From: owner-oppositeview-digest@smoe.org (oppositeview-digest) To: oppositeview-digest@smoe.org Subject: oppositeview-digest V7 #60 Reply-To: oppositeview@smoe.org Sender: owner-oppositeview-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-oppositeview-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk oppositeview-digest Thursday, May 26 2005 Volume 07 : Number 060 Today's Subjects: ----------------- OV: OT: Re: Elvis Costello [Neil Matheson ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 25 May 2005 11:43:37 +0100 From: Neil Matheson Subject: OV: OT: Re: Elvis Costello Re: Nigel's paeon of praise to Elvis Costello I saw EC play in Edinburgh in February. It was also a fantastic set (there aren't many acts who dispense with support and play for two-and-a-half hours straight), though the sound wasn't great to start with, and he wasn't getting enough energy and response back from the audience to make it a truly great gig (and, in fact, he struggled to get many people to their feet, despite explicitly encouraging it :-( )- I guess the Usher Hall (it was also the venue for the Edinburgh date of With Strings Attached) is just too genteel a venue for this kind of gig - it would have been more suited to the North tour. There are a couple of reviews of the night, if you're interested: The Edinburgh Evening News was pretty positive: http://news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=174322005 Whereas the Scotsman wasn't so sure (though it seems to be more a critique of his recent career than a review of the gig): http://news.scotsman.com/features.cfm?id=176832005 I do agree, too, that The Delivery Man is superb - though, for my money, When I Was Cruel still has the edge over it as his best "recent" album. I've actually been listening more to the reissues with bonus material recently, which I've finally got around to buying a few of. There's some fantastic stuff on them, and the liner notes, written by Elvis, make very interesting reading. I did actually see EC and Steve Nieve on the North tour - at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, where the acoustics are great, and he sang without the mic a lot that night, often using Steve Nieve's piano for a kind of low-tech reverb. Finally, if you haven't already heard them, it's well worth going into the KCRW archives (www.kcrw.com ) and listening to his sessions for the Morning Becomes Eclectic show. Have to agree, the man really is a genius. Regards, Neil ------------------------------ End of oppositeview-digest V7 #60 *********************************