Read part II.
"It only takes 35 minutes to play it straight through," commented Elvis Costello of his My Aim is True album. "Twenty-five on a good day."
Thursday night Elvis actually played it twice, in two benefit concerts back to back at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco. I attended the second show. Following an opening performance by duo Austin de Lone and Bill Kirchner (who then later joined the band at the end), Elvis, Sean Hopper, John McFee, John Ciambotti, and drummer Pete Thomas took to the stage and immediately tore through "Welcome to the Working Week." Song by song Elvis and the former band he recorded it with worked their way through the album, performing each track much the same way it had been recorded -- with a few pauses along the way for Elvis to regale the crowd with stories about the album's making.
For instance, apparently they were using a studio in a house somewhere in England, a storied property that Led Zeppelin and Bad Company had once used. Over the years, however, "the house got a little dilapidated." At least one room became infested with rats, which were tolerable roommates -- as long as the light was left on. One night a party ensued, and when Elvis woke up he found himself lying on the couch. In a darkened room.... In order to turn the lights back on he had to cross the room. So he reached down, in the dark, to put on his shoes... And "Blame it on Cain" was born.
After the songs from My Aim is True were exhausted the band turned their sights to "Watching the Detectives" and other Elvis Costello songs. He also played several acoustic ones alone. His rule for the night, though, was that only songs written prior to 1978 could be played. This included some dusty old ones of his that might never have been heard in public before, a Clover song from their early 49er album (one recorded long before the two done in England) and "What's So Funny About Peace, Love, and Understanding," an angry, loud, fast version that closed the show.
Tickets for this event had naturally been very hard to come by. Even though there were two shows and tickets cost $100 each they may have sold them all out in about 15 minutes. I had no choice in the matter, since by the time I got through to Tickets.com only the latter show still had tickets available. But it may have turned out to be the better one to have seen anyway. The 7 o'clock show does have the distinction of being the very first public performance by the Elvis-Clover combination. But because the room had to be cleared to bring a new crowd in for the 10 o'clock one, they couldn't meander. Whereas for the later one, there definitely seemed to be some meandering... (At one point Elvis led the crowd in singing "Happy Birthday" to one of his assistants and then celebrated audience-member Bonnie Raitt's with a solo serenade.)
This occasion marked the first time I had ever seen Elvis Costello perform live, and I was impressed. His rapport with the audience was witty and charming, and he threw himself entirely into his performance (without, of course, being over-wrought). For instance, when he sang out, "I'm not angry!" the irony came through loud and clear...
It was also a pleasure to see these other musicians. For the record (no pun intended), Clover wasn't entirely reunited. Vocalists Alex Call and Huey Lewis had not performed on My Aim is True and they were not in attendance the other night. Also, the last drummer of record for Clover, Mickey Shine, has moved onto other things and was not available. Instead Pete Thomas, who has played with Elvis and whose path had earlier crossed with Clover's, filled in. But the John McFee-John Ciambotti-Sean Hopper trio might not ever have played together within the last thirty years. The occasion certainly marked the first time I'd ever seen Ciambotti and only the second for McFee. Sean Hopper, as a member of Huey Lewis and the News, I've of course seen many, many times, but never playing this. Not that anyone could tell from his performance that these songs weren't his regular bread and butter, of course. He didn't coast by, backing Elvis with a few basic chords; his parts were fully fleshed-out and articulated keyboard lines. That he looked like he was thoroughly enjoying playing.
As did everyone, for that matter. If it wasn't that everyone kept noting how historic the occasion was you might think it happened all the time because the performances were so tight. But given how unique it was, everyone - audience and band alike - clearly got an extra kick out of it, knowing it was a special night to remember.
More reviews:
Joel Selvin, San Francisco Chronicle
Shay Quillen, San Jose Mercury News
hln.org thread
Elvis Costello fan forum thread
Welcome to the Working Week