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Last night there was a party at the Ledge. Everybody there was there. Just like every really good party, too many people showed up. But college crowds are what turns Elvis Costello on.
To start at the beginning, it should be noted that Willie Alexander and the Boom Boom Band kicked off. They simply numbed everybody.
Then came Elvis. Oh, Elvis, a mother should be so lucky. It seems as if nerd rock has found its long lost home at Rutgers College. It was just like the days when dorms were never locked and Fratdances were in Records Hall.
It seems as if everyone must have been feeling too cool lately — that is they must have needed someone weird to relate to. Describing Elvis is really tough. Think of him as the Woody Allen of rock 'n' roll, or Andy Kaufman maybe. Either way there is no denying it — Elvis is, above all, contrived. But that's okay, don't take it the wrong way. It takes a clever man to play the fool.
Like all really nerdy people Elvis has his faults. Not that there is any real call to get down on him, but his nose is too straight. Even though he wears a tie like one of those guys working in an A&P, he just doesn't really gross you out like you expect. No matter how many times he pointed his feet together or scratched his head you could always see that beneath all that nerdiness there exists a charismatic and important person.
How about Elvis's band, though. Didn't they look like renegades from Happy Days? Seriously, Elvis probably hired them to add to his stage show. Forget seriously, there is nothing serious here nor was there anything very serious at the Ledge. Oh, wait a minute, Willie Alexander thought he was for real.
Enough fooling around, it's time this review got into some serious talk about punk rock. The first time it happened, punk rock was all people were capable of. When the Rascals got a really groovy sound out of their Farfisa mini-compact organ, that was all there was. To relive those moments is a pleasure reserved for those who lived them.
To relive them personally is to bring skeletons out of the closet. Thus Willie Alexander and the Boom Boom Band can take their cheap Mick imitations and go back to Boston. Meanwhile Elvis represents the only true caricature of happy days gone by.
Truly creative from the word go, Elvis not only writes super songs. He has the delivery of a master. Rarely can a performer so eloquently express himself in a moment of poised silence. Elvis is such a man. Which almost makes one believe that his aim is true.
Before playing his bullet material, Elvis announced that he planned never to play "Alison" again. While it was spoken with a solemn tone, and while it would feel good to know Rutgers was the place he stopped singing it, it would be a real loss for audiences and Elvis if he does.
There is no denying it. Last night at the Ledge Rutgers University Major Productions (RUMP) really brought something special to Rutgers. Besides the cool people on the guest list, which kept multiplying, Elvis Costello put on a great show and confirmed his spot in the future of rock 'n' roll energizers.
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