Costello's longtime pianist Steve Nieve and a rhythm section — bassist Dennis Crouch and drummer Karriem Riggins — "borrowed," said Costello, from his wife Diana Krall's backing band. | ||
Despite the title, "All This Useless Beauty" made a profound argument for beauty's utility, with Costello focused on fading luster and insecurity: ''"Our leaders have feasts on the backsides of beasts/ They still think they're the gods of antiquity,"'' he sang as Dunn maneuvered the orchestra through a tangle of string and horn runs. "If something you missed didn't even exist/ It was just an ideal, is it such a surprise?" | Despite the title, "All This Useless Beauty" made a profound argument for beauty's utility, with Costello focused on fading luster and insecurity: ''"Our leaders have feasts on the backsides of beasts/ They still think they're the gods of antiquity,"'' he sang as Dunn maneuvered the orchestra through a tangle of string and horn runs. ''"If something you missed didn't even exist/ It was just an ideal, is it such a surprise?"'' | ||
For "Almost Blue," one of Costello's most enduring, and brilliant, love songs, the artist filtered dense, complicated emotions through the breath and fingertips of expert dozens, and his work blossomed. | For "Almost Blue," one of Costello's most enduring, and brilliant, love songs, the artist filtered dense, complicated emotions through the breath and fingertips of expert dozens, and his work blossomed. | ||
Line 45: | Line 45: | ||
{{cx}} | {{cx}} | ||
Copyright 2014 Los Angeles Times | Copyright 2014 Los Angeles Times | ||
{{tags}}[[Hollywood Bowl]] {{-}} [[Los Angeles]] {{-}} [[Steve Nieve]] {{-}} [[Karriem Riggins]] {{-}} [[Dennis Crouch]] {{-}} [[Los Angeles Philharmonic|LA Philharmonic]] {{-}} [[Ben Folds]] {{-}} [[(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love And Understanding?]] {{-}} [[Uncomplicated]] {{-}} [[Satellite]] {{-}} [[Walk Us Uptown]] {{-}} [[Accidents Will Happen]] {{-}} [[The Imposter]] {{-}} [[Shipbuilding]] {{-}} [[Chet Baker]] {{-}} [[Scott Dunn]] {{-}} [[Spectacular Spinning Songbook]] {{-}} [[Diana Krall]] {{-}} [[All This Useless Beauty (song)|All This Useless Beauty]] {{-}} [[Almost Blue (song)|Almost Blue]] {{-}} [[Hollywood High School]] {{-}} [[Whisky a Go Go]] {{-}} [[Santa Monica Civic Auditorium]] {{-}} [[El Rey Theatre]] {{-}} [[Alison]] {{-}} [[Watching The Detectives]] | |||
{{cx}} | |||
{{Bibliography notes header}} | {{Bibliography notes header}} | ||
Line 62: | Line 65: | ||
<br><small>Clipping.</small> | <br><small>Clipping.</small> | ||
<small>Photos by [[Genaro Molina]].</small><br> | |||
[[image:2014-09-06 Los Angeles Times photo 02 gm.jpg|380px]] | |||
[[image:2014-09-06 Los Angeles Times page D3 clipping 01.jpg|240px]] | |||
<br><small>Clipping.</small> | |||
<small>Photo by [[Genaro Molina]].</small><br> | |||
[[image:2014-09-06 Los Angeles Times photo 01 gm.jpg|240px]] | |||
[[image:2014-09-06 Los Angeles Times photo | |||
Latest revision as of 08:03, 1 September 2020
|