ELVIS COSTELLO AND THE IMPOSTERS : LIVE IN MEMPHIS |
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Label : Eagle Vision Venue : Hi Tone Café, Memphis, Tennessee, USA Recording Date : September 17, 2004 (late show) Release Date : 2005 Length : 165 minutes NTSC : 16:9 Review (All About Jazz) : When Elvis Costello and The Imposters toured Canada in 2003, the apparent inability to pigeon-hole the group resulted in their being booked at the Montreal Jazz Festival, the Ottawa Blues Festival and the Winnipeg Folk Festival. More a question of finding a venue in each city, the reality is that, while Costello has dabbled in songwriter styles far and wide, with The Imposters there's no real problem defining what he's doing: it's unabashed rock and roll, plain and simple. And on the recently-released concert DVD, Club Date: Live in Memphis, Costello and The Imposters deliver a two-hour set, in front of an intimate crowd of 200, of the kind of high octane rock that has characterized much of Costello's career. Opening with the one-two-three punch of "Waiting for the End of the World from My Aim is True, segueing into "Radio Radio and tying up with "Mystery Dance, also from My Aim is True, Costello and The Imposters set the general tone for the whole concert — a raucous energy filled with Costello's raw guitar, Steve Nieve's Jerry Lee Lewis-style piano and just-the-right-amount-of-cheese organ and Davey Faragher's bass, which creates an unfailing pocket coupled with Pete Thomas' powerful drums. In fact, by the time the band hit the ballad "Country Darkness, it's an overdue respite. From there the pacing is a little more balanced, mixing more powerful tunes like "Blame it on Cain and "High Fidelity with soulful ballads including "Either Side of the Same Town and "Alison. Costello even visits his country roots with three tunes where the group is joined by vocalist Emmylou Harris, taking the pace down a number of notches before finishing the night with another three punch: "Suspicious Minds, "Peace Love and Understanding and "Pump It Up. When Costello first emerged, out from under the New Wave banner of the late '70s, what distinguished him instantly from most of his contemporaries was his voice — with a range, power and, frankly, musicality that was almost contradictory to most of the singers around him — and his writing — lyrics that belied more literate concerns. Here his voice and lyrical acumen remain intact. Now in his 50s, Costello has lost none of the range and power that he had when he first emerged nearly 30 years ago. Recorded in high definition, the audio and video qualities are superb. And if the concert footage isn't enough, there are some bonus performances — including two more with Harris — along with entertaining "reality footage of Costello and Thomas driving around Memphis, along with interviews with fans in the long line-up for the paltry 200 seats available for the show. For Costello fans it doesn't get much better than this — a hot concert in an intimate setting with Costello and The Imposters running through a 21-song set that touches on Costello's entire career. Fiercely energetic at times, remarkably tender at others, it's a vivid picture of one of the few artists to emerge from the New Wave scene of the '70s who has managed to build a lifelong career that is more than just a nostalgia trip. As vital now as he's ever been, and still putting out new records with the kind of consistency that few achieve, Club Date: Live in Memphis is great rock and roll and, as they used to say in the vinyl days, is best experienced when played LOUD. Personnel: Elvis Costello (guitar, vocals); Steve Nieve (keyboards); Davey Faragher (bass, backing vocals); Pete Thomas (drums); with guest Emmylou Harris (vocals on "I Still Miss Someone, "Heart Shaped Bruise, "Wheels and bonus tracks "My Baby's Gone and "Sleepless Nights ). Review (AllMusic) : Recorded on his 2005 The Delivery Man tour, Elvis Costello's first live DVD is a winner. Caught in Memphis - a reflection of his love of Southern R&B and country, as well as the landscape for the recording of his most recent album -- with the tightly knit Imposters backing outfit, Costello plunders his extensive catalog and adds some surprises. The show took place at Memphis' Hi Tone Café, an intimate 250-seat joint packed with Costello fans, some of whom waited for hours for tickets. Taped in crisp but not slick high-definition video and surround sound by a professional camera crew, it looks and sounds great too. For better or worse, every bead of sweat and hair of Costello's scraggly beard is crystal clear, bringing him into your living room in as much presence as two dimensions will allow. Six of the show's 20 tracks, and two of its four bonus selections, hail from The Delivery Man, an album the majority of critics and fans consider Costello's best and most relaxed in many years. The singer/songwriter/guitarist and his band are in fine fettle throughout, charging into oldies such as the opening "Waiting for the End of the World" along with "Radio Radio," "Mystery Dance," "Blame It on Cain" (a song he introduces as "one I haven't done in a while"), "High Fidelity," "Pump It Up," and "Peace Love and Understanding" with the fire, if not hunger, of the old Attractions days. That is not surprising, since his current band includes both drummer Pete Thomas and keyboard whiz Steve Nieve of that band. Emmylou Harris makes an appearance, singing duets with Elvis on three tracks. One of these is Gram Parsons' "Wheels," a standard in her repertoire. Harris also reprises "Heart Shaped Bruise," the song she contributes to on The Delivery Man. The concept seems better on paper than in execution, with Costello's thick vocals -- which are generally pushed too far up front in the mix for the entire show -- overpowering Harris, who seems a little uncomfortable with her performance and sharing a microphone with Elvis. Two more Costello/Harris duets are included as extras, with both subject to similar limitations. It's a long show, running about two hours not including another 20 minutes of extra songs, inexplicably separated from the original program. An hour-long documentary extra entitled "Off the Beaten Path: A Road Trip with Elvis and Pete" follows the titular members/friends on a tour through the Deep South, with stops at landmarks including the studio where they recorded many tracks of the new album. They also swing by Jimbo Mathus' studio, and you follow Elvis as he goes clothes shopping in some funky shops and does some sightseeing in Memphis and Clarksdale, MS. It provides fascinating insight into Costello's influences and knowledge of Southern music and is well worth watching for fans of either. Enthusiasts might decry the lack of any mid-period Warner Brothers-era material, and the omission of material from the Americana-oriented King of America album is particularly questionable. But what is here is extremely well performed, making this a must for all Costello, if not Emmylou Harris, fans. |