Elvis & The Imposters with Charlie Sexton at Mountain Winery, Saratoga, CA, June 10, 2024

[Man out of Time]

Elvis' Co-Headlining tour with Daryl Hall, will continue at the Mountain Winery in Saratoga, CA. Elvis will be joined by The Imposters and Charlie Sexton again.

The Mountain Winery is a small select concert venue in Saratoga, CA, previously called the Paul Masson Mountain Winery. Founded by the famous vintner in 1905, the winery only acquired its concert facilities in 1958, when the amphitheater was built, and accommodates approximately 2,500 people for concerts. Elvis and the Imposters played the same venue twice in 2023 on their "The Boy Named If And Other Favourites" tour. THis will be Elvis' seventh appearance at the venue.

Tickets are now on sale (here) priced between $299.50 and $99.50. I am sure that $0.50 saving makes all the difference. VIP packages are available from $438.39 + fees and taxes. Difficult to judge from the online seating plan, but maybe half the tickets have sold so far, so plenty still available.

Who's going?

MOOT

[johnfoyle]

Who's going?

[tkoegel]

I'm here in Saratoga and excited for the show. Hoping that Hall goes first so Elvis can close, and thinking that will be the case because it looks like EC opened in Bend two days ago (guessing from the start time). Looks to be a lovely night . . . 73 degrees at 8:00 p.m.

[And No Coffee Table]

https://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/ind ... 0_Saratoga

01. Pump It Up
02. Watching The Detectives
03. No Flag
04. Either Side Of The Same Town
05. Men Called Uncle
06. Miracle Man
07. Wonder Woman
08. Everyday I Write The Book
09. Everybody's Crying Mercy
10. Clubland - including Ghost Town
11. The Only Flame In Town
12. Mystery Dance
13. (I Don't Want To Go To) Chelsea
14. Magnificent Hurt
15. (What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love And Understanding?
16. Radio, Radio
17. Alison

"Men Called Uncle" was last played in 2013.

Hoping that Hall goes first so Elvis can close, and thinking that will be the case because it looks like EC opened in Bend two days ago (guessing from the start time).

EC is going first at all shows.

[tkoegel]

EC is going first at all shows.

Yep, right you are--at least based on this show. I had noticed that the Washington show and (I thought) the Bend show had very late start times for EC. But the start times for Bend seem to have disappeared and the Washington show apparently started late because of a windstorm.

Because there has been so little chatter on this board about this particular tour, I figured I would add a few words.

Elvis took the stage at about 5 minutes until 7 on a lovely warm evening in Saratoga. He was resplendent in an emerald-green suit, purple hat and glasses . . . and fabulous gold boots (seen below).

He was in good voice, particularly as compared to when last he visited the Mountain Winery at the end of the 2022 with Nick Lowe. At that concert, his voice was just about shot.

The co-headliner gig obviously makes for a much shorter than usual set. But he played until 8:20 (1:25) and did not disappoint. I was hoping for a few things from A Face in the Crowd, which did not arrive. But I'm scheduled to see the play in September in London, so I'll get it all in its intended form then. All the Imposters and Charlie Sexton were great.

The venue (2500 capacity) was probably 80% full. The first couple rows are reserved for fancy expensive packages and there were some noticeable gaps there. And on the sides of the stage in the lower sections. But the higher up sections looked completely full.

I was curious to see how the oddball (to me, at least) pairing for co-headliners would go over. It appeared to me that the EC hardliners were pretty heavily concentrated in the front rows. And early in the concert somebody hollered out something like "they won't let us dance" . . . I would guess because people in the back of the lower section wanted people in the center to sit down. Elvis said something like "what the [eff] are you talking about, of course you can dance." When Hall took the stage, it was the back of the arena that seemed more engaged. A fair number of people in the front two rows for EC either disappeared or swapped their seats with Hall fans. No way to know who was the bigger draw overall.

In contrast to Elvis's voice, which came out clear and true (except when using those special mics he loves to play with), Hall had trouble projecting. Not sure if this was the sound mix . . . he was regularly barking at this mixer as well as his guitar handler . . . or the state of his voice today. I'm not that familiar with his work other than the obvious Hall & Oates radio hits from the 1980s. He seemed to be mixing his radio hits (he opened with Maneater and got the biggest crowd reaction with "I Can't Go for That (No Can Do)") with stuff from his solo career. He plugged pretty hard for a new album that he said was coming out in the next 10 days. If you asked me, I would say that Hall's lead guitarist and sax player were the best parts of his show.

Last EC comment--I find interesting the inclusion of No Flag, previously pretty obscure (to me, at least) in every show thus far in the tour. An oblique reference to current political/Supreme Court events?

Is this show a must see for Elvis fans? I dunno. As always, he left me wanting more. Even the case after seeing the full ten-night run at the Gramercy!

Oh, and for the first time in my experience at an Elvis show, the venue had signs saying "no photography at request of artists." My wife snuck the below photo without getting in trouble. There was some a**hat who during Hall's last song walked right in front of the stage and snapped a photo of Hall from about 5 feet away. Obnoxious! Elvis didn't seem to care about the people who were in the first row taking lots of pictures.

[MOJO]

Good show. Would have preferred an all EC show, but a little EC / Imps + Sexton is fine by me! I crawled out from a Santa Cruz mountains camp out for this show. It was worth it. There seemed to be some sound / mix issues. Hall was pretty good. Yacht rock summer sounds.. had a boozy kind of vibe to it.

[Alan]

Am I the only one who finds it odd that Elvis is on tour with Darryl Hall, is including 'Only Flame in Town' in his set, but not performing that number as a duet featuring them both? I'd kind of assumed that this would be a core element of a line-up involving the two of them.

[Psc]

Yep, seems a real wasted opportunity and the only real reason for them to tour together!

What's everyone's take on these type of co-headliner package shows? To me they often seem like the worst of both worlds, with Elvis fans unwilling to shell out the higher ticket price for a shorter set and then sit through a headliner that you're not really interested in?

A couple of years ago in the UK there was a bizarre mash up arena tour announced featuring Billy Idol supported by Television. I would have loved to see TV one last time, but wasn't interested in Billy at all so I didn't bother getting tickets. Sadly Tom Verlaine's illness and tragic passing meant the tour was cancelled anyway...

[verbal gymnastics]

Am I the only one who finds it odd that Elvis is on tour with Darryl Hall, is including 'Only Flame in Town' in his set, but not performing that number as a duet featuring them both? I'd kind of assumed that this would be a core element of a line-up involving the two of them.

I agree.

I wonder if they are working towards this.

It’s hard to believe that they won’t do that one song or at least a mini set.

Elvis had Dreamtime as a Spectacular Spinning Songbook request back in the day.

[And No Coffee Table]

I'd like to see Elvis and Daryl perform together, but I wonder whether they would prefer to play a Spinners or Temptations song they both love rather than "The Only Flame in Town."

EC has rarely played "Flame" live since 1987 and never in its original arrangement. Does he even like the original enough to want to recreate it on stage? Is there a place for Daryl Hall in a different arrangement?

[MOJO]

Am I the only one who finds it odd that Elvis is on tour with Darryl Hall, is including 'Only Flame in Town' in his set, but not performing that number as a duet featuring them both? I'd kind of assumed that this would be a core element of a line-up involving the two of them.

I agree.

I wonder if they are working towards this.

It’s hard to believe that they won’t do that one song or at least a mini set.

Elvis had Dreamtime as a Spectacular Spinning Songbook request back in the day.

It was a different arrangement/tempo so it was just fine with EC solo. Both acts ripped through their sets fairly quickly. It was a great night of music. Footloose and fancy free! Perfect… other than the $40 double Tito’s I bought… zoinks. Good times. If you are a fan, you should go to this show. Summertime fun for the whole family.

[Alan]

I'd like to see Elvis and Daryl perform together, but I wonder whether they would prefer to play a Spinners or Temptations song they both love rather than "The Only Flame in Town."

EC has rarely played "Flame" live since 1987 and never in its original arrangement. Does he even like the original enough to want to recreate it on stage? Is there a place for Daryl Hall in a different arrangement?

Interesting - personally I love 'Only Flame' as a song, and have spent years trying to master Steve N's Bach-inspired solo bit at the end in my own clumsy piano rendition: will crack it one day!

[EcfanNY]

No mention of ‘Men Called Uncle”?