Elvis Costello - 1983-08-14 Asbury Park

<<   1983-08-14 Asbury Park

Elvis Costello And The Attractions, with The TKO Horns
Convention Hall
Asbury Park, NJ
14 August 1983


01. Let Them All Talk - with the TKO Horns
02. Possession - with the TKO Horns
03. Watching The Detectives - with the TKO Horns
04. Secondary Modern - with the TKO Horns
05. The Greatest Thing - with the TKO Horns
06. Man Out Of Time - with the TKO Horns
07. Moods For Moderns (Riff Riff Riff instrumental) - with the TKO Horns
08. Kid About It
09. Mystery Dance
10. Shabby Doll
11. Point Of No Return (Jim Ford song)
12. Temptation
13. New Lace Sleeves
14. Shipbuilding
15. Big Sister's Clothes
16. You Belong To Me
17. Clubland - with the TKO Horns
18. Everyday I Write The Book - with the TKO Horns
19. Watch Your Step - with the TKO Horns
20. Back Stabbers - King Horse - with the TKO Horns
21. Clowntime Is Over - with the TKO Horns
22. Tears Before Bedtime - with the TKO Horns
23. TKO (Boxing Day) - with the TKO Horns
24. Alison - including Living A Little, Laughing A Little and The Bells - with the TKO Horns
25. Moods For Moderns (Riff Riff Riff instrumental) - with the TKO Horns
26. I Can't Stand Up For Falling Down - with the TKO Horns
27. Pump It Up - including Ain't That A Lot Of Love - with the TKO Horns


Tracks 1-7 and 17-27 with The T.K.O. Horns

Elvis Costello - vocals, guitar
Steve Nieve - keyboards
Bruce Thomas - bass
Pete Thomas - drums

The TKO Horns:
Dave Plews - trumpet
Paul Speare - tenor saxophone
Jeff Blythe - alto saxophone
Jim Paterson - trombone


Recorder: Unknown
Lineage: Unknown

Comments by area51GM:


40 years on ...............................

A longer than usual pause occurs in the live performances between the Pier 84 show on 10th and this gig only a short hop from NYC but Elvis is far from idle in the intervening time, appearing on WLIR and WNEW radio stations acting as both interviewee and DJ picking favourite tracks. So, with care not to take the great man's name in vain at his home turf, Elvis appears at Asbury Park and whilst we would expect an invigorated band, this is a rather flat performance. The recording has a lot of echo and boomy noise from the Convention Hall and the first song "Let them All Talk" sounds quite muddied with all the instruments blending in - there is a lot more clarity by the time "Possession" draws to a close however. Once again, the T.K.O. horns leave after their burst of the "Moods For Moderns Riff" and then the Attractions alone who manage to loosen up and yet up the tension at the same time. After a couple of "looseners" we get a surprise with a debut of a Jim Ford song "Point Of No Return" - not the Georgie Fame one which one might have expected but a song Elvis would have probably got from the Bobby Womack performance from 1973. It's not especially noteworthy or riveting and the sound of The Attractions is one of a band feeling their way into the song. As it transpires, there are only three more attempts at this song on this tour before it is dropped! It's pretty obvious how the musicians feel judging by the way they immediately sound more brash and confident in the next two oldies before another majestic reading of "Shipbuilding".

"Big Sister's Clothes" again slows things down before a fiery "You Belong To Me" and then the horns drift back into the middle of "Clubland". The final songs follow a familiar pattern except we get another snippet of "The Bells" at the end of "Alison" and towards the end of "Pump It Up" Steve plays a little phrase from "When I'm 64" by The Beatles no doubt as an acknowledgment of the elderly bass player's birthday - Brilliant!
This is a high generation recording and had a lot of booming in the cassette that I had which I've reduced as best I can - the start of "Watch Your Step" seems especially bad - probably best for completists only.

Lineage: TDK SA90 chrome cassette > Nakamichi DR3 (no dolby) > Marantz 6000 CDR > EAC > Nero Platinum for track separation and pitch checking > TLH > FLAC > you