Elvis Costello & the Imposters Tickets

For a performer who is 61, Elvis Costello can still play as if time stood still. This concert was entertaining for even a casual fan of his music. The band was tight and energetic. Elvis showed his virtuosity on both guitar and piano, as well as reinterpretations of some older songs. The show even managed to get a bunch of mid fifties folks to dance in the aisles and rush the stage. It was quite amusing seeing security called in as if a mosh pit was forming.

Elvis in a fantastic, high energy performer. I have seen him in concert a half dozen times. He was great in this show although I did not realize that most of the set list was from an album he released many years ago that I was not very familiar with, so that was a little disappointing but I enjoyed when he did more familiar songs near the end. If you are a true fan that knows the entire body of work, you will love this concert. If not, listen to his CD "Imperial Bedroom" (I thin k that was the name) before you go so that you can enjoy the concert more as it is hard to understand the lyrics if you are unfamiliar with the songs. Stage set up and video backdrops are very interesting and add a lot to the show as well as his commentary about why he write various songs.

Really enjoyed the show and the energy the band had. This was my first time seeing Elvis - and it was better than I imagined it would have been. He has such a great voice and his band was on point.

62 years young! Elvis and the Imposters rocked the Imperial Bedroom and then some! Oakdale is a great venue and the show was fantastic!

Elvis Costello and the Attractions @ Orpheum Theater Boston – He repeatedly referred the evening's selections as re-visiting his ‘Imperial Bedroom’ album (remember those?) from 1984, but was actually a hit-filled retrospective of his mid-80’s work. Shoulda-been-bigger tunes predominated like a bunch old friends that you’d not seen in years, actually 30 years – or more – in some cases. Many of which were slightly re-arranged but still familiar “Man Out Of Time”, “Beyond Belief”, “Accidents Will Happen”. We were also got a preview of a couple from an in-progress song cycle regarding the rise and fall of a local man who rises into a TV star and onto politics (THAT could never happen, right?)

At first I thought it was the acoustics but I could the back up singers voices were perfectly clear when they sang. We ended up walking out after an hour.

We were blown away by the awesome show Elvis Costello and The Imposters put on. The songs, the performance, the light show were all absolutely superior to anything I have seen. Thank you Elvis Costello!

The sound was so bad we suffered through the first 50 minutes then left.

On Nov 3 at the Warner Theatre in Wash DC In October, Elvis & The Imposters played one of the dozen East Coast and Midwest sold-out shows in the US for the "Imperial Bedroom & Other Chambers” tour. This show framed selections from 1982’s Imperial Bedroom album with "the songs that led in and out of that velvet-trimmed playhouse.” Elvis has recruited two female backing singers for these shows. Unfortunately, this almost 3 hour show didn't quite work for me, whether the tight seat in the balcony with no leg room, or the initial set concentrated on material I was not familiar with, it resulted in being rather boring. The three encores improved on the evening, and the last two songs, Pump It Up, and Peace Love and Understanding was fantastic, almost, but didn't quite make up for the earlier renditions, including Elvis singing with his two backup singers performing Alison. Perhaps if I knew the music. Elvis did video screened each song with the title buried in the video poster, which gave a clue to song. Intrigued enough to consider buying this obscured 1982 album to study, but skip the live show until you study up. Elvis piano and vocals was better on the slow songs. I counted 10 songs from his earlier hits, but even those blurred with his vocals. he is becoming the next Dylan in concert, and that's not a compliment.

Nothing old school or upbeat- he claims he is something punk- that is a joke- more Tony Bennett- All sappy dribble not worth paying any money for,... he could not even do Alison without back ups in his face.. boring- I fell asleep twice.. he pulled a Sting and went all wimpy, melodic.. not the Elvis we grew to love- Billy Idol still rocks it, Elvis not at all- save your money- slow, boring and nothing worth seeing. I am a fan until singers get so into themselves they figure they can play anything and we will gladly throw our money away- not so much. I have seen all the greats of the 70's-80's and he ranks down at the bottom for enjoyment- he has a famous wife also- not a word about her- the only singer I have ever seen to not mention, thank, give a story about a famous spouse.. Oh I forgot to say- No 'Olivers Army' his biggest and only hit and he refuses to play it- only singer who does not get it- save your money..

Played for 3 hours. Great musicians! Back drop was cool.

As my friend and huge Elvis fan (and musician himself) said after the concert, the "show had the most disgraceful sound quality imaginable." It really made it difficult to enjoy the music, or even understand the vocals. You couldn't even hear the guitar much of the time. Another musician friend who loves Elvis wrote this to me in an email: "I have seen Elvis probably 5 times in every type of venue. Last night the sound was horrendous, which is unusual for Warner [Theater]. Although I thought the band was putting out, all I heard was a muddled mess of sonic overload. Pete Thomas is one of my favorite drummers yet all I could hear was a snare sound with too much reverb, a booming bass drum with no definition, and no sizzle in the cymbals. I couldn’t hear the background vocalists even when they were belting it out. The bass was a giant woof. I walked around the theater to see if I just had a bad seat but it sounded terrible everywhere. And the sound engineers were sitting back with their arms folded as if they were happy with the sound. Engineers typically don’t take suggestions well so I just went back to my seat."

Great show, Great band, back-up vocalists were great! Recommended!

Elvis and his Imposters were incredible. Great show!

If you are reading this, you are probably already an Elvis Costello fan and have likely managed to catch him live at least ONCE in the last 40 or so years, so I will cut to the chase. How refreshing it was to see an artist, with absolutely nothing left to prove to the world of music, tackle arguably his most sonically challenging recorded material (Imperial Bedroom), with just a 4-piece group and two back-up singers. Arguably, it doesn't hurt to have Steve Nieve, a one-man keyboard Wall of Sound, in the line-up, but still, the creativity of the arrangements and the energy and musicianship delivered were truly inspiring. And yes, they played the "hits", including a rendition of "Allison" delivered by Elvis solo on guitar and the two back up singers which was truly goose-bump inducing. As always, Costello was charming and overly generous towards his fellow performers. The Barney Bubbles inspired video backdrop alone, which featured clever reinterpretations of Elvis album covers along with EC's original work was almost worth the price of admission. A great show.

I wish the show started with more familiarity rather than unknown. A lot of the crowd left early questioning where is the Elvis we know?

Elvis Costello appeared to be in good form but the acoustics in the orchestra where we sat were terrible. Could not make out the words to most of the songs. It felt like he overpowered the place except for Allison and two other songs in the encore done with a different mic.

Entire performance was outstanding. Elvis entertained with his music and comments about the album and his experiences. Music and vocals were perfect. The keyboard guy was the busiest person in the building...piano, keyboards, synthesizer, and other devices. A house full of enthusiastic fans who sang many of the songs added to the enjoyment.

Once again we had a great time seeing Elvis Costello and the Imposters! They played a lot of songs from Imperial Bedroom one of my favorite albums his. Go you won't be disappointed.

I love Elvis' songs but his live performance on Sunday night in Ann Arbor left much to be desired, mainly because he sang of key most of the night. The arrangement of "Alison" and "Watching the Detectives" not so hot. In Elvis' defense however, the majority of the audience that I could see seemed to have a very good time.