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Elvis Costello is a writer and part-time musician who made a number of records in the 20th Century, some of which are still remembered today.
He was born in London and raised there and in Liverpool.
Costello is the composer or lyricist of over six hundred published titles, including fifteen songs co-written with Paul McCartney and renowned collaborations with Allen Toussaint, the Brodsky Quartet and T Bone Burnett.
Costello's songwriting alliance with Burt Bacharach, began in 1995 with the song, "God Give Me Strength", which led to the 1998 album, "Painted From Memory", before their work was collected in 2023, on the four-album set, "The Songs Of Bacharach & Costello".
Elvis Costello songs have been recorded by Roy Orbison, Johnny Cash, Chet Baker, Dusty Springfield, Solomon Burke, George Jones, Linda Ronstadt and Bjork, while among the artists with whom he has written songs are Loretta Lynn, Carole King, Rosanne Cash and Kris Kristofferson and his wife, Diana Krall.
Working purely as a lyricist, Costello has provided words for the music of Billy Strayhorn, Oscar Peterson and for twelve Charles Mingus compositions and as a composer, set twelve unpublished lyrics by Bob Dylan.
2024 will see the opening of "A Face In The Crowd", Sarah Ruhl's stage adaptation of the Budd Schulberg story for which Elvis Costello composed the songs.
"A Face In The Crowd" will open at the Young Vic in London on INSERT DATE, directed by Kwame Kwei-Armah and produced by Adam Kenwright.
Elvis Costello is the author of "Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink", a more than six-hundred page memoir which has been translated into six languages. He has received a range of awards over his 45 year old career of which the induction into the Songwriters Hall Of Fame is probably the most significant.
Although he holds two honorary doctorates in music - one from the University of Liverpool and another from the New England Conservatory- Elvis Costello is known for playing the guitar with almost no regard for common sense.
Costello currently performs with The Imposters; his long time companions, drummer, Pete Thomas and pianist, Steve Nieve, bassist of twenty-three years standing, Davey Faragher and their special guest, Texas guitarist, Charlie Sexton.
The sound quality left a lot to be desired. I expected better at this venue. When you buy tickets to a concert you have no idea what the set list is going to be but Elvis left off a lot of his hits that fans came to see. Disappointing. On the positive side…Nick Lowe was very good.
Almost 40 years to the day after first seeing the Man, I’m blessed to see him again. Bonus was seeing Nick Lowe open and join Elvis for a duet.
Nick Lowe opened with Los Straitjackets and was fantastic. Great mood, and in great voice. Elvis started strong and ended amazingly, with a few too many wordy, less-melodic songs strung together in the middle. His spirits and energy were terrific, and he rocked-out like a youngster on the faster-paced oldies. Overall, very enjoyable.
It had been a little while since I'd last seen Elvis --- 42 years --- but he was as powerful and memorable as when he closed the Heatwave festival, with Talking Heads/Pretenders/Rockpile/etc as tough acts to follow. He is less angry and intense than 1980, but the breadth of his songbook and style, his comfort in engaging with the audience and the strength of the musicianship more than compensates. He opened with Accidents Will Happen and Green Shirt from Armed Forces, but the next 19 songs covered a ton of ground, including stuff I'd never heard before (but I don't pretend to have encyclopedic knowledge.) Sprinkled between lesser-known songs were a dozen favourites, like Watching the Detectives, Mystery Dance, Chelsea, Pump It Up and closing with Alison. Partway through he was joined by his "hero", Nick Lowe, who opened as well, for a gorgeous duet on Indoor Fireworks followed by a still high energy Peace, Love and Understanding. Really great. Every performance was strong and his voice is in incredible shape (so was Nick's.) The band was fantastic with stalwarts Steve Nieve and Pete Thomas, a great female singer whose name I missed, and the tremendous Charlie Sexton on second guitar. My wife was not expecting much and was blown away. My hopes were high and were absolutely exceeded. It really cemented his stature, in my view, as one of the handful of great artists in rock in the last 50 years.
Got what we wanted from both Elvis and Nick Lowe except some obvious standards left out From Elvis’ 2nd song with Nicole Atkins for about a half an hour, we had never heard any songs and none of these were too inspiring. Best part…Nick joined Elvis for ‘Indoor Fireworks and Peace, Love and Understanding’. Finally, the crowd was inspired to rise! Section 301 and 310… the speakers completely block the whole band. No one in our section knew about this. ( ( disclaimer is tiny but apparently there). When I called about it, I was summarily dismissed by the the Massey Hall guy on the phone. Why couldn’t they suspend the speakers 15 ft higher! But from to 70 yr old guys, we got a good show. Massey Hall, however. Very disappointed in the deception.
There were too many slow songs, too much talking, and the sound was not the best.
Beyond expectations! Have always wanted to see Elvis Costello; we bought the tickets months ago. Nick Low was a great treat too. Two super talents. Wonderful night!
First concert back after renos and the hall is fantastic . The show itself was fantastic , saw Elvis 35 yrs ago Monday night was super , nice surprise was Nick Lowe can't wait for the next one
I was so looking forward to my first visit to Massey Hall after its renovation and refit. I thought I had picked wisely for my first impression of the "new" hall by booking my seat for Elvis Costello & The Imposters, having already seen Elvis at this legendary hall twice pre-reno. The hall truly looks wonderful, so kudos to the vision of the renovation. However, I can only hope that the poor sound that I heard at the concert was due to Elvis' sound crew, and not that of the new equipment at MH. As a professional musician myself, I was so disappointed to not hear the man and his band as I know they truly sound. I was dissecting the show as I was listening, trying desperately to figure out what the main issue was. Sound levels were quite disproportionate, I'm afraid: vocals were good, bass was excellent, and drums were even in check. However, rhythm guitar and lead guitar seemed to just distort everything else - a total shame, as the rest was so very good. Again, I am chalking this up to Elvis' crew and not the MH gear itself. I guess the true test will be in my next visit to the grand ol' girl. Oh YES, it will happen! As the saying goes, one bad apple don't spoil the whole bunch! I have been to countless concerts at MH, and have played there a good number of times myself. I look forward to that time, and I wish you all the very best. Thanks for letting me speak my peace.
What can you say.... Nick Lowe and Elvis Costello on the same billing. Great evening of music and stories.
Two top notch musical artists, with a lifetime of great songs!
Liked the renos on Massey Hall but was disappointed with the sound mix. Maybe it was where we were sitting in the corner? But Elvis was terrific as always and the opening set by Nick Lowe was a real bonus!
Massey Hall August 8th 2022. I celebrated my 48th birthday by taking my Mom to see this Rock n Roll icon. I was so thoroughly disappointed that we walked out early. The sound-was appallingly horrible, the band-lacklustre. Elvis’ performance was beyond shocking. Watching the Detectives was the only recognizable song before we left and it sounded like a shitty cover band. I have never been so disappointed at a live show!! The audience needed a defibrillator to get some life in them-including me…And I LOVE LIVE MUSIC-I guess we need dud shows in life to really appreciate the great ones. Interestingly enough, my brother told me that he saw him years ago and was equally unimpressed. Birthday Blues in Toronto! Boo Elvis:(
First, i wasn't seated where i thought i was the opening of the show was lackluster, zero action from the crowd, saved most popular songs till to late in show the sound, at least in my seat, was terrible backup singers non-existent oh ya no video screen, couldn't see any action
A very solid performance from Mr. Costello. Great to hear so much early stuff. Loved the single-album theme - setlist was great. The man still has incredible energy. Didn't love every new arrangement but I understand that he wanted to mix things up a bit. Still an A+ show.
Elvis focused on the Imperial Bedroom album rather than a good overview of his very varied work. The album recievived a good reinterpretion but it did not fully capture the audiences enthusiasm. The show only clicked in the last 20 minutes when the band ripped through some high energy hits and real brought the crowd to its feet. Sadly this could have easily been done much earlier in the show with more varied tunes than them some what similar music of a single album.
Wonderful as always !! Great to see him do his thing
Elvis was very personable speaking a lot with us fans. He seemed to be really enjoying himself I guess that's why he played for 2 hour and 20 minutes.
