Melody Maker, October 29, 1983: Difference between revisions
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{{Bibliography header}} | {{Bibliography header}} | ||
{{Bibliography index}} | {{:Bibliography index}} | ||
{{:Melody Maker index}} | {{:Melody Maker index}} | ||
{{Bibliography article header}} | {{Bibliography article header}} | ||
<center><h3> Elvis Costello </h3></center> | <center><h3> Elvis Costello </h3></center> | ||
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<center> Adam Sweeting </center> | <center> Adam Sweeting </center> | ||
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''' Hammersmith Palais | |||
{{Bibliography text}} | {{Bibliography text}} | ||
I think Elvis Costello tries too hard. He wants to be Cole Porter and Sam & Dave, he wants to be a studio sophisticate and the world's roughest and toughest live Attraction, he wants to know everything there is to know and then tell you about it. | I think Elvis Costello tries too hard. He wants to be Cole Porter and Sam & Dave, he wants to be a studio sophisticate and the world's roughest and toughest live Attraction, he wants to know everything there is to know and then tell you about it. | ||
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Costello is dangerous because he knows too much. But a blistering encore of "I Can't Stand Up For Falling Down" said it all — a stiff shot of R&B was worth more than many of the elaborate arrangements and rearrangements which had filled this hour-and-three-quarters set. | Costello is dangerous because he knows too much. But a blistering encore of "I Can't Stand Up For Falling Down" said it all — a stiff shot of R&B was worth more than many of the elaborate arrangements and rearrangements which had filled this hour-and-three-quarters set. | ||
I thought the beginning and especially the end were great, but some ruthless editing was needed for the sagging middle portion. Despite Bruce Thomas' relentless greased-hawser basslines, this was far from vintage night for The Attractions. Pete Thomas | I thought the beginning and especially the end were great, but some ruthless editing was needed for the sagging middle portion. Despite Bruce Thomas' relentless greased-hawser basslines, this was far from vintage night for The Attractions. Pete Thomas, who usually sits on the beat and pummels it till it cries for mercy, was underpowered and sometimes uncertain. | ||
Worse, Steve Nieve, now granted semi-star status, has been issued with miles of rope with which he is gleefully hanging himself. Slicked back and sordid, Nieve scurried round his keyboards like Russ Conway skidding on a bar of soap, spidery fingers quite incapable of resisting yet another embellishment. | Worse, Steve Nieve, now granted semi-star status, has been issued with miles of rope with which he is gleefully hanging himself. Slicked back and sordid, Nieve scurried round his keyboards like Russ Conway skidding on a bar of soap, spidery fingers quite incapable of resisting yet another embellishment. | ||
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But this was still an Elvis Costello show, bristling with ironies and allusions. The stocky little man in the shapeless crumpled suit is the George Smiley of pop, weaving schemes of clandestine elegance behind his unprepossessing sweaty exterior. With the TKO Horns raging behind him like exorcists looking for Kevin Rowland's ghost, Costello slipped through subtle shifts of decor. We were in a black and white world in February 1960 listening to jazz in a Soho coffee bar, we were in a tack-in-a-basket Mecca in Wigan watching the house band wheeze through its paces before the winning numbers were announced at the end of the night, we were lumping to a soul revue on Chicago's South Side. | But this was still an Elvis Costello show, bristling with ironies and allusions. The stocky little man in the shapeless crumpled suit is the George Smiley of pop, weaving schemes of clandestine elegance behind his unprepossessing sweaty exterior. With the TKO Horns raging behind him like exorcists looking for Kevin Rowland's ghost, Costello slipped through subtle shifts of decor. We were in a black and white world in February 1960 listening to jazz in a Soho coffee bar, we were in a tack-in-a-basket Mecca in Wigan watching the house band wheeze through its paces before the winning numbers were announced at the end of the night, we were lumping to a soul revue on Chicago's South Side. | ||
Meanwhile, Costello spun his intelligence-gathering operation. He made a remarkably good stab at " | Meanwhile, Costello spun his intelligence-gathering operation. He made a remarkably good stab at "Shipbuilding," letting his glottal croak float free among the upper reaches of the melody. "Watch Your Step" was affectingly subdued, while a fragment of "Mystery Dance" flashed straight back to the Sun sessions through a tunnel of reverb. "Everyday I Write The Book," quite possibly his best-ever single, fizzed with knowing mockery. | ||
As they bounced back on for the first encore, there was a split-second of genuine delight in Costello's myopic grin as he barked a "thank you!" to the roaring crowd. Costello onstage is a very different animal from Costello on record, running on instinct while the intellect takes a breather. Tonight, the head got in the way of the "Mastermind" battling with the history of soul music in two minutes flat. Less is often more, and tonight was too much. | As they bounced back on for the first encore, there was a split-second of genuine delight in Costello's myopic grin as he barked a "thank you!" to the roaring crowd. Costello onstage is a very different animal from Costello on record, running on instinct while the intellect takes a breather. Tonight, the head got in the way of the "Mastermind" battling with the history of soul music in two minutes flat. Less is often more, and tonight was too much. | ||
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{{tags}}[[Concert 1983-10-17 London|Hammersmith Palais]] {{-}} [[London]] {{-}} [[The Attractions]] {{-}} [[The TKO Horns]] {{-}} [[Afrodiziak]] {{-}} [[Cole Porter]] {{-}} [[Sam & Dave]] {{-}} [[I Can't Stand Up For Falling Down]] {{-}} [[Bruce Thomas]] {{-}} [[Pete Thomas]] {{-}} [[Steve Nieve]] {{-}} [[Man Out Of Time]] {{-}} [[Charm School]] {{-}} [[Clowntime Is Over]] {{-}} [[Dexys Midnight Runners|Kevin Rowland]] {{-}} [[Shipbuilding]] {{-}} [[Watch Your Step]] {{-}} [[Mystery Dance]] {{-}} [[Everyday I Write The Book]] | |||
{{cx}} | {{cx}} | ||
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{{Bibliography next | {{Bibliography next | ||
|prev = Melody Maker, October 15, 1983 | |prev = Melody Maker, October 15, 1983 | ||
|next = Melody Maker, | |next = Melody Maker, January 7, 1984 | ||
}} | }} | ||
'''Melody Maker, October 29, 1983 | '''Melody Maker, October 29, 1983 | ||
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{{Bibliography images}} | {{Bibliography images}} | ||
[[image:1983-10-29 Melody Maker | [[image:1983-10-29 Melody Maker clipping.jpg|160px]] | ||
<br><small>Clipping.</small> | |||
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<small>Cover and clipping composite.</small><br> | |||
[[image:1983-10-29 Melody Maker | [[image:1983-10-29 Melody Maker cover.jpg|x120px]] | ||
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{{Bibliography notes footer}} | {{Bibliography notes footer}} | ||
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*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melody_Maker Wikipedia: Melody Maker] | *[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melody_Maker Wikipedia: Melody Maker] | ||
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[[Category:Bibliography 1983 | [[Category:Bibliography]] | ||
[[Category:Bibliography 1983]] | |||
[[Category:Melody Maker| Melody Maker 1983-10-29]] | [[Category:Melody Maker| Melody Maker 1983-10-29]] | ||
[[Category:Magazine articles | [[Category:Magazine articles]] | ||
[[Category:1983 concert reviews|Melody Maker 1983-10-29]] | [[Category:1983 concert reviews]] | ||
[[Category:Clocking In Across The UK Tour|~Melody Maker 1983-10-29]] |
Latest revision as of 19:23, 16 October 2023
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