Chicago Sun-Times, October 13, 1986: Difference between revisions
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"Tonight I'd like to feature something a little hit different," explained Elvis Costello at the Riviera Nightclub last night. | |||
He could say the same thing every night of this unusual tour, which continues with sold-out shows at the Riviera tonight and tomorrow, and which will undoubtedly draw plenty of repeat customers from last night's concert. | |||
The tour, you see, was designed by Costello so that every show would be a one-of-a-kind event — with a different theme, different musicians, different songs, different surprises. | |||
Last night's concert was a mixed bag musically, its very looseness a blessing compared with the rigidity that so often passes for rock 'n' roll these days. | |||
There was some solo Elvis. | |||
There was some brilliant backing from the Confederates, the band comprising many of the musicians who played on Costello's ''King of America'' album earlier this year. There was a spot for requests, where Elvis revived the rarely performed "Radio Sweetheart" and other blasts from the past. There was even a topic for the evening — "the world of travel" — which Elvis illustrated with slides of Chicago. | |||
What there wasn't was a selection of most 'of Costello's better-known songs, the ones made familiar through radio play and previous concert appearances. Except for a solo rendition of the obligatory "Alison," the set was dominated by relatively new Elvis and older obscurities from others that were new to Elvis's audience. | |||
Highlights included the jump blues of "That's How You Got Killed Before," the honky-tonkin' "Only Daddy That'll Walk the Line" and a stirring rendition of "It Tears Me Up," a barroom weeper. | |||
The band included guitarist James Burton and bassist Jerry Scheff — both longtime Elvis Presley sidemen — along with organist Mitchell Froom, drummer Jim Keltner and percussionist Michael Blair. | |||
Burton is a rock 'n' roll legend. whose early work on Ricky Nelson's hits gave inspiration to countless guitarists. On "Our Little Angel," the musical warmth of his country chording and Froom's full-bodied organ showed Elvis at his most tender. | |||
Tonight's show reunites Elvis with the Attractions, his longtime British backing trio, for the "Spectacular Spinning Songbook" — the rock 'n' roll equivalent of a game show, in which the audience will determine the song selection ''Wheel of Fortune'' fashion. | |||
Tomorrow night. Costello and the Attractions will play material from the new ''Blood and Chocolate'' album. | |||
Shows this different merit separate reviews, so I'll continue to cover the many sides of Elvis during the next two days as well. | |||
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Revision as of 14:55, 13 September 2016
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