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ELVIS COSTELLO - SAN FRANCISCO 2022

March 25, 2023 – 6:43 am

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ELVIS COSTELLO
San Francisco 2022 [no label, 1CD]
Hardly Strictly Bluegrass. Towers of Gold Stage, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, CA; October 1, 2022. Very good audio (ripped from HDTV webcast).

Thanks to indykid for sharing the HDTV webcast at Dime.

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Aidin Vaziri, datebook.sfchronicle.com:

Elvis Costello threw it back as he took the Towers of Gold Stage for his headlining set at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival’s second day, barn-burning through classics from his catalog, covers of Grateful Dead songs and everything in between.

The 68-year-old English singer-songwriter opened his afternoon set on Saturday, Oct. 1 with a stripped-down version of his 1977 single “(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes.” Wearing a flat cap backward, a bright red corduroy overcoat and white stubble on his face, Costello was in a surprisingly playful mood despite the gloomy weather hanging over the west end of Golden Gate Park.

He took an immediate left turn after the familiar opener, breaking out a cover version of a B-side of an obscure single he said he found in Fort Worth, Texas, with a chorus that repeated the phrase, “like licorice on your tongue” (even the Google search engine couldn’t come up with a song title).

Costello, who previously appeared at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass in 2012, also performed a handful of songs penned by Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter and the band’s late guitarist Jerry Garcia, who would have been 80 years old this year and to whom he dedicated an entire set the night before at the Great American Music Hall. He delighted in the lilting verses of “Brown-Eyed Women” and the slow-building chords of “Loser,” both of which were originally released by the Dead in 1972, and turned 1971’s “Ramble on Rose” into a gnarly blues jam.

Costello then introduced one of his unreleased live favorites called “Blood & Hot Sauce,” noting that the band learned to play it a few minutes earlier backstage. By the end, he had the entire audience singing along with its refrain, “Hip-hip-hooray!/ Hip-hip-hooray for blood and hot sauce!”

But he wasn’t quite done with the Hunter-Garcia material, digging fully into the Dead’s “Sugaree.”

Costello also brought out guitarist Allan Mayes, who was in his first band Rusty in 1972. The duo promptly tore into Neil Young’s “Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere.”

“I never thought Allan and I would be standing on a stage here in San Francisco,” Costello said.

He added, “We were Island’s answer to Simon & Garfunkel.”

They then played a tender version of Costello’s 1977 ballad “Alison,” trading off the verses, and a cover of Jim Ford’s 1972 “I’m Ahead If I Can Quite While I’m Behind,” with Mayes taking on the lead vocals.

“I can’t stop smiling,” Mayes said, introducing another cover. “San Francisco. Who would have thought?”

The audience got a jolt as the band closed its set with a furious run through Nick Lowe’s “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding,” which Costello first recorded with slightly less vigor on his 1979 album “Armed Forces.”

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Track 01. (The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes 3:23
Track 02. Black Licorice 3:57
Track 03. Brown Eyed Women (Grateful Dead cover) 5:10
Track 04. Loser (Jerry Garcia cover)/Wharf Rat (Grateful Dead cover) 12:21
Track 05. Ramble On Rose (Grateful Dead cover) 5:10
Track 06. Blood & Hot Sauce 7:29
Track 07. Sugaree (Jerry Garcia cover) 5:00
Track 08. Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere (Neil Young cover with Allan Mayes)/Dance Dance Dance (Neil Young cover) 5:37
Track 09. Alison (with Allan Mayes) 7:02
Track 10. I’m Ahead If I Can Quit While I’m Behind (Jim Ford cover with Allan Mayes) 4:41
Track 11. Surrender to the Rhythm/(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding (Brinsley Schwarz covers) 11:15
71 mins

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