Finely tuned Elvis Costello is back for an encore

By Patrick MacDonald, Seattle Times, Friday, September 20, 2002

Elvis Costello's show at the Paramount on Sunday is being billed as "an encore performance." He played the same place in May, and if this weekend's show is as good, it's well worth seeing again.

The bard of the British New Wave movement of the 1970s was back in classic form at the May show, reviving the verve, wit and brilliant wordplay that marked his rock-star glory days.

Dressed in his usual black suit and owlish glasses, he featured songs from his latest album, "When I Was Cruel," which debuted at No. 20 on the Billboard 200 album chart, making it, surprisingly, the highest-charted album in his 25-year career.

The new songs compared favorably to his classics, such as "Watching the Detectives," "(I Don't Want to Go to) Chelsea" and "Pump It Up." Among the new songs were "Spooky Girlfriend," a darkly humorous gem that mixed sex with the macabre, a Costello trait; "Tart," which smartly surveyed all the meanings of the word; "Alibi," which crackled with tension; "Dust," a serious yet funny song about death; and "Petals," a powerful, moving love song.

Elvis Costello & the Imposters

Costello was ably backed by the Imposters, which included longtime collaborators Steve Nieve on keyboards (he was excellent on organ) and Pete Thomas on drums.

They resurrected some obscure but outstanding songs from Costello's classic albums, including a show-stopping "I Hope You're Happy Now" from 1986's "Blood and Chocolate" and an energetic reworking of "Waiting for the End of the World" from 1977's "My Aim Is True."

Costello, who told interesting and funny stories between songs, didn't seem to want to leave the stage. He played for more than two hours, which included three encores.

Costello is playing lots of old songs again because his entire catalog of recordings is being re-released on digitally remastered, two-CD sets by the prestige reissue label Rhino.

Prior to this tour's resurrection of the classic Costello sound, he spent years recording and performing a variety of non-rock projects, including collaborations with the Brodsky String Quartet, classical mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie Von Otter, Burt Bacharach, Tony Bennett and George Jones. His ballet score for "A Midsummer Night's Dream" will be released next year.

Sunday's show will be opened by Phantom Planet, a new band known for the slow-building, dramatic hit "California," featuring talented lead singer Alex Greenwald.

The band is also notable for its celebrity drummer, movie star Jason Schwartzman ("Rushmore," "Slackers").

Thanks to John Foyle