Costello at the National Stadium, Dublin

Elvis Costello and the Imposters

Monday, 2 September 2002 National Stadium Dublin, Ireland

By Matthew Causey

The National Stadium is a 'wonderful' old Dublin venue where you are as likely to see a boxing match or show-band as a headliner rock concert. It has the feel of a rundown American high school gym with plastic chairs, a poorly hung curtain backdrop, and stage lights with garish turquoise and purple gels. The stadium maintains the flavor and appeal of the drab and soulful Dublin before the slickness and upscale 'Celtic-tiger' began rebuilding the town. It is a wonderful place to see a show.

Chris Difford, of Squeeze fame, opened the show playing tepid, acoustic versions of some of his former band's hits including 'Pulling Mussels from a Shell', 'Tempted', and 'Cool for Cats'. A female singer handled the higher parts that Glen Tillbrook would have taken. The sparse backup band included a second acoustic guitar and bass. Mr. Difford is a self-effacing, quiet, and mature performer, which works against the youthful and petulant melodies and lyrics of the Squeeze catalogue. Each song was performed with the same hesitant rhythm and bland vocals creating a very disappointing performance.

Speaking of petulant, Elvis was in a bit a snit during the opening segments of his set. Some type of technical difficulty (wrong guitar? loop machine?) led to him pushing his amp over, which bounced in front of The Imposter's bass player Davey Faragher and led to a roady having to rebuild the amp setup and recable during the next tune. Elvis then called a halt to the performance for 5 minutes to allow the crew to fix what ever problems existed. At this point the pace of the performance was destroyed and the audience was a bit taken aback. Costello had opened with 'Miracle Man', 'Watching the Detectives', and 'You Little Fool', and to my ears the sound system and the band sounded great.

On returning from the unplanned interval the band launched into '45' and from there on Elvis was in fine form. Drawing heavily from 'Blood and Chocolate', 'This Year's Model', and, of course, 'When I Was Cruel' the band was tight, wild, and enthralling. The rhythm section of the Imposters (Pete Thomas on drums and Davey Faragher on bass ) pounded out blistering versions of 'Uncomplicated' and 'Lipstick Vogue'. Generally, I have always missed the original Attractions line up with Bruce Thomas on bass, but Faragher is a great player and a spirited backup singer. Steve Nieve on keyboards and theremin shifts from Jerry Lee Lewis-like slamming to Rachmaninov-esque arpeggios with astonishing dexterity. Costello's guitar work, now resembling a type of creative Marc Ribot primitivism, was electric, especially on the manic performance of 'I Want You.' The two and half hour plus show included stellar versions of 'Almost Blue', 'Episode of Blonde', and 'Good Year for the Roses'.

The National Stadium was very close to capacity, but tickets were advertised as late as Monday in the Irish Times. Several years back (1999) I was able to purchase tickets at the door to a Costello/Nieve duet at Dublin's National Concert Hall. It is curious how Dublin seems a bit wary of Elvis, and more curious still in that this is his home. In any event, Dublin audiences can be very reserved and this crowd was no exception. Elvis pleaded with the audience to stand and come toward the stage by leaning forward and beckoning the people with a crooked finger, but no one was having any of it. It was not until the first encore that the audience rose to its feet and Elvis seemed to reach his peak. Elvis remained conversational with the audience claiming to be 'happy to be back home' and politely apologizing for the technical difficulties.

Overall the concert had an intensity that seemed quite unsettled and somewhat reckless, which was fueled by the technical 'fubars'. In the end, this seemed to add to Elvis' 'return to the rage' and delivered a 'cruel smile' and 'sweetest punch' to a grateful, if not wary, audience. Bravo!