I have seen Elvis Costello live twice, both times at Bumbershoot. The first time was in 1996 when he played the final show of his tour after reuniting with The Attractions and it was even a separate ticket (but it included access to the Bumbershoot festival that day). They played for two hours and, well, I’ll probably talk about that later. It would be, however, the last time The Attractions played with Elvis Costello outside of a couple of weeks in Japan following the Seattle show. It was arguably one of the best concerts I had seen, certainly a contender for the top 5 of all time (a blog post series I intend to write at some point). The second time was this last year at Bumbershoot, and while it was a great set, the audio wasn’t nearly as good as I had hoped and that cut down on the enjoyment a bit.
While I have almost always been aware of Elvis Costello, at least as far as I have been paying attention to popular music starting in about 1979 or 1980. It wasn’t until later when I really started paying attention to “alternative” music (as it was referred to) starting about 1986 that I really got to know Elvis Costello’s work.
Starting with 1977’s My Aim Is True we get what was the typical “angry young man” though there are moments of tenderness. Over time his temperament would soften somewhat to “grumpy old man” and throughout his whole career he hasn’t been afraid to take chances or be honest with his acerbic attitude.
“Alison”
“Welcome To The Working Week”
Interestingly, one of his more successful albums, 1989’s Spike, is one of my least favorites. Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s a good album and there are a number of songs on there I like a lot, but something about it I just don’t find as compelling as many of his other works.
“Deep Dark Truthful Mirror”
One of the things I like about Elvis Costello is that he isn’t afraid to branch out and try different things. The Juliet Letters, a collaboration with The Brodsky Quartet from 1993. While it is certainly a departure from his usual rand of rock and roll, it is an interesting item to listen to and you don’t have to be a fan of his to listen to it. A sort of concept album about letters to and or from Juliet Capulet the style is something that simply has to be listened to.
“Dear Sweet Filthy World”
At times his collaborations would veer into jazz territory. Then there was 1995’s covers album The Kojak Variety. These are songs not by Elvis Costello, but songs he likes. This provides an interesting look into a sort of behind the scenes of his creative process and background.
“Everybody’s Crying Mercy”
Elvis Costello would reunite with his backing band The Attractions again only to have friction with the bass player Bruce Thomas resurface and the two have not played together since. Drummer Pete Thomas (no relation) and keyboardist Steve Nieve continue on with a new bass player David Faragher under the moniker The Imposters.
It was this band I saw with August and Dela this year at Bumbershoot.
What is about his music? Some of it I like more than others, but it is always at the very least interesting to hear. I think it is his integrity, how he stays true to himself and doesn’t keep trying to write the same thing over and over. His dalliances with collaborators into other genres demonstrate how he has a much broader musical interest and range which I appreciate. It’s reflective of my music collection as a whole, and I like that he is unafraid to explore that for himself.