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ELVIS COSTELLO - NEW YORK 2023

April 10, 2023 – 6:40 am

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ELVIS COSTELLO
New York 2023 [no label, 2CD]
100 Songs And More. Live at the Gramercy Theatre, New York, NY; February 13, 2023 (Night 4 of 10). Very good audience recording.

Thanks to larryrulz for sharing the show at Dime.

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Connor Ratliff, spin.com:

After a night off to recover from last week’s trio of wonderfully disparate shows, Elvis Costello returned for Night Four of his 10-night stand at New York’s Gramercy Theatre with an initial focus on the life of a troubadour (in his words, “tales of woe, glory, and infamy”). But at precisely the moment it seemed like the evening’s merriment was about to wind down, music stands were carried out onstage for eight vocalists, joined by Rob Mathes on piano, for what turned out to be an Off-Broadway preview of his (hopefully) Broadway-bound stage musical of A Face in the Crowd.

It wasn’t even the final surprise of the night, but more on that in a moment…

The show opened strong with Costello’s mid-life autobiographical song “45,” and the lyric causes me to do some quick mental math. He premiered the song on The Tonight Show back in 1999, when he’d just turned 45, though by the time he released it on 2002’s When I Was Cruel, he was already creeping towards 48, just like I am now. “It creeps up on you without a warning.” Indeed.

The song begins nine years prior to the birth of Declan MacManus to Ross and Lilian MacManus (not mentioned by name, but this is one of those rare occasions where Costello has written in a code that’s meant to be cracked), with victory bells declaring the end of WWII.  He then charts the arc of his life from one musical milestone to the next, from buying his first 7” single to the dizzying early years of his career in the music industry. It is essentially Costello’s own version of The Fabelmans in just under four minutes, with Music taking the place of Cinema.

Next up was “Stella Hurt” (from 2008’s Momofuku), which tells the true story of a singer with the stage name “Teddy Grace,” born Stella Gloria Crowson, and whose final married name gives the song its title. The album version sounded like the Imposters playing “Hey Bulldog” on the wing of a 747, but tonight’s stripped-down solo rendition pulled the story into stark focus. Costello – who has recorded under so many different monikers that he once released a “Various Artists” compilation that was all him – delivered the song tonight like it was something out of Harry Smith’s Anthology of American Folk Music, the story of a singer “silent as the grave until the needle drags her through the static.” That final twist is delivered like a Rod Serling punchline, by a singer who, like Teddy Grace herself, has been a recording artist on the Decca label.

Kinship among musicians was a recurring sub-theme as Costello once again paid tribute to Burt Bacharach, tonight with a performance of a song he wrote with Bob Hilliard, “Mexican Divorce.” Hearing Elvis speak with admiration and love for his friend and collaborator has been a moving part of each one of these shows.

He then pivoted to a song inspired by a conversation he once had with “Doc” Watson; first released on 2010’s National Ransom. Costello has previously described it as “a dedication to the life I lead” and it’s a song overflowing with mysterious and evocative imagery, painting a picture that captivates and confuses me. On an emotional level, I feel like I fully understand it, but simultaneously I have no idea what it means. Somehow, it is one of my favorite songs he has ever written.

There were other surprises tonight — Momofuku deep cut “Mr. Feathers” opened up sounding as if it was going to be “God’s Comic” only to have that one show up six songs later. The voice in the dark who yelled out desperately for “Pump It Up” tonight did not get his wish, but I hope he enjoyed hearing “A Voice in the Dark” instead.

And then, just when I was expecting perhaps one more song before the finale, Costello left the stage and a phalanx of music stands were brought out. The crowd began to murmur with speculation about who would appear. The Brodsky Quartet? The Fairfield Four?

We weren’t left in suspense for long, as the stage quickly filled up with unfamiliar faces and Costello himself returned, sporting a bright red fedora with matching bow tie (undone) and pocket square, to introduce his collaborators. What followed was an eight-song sampler from his aforementioned musical adaptation of Budd Schulberg’s short story Your Arkansas Traveler (itself the basis for the 1957 Elia Kazan film starring Andy Griffith.) Costello has been playing most of these songs in concert for many years now, but tonight’s performance took the material to another level.

Shouting out to playwright Sarah Ruhl, who has written the book for the musical, Elvis provided some brief context but mostly allowed the songs to speak for themselves, occasionally stepping aside to let others take the spotlight. Multiple songs featured the quartet of Nicki Richards, Briana Carlson-Goodman, Ryah Nixon, and Marinda Anderson, singing sans Costello on “He Makes My Water Boil” and offering playful backup vocals on “Big Stars Have Tumbled” and the pharmaceutical jingle “Vitajex.”

For “Burn the Paper Down to Ash,” Costello invited Larkin Poe’s Rebecca Lovell onstage to sing, as she did many times when they were touring together back in 2016. She emerged from the wings to deliver a crackerjack performance of the song and ran back off again when she was through, like a magic trick (how many secret guests are hiding off to the side, and can Costello materialize them at will?).

When the eight-person chorus (with Neal Coomer, John James, Andrew Kober and Antwayn Hopper filling out the lineup) joined Costello on “This Uneasy Hour,” “American Mirror,” and the con-man’s campaign theme, “Blood & Hot Sauce,” the added heft of their combined sound elevated the songs beyond any previous versions I’ve heard him do in concert. It’s the first time I’ve really been able to hear the potential for what A Face in the Crowd musical could feel like in a proper theatrical production.

But the real show-stopping moment occurred when, in the middle of A Face in the Crowd’s title song, Costello began trading off the lead vocal with A Strange Loop’s Antwayn Hopper, who first delivered a verse from the back and then approached the mic to take center stage for the song’s final moments. He blew the roof off the place, and if there were any potential Broadway backers in the house tonight – or anywhere within earshot – let’s hope they heard the same potential that everybody else in the crowd did.

What could possibly follow that, other than a new arrangement of Costello’s nightly closer, Nick Lowe’s “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love & Understanding?” with Lovell re-emerging from the wings and the whole ensemble joining in before taking their bows?

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Lineage:
CA-11 (cardioid) > Sony A10 (44/24) > Audacity (amplify, tracking) > TLH > FLAC 6 > foobar2000 (FLAC tags)
master audience recording
Location: loge (rear of theatre)

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Disc 1
Track 101. stage entrance 0:17
Track 102. 45 5:22
Track 103. Stella Hurt 6:15
Track 104. Mexican Divorce 5:39
Track 105. Doctor Watson I Presume 6:36
Track 106. I Want To Vanish 5:18
Track 107. Walkin’ My Baby Back Home 4:22
Track 108. Down Among The Wines And Spirits 3:38
Track 109. Black And White World 2:22
Track 110. Mr Feathers 4:53
Track 111. A Voice In The Dark 6:58
Track 112. Ghost Train 5:48
Track 113. Radio Soul 6:36
Track 114. A Slow Drag With Josephine 3:29
Track 115. Under Lime 7:03
75 mins

Disc 2
Track 201. Church Underground 5:56
Track 202. God’s Comic 6:20
Track 203. Suit Of Lights 7:13
Track 204. Jimmie Standing In The Rain 7:22
Track 205. intro to Encore 1:30
Track 206. This Uneasy Hour 4:17
Track 207. American Mirror 7:44
Track 208. He Makes My Water Boil 2:38
Track 209. Big Stars Have Tumbled 10:01
Track 210. Burn The Paper Down To Ash 5:57
Track 211. Vitajex 3:23
Track 212. Blood & Hot Sauce 6:07
Track 213. A Face In The Crowd 4:52
Track 214. (What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace Love And Understanding 6:43
Track 215. exit music 0:30
81 mins

Performers:
Elvis Costello - vocals, guitar, piano
Guests:
Rob Mathes - piano
Nicki Richards - vocals
Briana Carlson-Goodman - vocals
Ryah Nixon - vocals
Marinda Anderson - vocals
Neal Coomer - vocals
John James - vocals
Andrew Kober - vocals
Antwayn Hopper - vocals
Rebecca Lovell - vocals, guitar

   Click here to order Elvis Costello releases.