From: owner-oppositeview-digest@smoe.org (oppositeview-digest) To: oppositeview-digest@smoe.org Subject: oppositeview-digest V7 #59 Reply-To: oppositeview@smoe.org Sender: owner-oppositeview-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-oppositeview-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk oppositeview-digest Wednesday, May 25 2005 Volume 07 : Number 059 Today's Subjects: ----------------- OV: Re: oppositeview-digest V7 #58 [NIGELBLUES@aol.com] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 25 May 2005 01:56:06 EDT From: NIGELBLUES@aol.com Subject: OV: Re: oppositeview-digest V7 #58 In a message dated 21/05/2005 09:58:01 GMT Standard Time, owner-oppositeview-digest@smoe.org writes: Nige and Susan...I miss e-mailings from you! Elizabeth Hi Liz It's good to be missed, how are you? Hope all's good. It's such a shame Dels, bar the odd (and in some instances, very odd) hybrid, appear to have given up the ghost as I'm sure they would still pull a good audience in small hall venues and, if they went independent, would still make a reasonable fist of things. They obviously choose not to however and that's a shame as far as I'm concerned but you have to respect it. I don't know if it was politics or they just got bored but it's not as if they were prolific in the last few years of their public life anyway and, for me, they seemed to regard their live shows more as a chore than an event. Just my opinion. Anyway, talking music, has anyone seen Elvis Costello on his World Tour these past 9 months? It's no secret that he's one of my heroes, someone who seems to get better and better, enjoying what he does more than ever and it shows in all he does. His latest album Delivery Man is a fanastic mix of love and anger delivered in a style only EC does. On Sunday night, he was in my hometown (Cardiff). He said he would have come the day before but his team weren't in the FA Cup Final! It was his first time back here in 6 years and it kicked off the latest stint of his tour back in the UK. It was approaching the 30th time I've seen him in various guises starting with a Stiffs tour (Ian Dury, Wreckless Eric and sundry) in Sophia Gardens, to various dates with the Attractions in various venues from dingey nightclubs like the Top Rank (which he 'fondly' recalled) to the Royal Albert Hall, performing with his group, solo or other world musicians. Yet again, he never failed to entertain and amaze, he has turned into a stage performer of the highest order, his work a joy to see. His set was within a whisker of two and a half hours without any break (eat you hearts out Del Amitri - always 90 mins with encores and gone) and an audience literally gasping at his playing. He went through over a dozen different guitars, a very underrated player. His group are immense - Steve Nieve (keyboards) and Pete Thomas (drums) are 2/3 of the original Attractions and as good as they come - as mesmerising to watch as Elvis - and with Davey on top form and backing vocals on bass too - they're always the tightest of groups but 9 months touring, makes it a joy to watch. I watched him in Bristol last February and whilst the same core of The Delivery Man material was still there (except for There's A Story in your Voice), so were many of the EC classics - plenty of which were given extra life - Wtching The Detectives, Pump It Up, I Don't Want to Go to Chelsea, Good Yera for the Roses, Radio Radio, Oliver's Army to mention a few -he changed the back-catalogue but trawled many of his albums so missing were tune like When I Was Cruel, I Want You but in came a very upbeat King of America, an equally fantastic sounding Suit of Lights and the perfect pop rock of Nick Lowe's Heart of the City. The adoring audience were with him from start to finish. Best of all was when he decided that with strong lighting, he couldn't see us in the crowd so he came and joined us in the audience instead. Firstly sitting on the edge of the stage for a ballad, then he decided he wanted to watch the group perform himself and, much to their bemusement and amusement, he plonked himself in the third row - and 4 seats away from me - with microphone to sing Alison and even throw in a few bars on local Boy Tom Jones' Green Green Grass of Home before rocking up the aisles to Monkey To Man. By the time, he got back to the stage, his roadies were in chaos trying to tape down his guitar leads and mic so he turned away his guitar techie and sang Shipbuilding unaccompanied - spellbinding stuff. What a night, what a man. The words legend, genius and brilliant are vastly over-used but as far as EC is concerned, they can't be used enough. ------------------------------ End of oppositeview-digest V7 #59 *********************************