07.29.2019
ELVIS COSTELLO AND BLONDIE CELEBRATE THE PAST WHILE LOOKING TO THE FUTURE
The Key XPN: John Vettese: 28th July 2019
…the balance that the set began to strike at this point was it’s biggest strength — the esoteric Bacharach collab into one of his most beloved cuts of his punk era, “(I Don’t Want To Go To) Chelsea.” The suave samba “Episode of Blonde” from 2002’s When I Was Cruel into the garage energy of “Beyond Belief” from the recently-revisited Imperial Bedroom, into the film-noir dub of the classic “Watching The Detectives.” It seemed like this set was equally aimed at the casuals, the fans, the hyper-fans, and Costello himself. Even if the title song to his forthcoming musical Face In The Crowd (“you’re gonna come see it, right?”) was a bit self-indulgent, it spotlighting Costello’s outstanding piano playing, and gave backup vocalists Kitten Kuori and Briana Lee room to shine.
In addition to the setlist variety, we’d be remiss not to give The Imposters themselves a shoutout. Keys player Steve Nieve, drummer Pete Thomas, and bassist Davey Faragher are a lean, mean unit — Thomas’ drum kit is only a kick / snare / rack / floor setup, with a couple cymbals, and his bandmates operate on humble amps, only Nieve flirting with excess. It’s stripped down in a relative sense (look at all the stuff Blondie had onstage just before them, or Hozier the night before) and yet they did so much with it.
But the songs themselves were the centerpiece, and Costello’s have so many touch points, from the listeners in the cheap seats to the nerdy obsessives….