Elvis Costello @ The Mann Music Center
September 10th, 2007 - by Ana Ng
I’ve never been a huge fan of Elvis Costello. But on the other hand, I don’t particularly dislike him either. So, when a friend offered me a pair of tickets to see Costello live at the Mann Music Center, I jumped on them. The idea of just about any pop/rock star backed by a full orchestra is enough to pique my interest. Plus, the Mann – with its open-air seating – is the perfect venue for a late summer concert.
Unfortunately, this was not the perfect late summer concert. It was a snooze-fest.
From the opening “arrangement” of “All This Useless Beauty,” the entire show felt like musical theatre… marred by indulgent intros, long schmaltzy interludes, and missed opportunities. I guess what I was expecting was some really original and robust orchestral accompaniment to Costello’s eclectic brand of rock. Instead, the show was all orchestral “arrangements” of Costello’s song – some written by other musicians, some by Costello himself. Despite the fact that there seemed to be an anecdote to introduce each arrangement, suggesting that great care and thought went into them, every song felt like it had been shoe-horned into its new format. The musical choices were predictable and disappointing, such as the Perry Mason-esque intro to “Watching the Detectives.”
And then there was “Veronica.” Since (yes, I’ll own it) this is the Elvis Costello song that I know best, I was really looking forward to hearing what he and the orchestra were going to do with it. The answer: not a damn thing. Costello plaid acoustic guitar and Steve Nieve played the piano. That was about it. No drums. No horns. The orchestra joined them for a few bars toward the end of the song, but otherwise sat there looking hamstrung and restless. I wondered if they just didn’t even have sheet music for it. And then, when Costello was done singing the orchestra opened up with what sounded like an overture of “Veronica” but felt like an afterthought.
The only song that didn’t disappoint was “She,” the song Costello wrote for Notting Hill and which I’m pretty sure was originally written for an orchestra. It was beautiful. But not beautiful enough to keep me in my seat… as soon as that song was finished I bolted. Unfortunately, the highlight of this show for me was getting out ahead of the traffic.
September 11th, 2007 at 4:16 pm
I tend to agree with this. This was my first EC concert and not the first impression I would have wanted. It seems this show was catered more to the Mann’s season ticket holders than true EC fans. We’ll see what happens next time.
September 12th, 2007 at 12:00 am
The Boston Symphony has been doing shit like this too. Recently they had the Cowboy Junkies there (didn’t really work) and Ben Folds (was awesome).
From what I can tell, it’s the orchestra’s attempt of trying to get the next generation to appreciate classical music. So far, it seems to failing miserably.
September 13th, 2007 at 10:20 am
You guys are crazy and are probably were some of those who rudely kept shouting Alison!
This was billed as EC with Orchestra. I thought it was an excellent demonstration of his abilities as a diverse artist. I’ve seen him recently with both Allen Toussaint and The Impostors. Both shows were also excellent. Those wishing to see a solid Elvis rock show should see him with the Impostors, not the Classical performance.
My favorites for the evening were “Detectives”, “God Give Me Strength”, and “The Scarlet Tide”
September 13th, 2007 at 11:59 am
I had mixed feelings about the show but for me, the highlight was the short but amazing violin sold during “watching the detectives”
September 13th, 2007 at 11:59 am
That’s “solo” sorry
September 13th, 2007 at 12:15 pm
I was at the show with Ana. And we were not shouting for Alison. Those people were extremely annoying.
Doug — There’s classical performance and then there’s orchestral accompaniment. I guess I just expected the orchestra to be more accompaniment for EC than the thrust of the performance.