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Elvis Costello is a writer and part-time musician who made a number of records in the 20th Century, some of which are still remembered today.
He was born in London and raised there and in Liverpool.
Costello is the composer or lyricist of over six hundred published titles, including fifteen songs co-written with Paul McCartney and renowned collaborations with Allen Toussaint, the Brodsky Quartet and T Bone Burnett.
Costello's songwriting alliance with Burt Bacharach, began in 1995 with the song, "God Give Me Strength", which led to the 1998 album, "Painted From Memory", before their work was collected in 2023, on the four-album set, "The Songs Of Bacharach & Costello".
Elvis Costello songs have been recorded by Roy Orbison, Johnny Cash, Chet Baker, Dusty Springfield, Solomon Burke, George Jones, Linda Ronstadt and Bjork, while among the artists with whom he has written songs are Loretta Lynn, Carole King, Rosanne Cash and Kris Kristofferson and his wife, Diana Krall.
Working purely as a lyricist, Costello has provided words for the music of Billy Strayhorn, Oscar Peterson and for twelve Charles Mingus compositions and as a composer, set twelve unpublished lyrics by Bob Dylan.
2024 will see the opening of "A Face In The Crowd", Sarah Ruhl's stage adaptation of the Budd Schulberg story for which Elvis Costello composed the songs.
"A Face In The Crowd" will open at the Young Vic in London on INSERT DATE, directed by Kwame Kwei-Armah and produced by Adam Kenwright.
Elvis Costello is the author of "Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink", a more than six-hundred page memoir which has been translated into six languages. He has received a range of awards over his 45 year old career of which the induction into the Songwriters Hall Of Fame is probably the most significant.
Although he holds two honorary doctorates in music - one from the University of Liverpool and another from the New England Conservatory- Elvis Costello is known for playing the guitar with almost no regard for common sense.
Costello currently performs with The Imposters; his long time companions, drummer, Pete Thomas and pianist, Steve Nieve, bassist of twenty-three years standing, Davey Faragher and their special guest, Texas guitarist, Charlie Sexton.
He sounded great. He looked great. The musicians were rocking the guest. Artist was amazing. Charlie Sexton was rocking. What more can I say. I expected him to have lost a step or two. I was wrong. He crushed it.
We went to the show at the Orpheum expecting a small venue experience (which we got) and excellent sound ( which we didn't get). We sat in the fourth row, center left and had trouble hearing the vocals through much of the set. When we did hear them, they were great, but at times, we think that Elvis had trouble hearing as well. You would think the sound at a small venue like the Orpheum would be much better than a larger venue, but were disappointed...
I saw Elvis exactly one year ago in LA, and he was wonderful— funny, great sound, wide array of tunes, including his more recent Burt Bacharach remakes. But the Elvis I saw this past Saturday was the Elvis I saw in the 80s— bitingly funny, uneven sound, mostly old rebellious songs (no Bachrach!) and FANTASTIC! I guess it’s true that bad times create great art. How Thatcher and Reagan inspired him in his youth, so Trump does now.
I didn’t know much about Elvis Costello before going to the concert. But the show was great! Very high energy! Fabulous band! The crowd of fans was also fun! Very glad I went. Always love the Orpheum too!
If you like loud distorted bass and drums, this is the show for you. But, if you want to hear Elvis 's voice and Charlie Sexton's guitar, skip it. The maddening thing is that I see that there were comments on the sound at previous venues. Somebody just doesn't give a ...
I've seen Elvis Costello about half a dozen times over the years. He is one of my favorite all-time artists. This show, sadly, was a disappointment. The audio mix was terrible. I was surprised, as the Orpheum has always had good acoustics for other shows I've seen. I don't know whether it was the audio engineer/mixer, or the location of our seats. (Row Q, in the orchestra section, but below the balcony). The vocals were overwhelmed by the instruments - the opposite of how it usually is with Elvis. Elvis' voice started off very shakily - at first, it seemed totally shot - but he improved through the evening. The band, always one of the tightest I've seen, seemed sloppy, as if they hadn't rehearsed or weren't prepared. Strangely, "What's so funny?"was performed to both open and close the show. (I assume to make a point, given the bad news of the day, but still...) Charlie Sexton's considerable talents were wasted, because his guitar was so far down in the mix. Elvis would say, "Take it away, Charlie!"and you would barely hear anything. At the end of the night, it felt like we had seen a show by a second-rate Attractions tribute band. The music was great, but the performance was not up to the brilliance of the original. Considering the band included the original and incredible Attractions, Steve Nieve and Pete Thomas, as well as Imposter Dave Faragher, it was quite a letdown.
A chance to see Elvis,Costello has always been a bucket list item for me. The orpheum theater was the best place to see him. The theater is classic and gives such a chill atmosphere. The downstairs drink lady was friendly and great. As for Elvis, he did not surprise me how good he plays live. I would see him again and again. I can’t believe I missed him all these years. Thanks for everything!
Unfortunately, he cannot sing anymore, we left after 45 minutes.
The upper sections at Hard Rock Live have horrible acoustics. The base was so loud it drowned out the vocals. We walked down to the floor level and that was a different story. It sounded much better at floor level. They need some sound deadening panels on the upper ceiling and back walls
I've been wanting to take my son to an Elvis Costello concert forever, and we finally got the chance. The venue, the Hard Rock casino and hotel near Yuba City, California, was a bizarre place to take in a performance from the same "Angry Young Man"I'd worshipped in high school, but it turned out to be an excellent venue; you didn't have to stretch your imagination to envision you were in Clubland. Our seats in the back balcony were awesome -- there was nobody behind us, so we could dance the Pony and do the Jerk without anyone noticing. Not that anyone cared. Everyone's eyes were glued to the stage. Elvis started out a tad off pitch, but as the evening wore on and things got more acoustic (banjo and stand-up bass!), he found his mojo and didn't let go for the rest of the performance. IMHO, the sound mixer should have toned down the bass and drums a tad, but the thrumming didn't detract from some stellar renditions of old favorites. So exciting to see Steve Nieve on keyboards! The grand finale was grand in every way -- it kept going and going. And when the band slunk off the stage to the tune of "Nellie the Elephant,"I nearly lost my mind -- that song was buried in my head by my English mum, who used to sing it to me and my brother at bathtime. It felt like a homecoming. Best of all, my son had an excellent time and was enthralled by the entire performance! Elvis, please don't make this your last tour of rural Northern California -- you have many ardent lifelong fans here, and it looks like you've just created another one!
When I got tickets I was so excited for Charlie Sexton and Elvis Costello. Somehow I failed to realize that it was an Elvis Costello only show with Charlie Sexton as part of the band. No fun CS songs as an opener or anywhere that night. Elvis was good. His voice is not holding up as well as his guitar or banjo playing. The volume of empty seats was sad.
Elvis sang his heart out with favorites like Radio Radio, Pump it up and Alison. The vocal delivery hasn't missed a beat in decades. The stage presence was commanding, as the audience was standing for a good portion of the show. The instrumental skills included mastering the piano and the guitar with a band that collaborated effortlessly with precision. A fun and exciting show that delivered.
This was really Elvis Costello and the Attractions! And they were on fire! If you’re a fan go see the show!! Elvis rips through all of the hits, and he interacts with the audience more than usual, he’s really having a great time! Elvis is king!
I thought it was great ,, It was a bucket list show ,, I enjoyed the show a lot, Great fun !
This is the second time I have seen EC at a Casino (First in Durant OK) and I should have learned my lesson from the first time. Unfortunately the sound at Hard Rock was poor. Probably the first time I ever saw a show where the drums weren’t coming through. Also the guitars needed to be turned up in the mix. Bass and vocals were dominant. When EV went into the acoustic part of the set the sound was much better. But when the band went back to the full rock format the sound was muddy again. I only heard Charlie Sextons guitar on 3 songs the entire night - first song solo, Allison, and I don’t want to go to Chelsea solo. I’ve seen EC about 15 times and this show was second to the bottom while most shows have been incredible. Too bad - set list was great.
I have seen Elvis Costello at least 10 previous times. This concert was disappointing. My teenage daughter described it as a high school jam band. Many songs were unrecognizable. Those that I did recognize still had different music. The venue itself looks like a high school gym. I was really looking forward to this concert and was incredibly disappointed.
Elvis Costello's voice often was out of tune. At the beginning of the show, the band was disjointed and sounded like they hadn't played together much. The renditions of some of his songs, especially 'The Angels Want to wear my Red Shoes' was horrific! Love the venue - all the staff were courteous. Easy to park and very little effort to leave the venue.
I felt the sound mix was terrible as his vocals would got lost behind the drums and two guitars. Elvis will continue to sound fantastic until he's 100. My hope he and Steve Niece tour as a duo and returns to SF!
As much as we LOVE Elvis Costello I have to say we were somewhat surprised at his voice. It's such a beautiful voice but on this night he was flat or off beat on about 1/3 of the tunes. Great band - great songs but several misses on the vocals.
If you loved Elvis, you'll love this. Last 30 minutes of the show were pull-out-all-the-stops fun. Sound quality of the show was awful (either due to mixing or the shape of the SF Masonic - we were pretty far left of center). Didn't really matter that much but that's why it 4 stars not 5.
