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.
Cross posted from 52 Shows, a live music blog for regular folks.
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