"Elvis is King" formed the design of his first album and last weekend Elvis Costello and the Attractions reigned triumphant at the Palladium for three consecutive nights.
Squeeze opened for the Attractions who were returning to the States after a two year absence in what has been titled The English Mugs Tour.
The performance centered around Steve Nieve, the Attractions' pianist. Nieve proved that this was a group effort, not just a singer and a back-up band. The 20-odd song set lasted over an hour including two encores, one of which featured Squeeze member Glenn Tilbrook sharing vocals with Elvis on "From a Whisper to a Scream" off of Costello's latest album Trust. The cuts introduced from Trust which had been released the previous week were enthusiastically accepted not to mention the the response given to such standards as "Alison" and "Radio, Radio."
"Clowntime is Over" was the emotional peak, as the music stopped and Elvis cried "who's making lover's lane safe again for lovers?" A few songs had altered their melodies. During one of the encores Elvis took over the guitar lead in "Watching the Detectives" and slipped in a chorus of Bob Marley's "Jammin'."
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