Elvis Costello at the Royal Festival Hall
Elvis Costello
Kami Thompson
Royal Festival Hall, 20 June 2010
Looking a cross between a 30s gangster and a vaudeville man, Elvis Costello seems glad to be back in London despite showing a reluctance in recent years to return home. Bouncing onto the stage full of energy, his surprisingly booming voice fills the Royal Festival Hall and it becomes quickly apparent that this is to be the loudest acoustic show I’ve ever been to.
Standing and playing a beat up vintage guitar, he breaks out a song he wrote with Paul McCartney, Veronica, a classic sounding pop song if ever there was one, which he tells us was written about his paternal grandmother and played for his father, in attendance tonight, rather appropriate for Father’s Day, which the gig falls upon. Whether it was because his old dad was there (now 83 years old apparently) or he was feeling the love from the crowd glad to finally see him back in town, he played a belter of a show that surely has to be one of the best night’s of the Meltdown festival (this year organised by Richard Thompson) of which it was part of.
Having never seen him live before (he’s been on my wishlist for quite a while) I wondered whether Costello would forgo his older material for his newest songs but it was a nice mixture of both, in particular I was thrilled to hear his version of the George Jones’ classic A Good Year For The Roses. As it was Father's Day it was particularly poignant for me because, not only was Jones was my dad’s favourite singer, but before he died my dad briefly met Costello at a George Jones show, calling him by his real name Declan, Costello turned out to be a real gentleman off stage.
On stage he seems just as friendly and completely at home, good naturedly responding to shouts from the audience and telling stories in between the songs. “Years ago a guy at the BBC told me that I’d have more hits if I used less minors and sevenths,” he tells an amused crowd but the truth is there’s plenty of hits on offer, a beautifully stripped down Alison for one seemingly played at the request of an audience member and a fuzzed up Watching The Detectives, which Costello grabs his electric Gretsch guitar for, using the delay pedal to build up the song, to awesome effect. He also played poignant version of My Three Sons (continuing the Father's Day theme) and a reworked version of Every Day I Write The Book, the new version courtesy of friend, Canadian singer-songwriter Ron Sexsmith, who apparently taught him how to play his own song in a new way.
There was also a nice surprise at the end of the show when Richard Thompson arrived on stage to accompany Costello on several songs including a rather rocking version of his classic track Shipbuilding. But the best moment for me was when he abandoned his microphone and sat on the edge of the stage to sing a completely acoustic, unamplified version of a new tune called Slow Drag With Josephine, his version of how rock n’ roll used to sound “back in 1921", with a real ragtime feel, his voice managing to reach the balcony and up to the rafters it seems. There’s no doubt Costello is a real showman and tonight he gave it all he had to give. I can’t wait to see him now with his band.
Support act Kami Thompson turns out to be the daughter of Richard and Linda Thompson (and sister of Teddy). You can’t blame Richard for showing a little nepotism by including his talented children in his Meltdown events (Teddy had appeared at one of shows too), and there’s no doubt Kami is talented. She looks remarkably like her mother and sounds a lot like her too, but with blonde hair and a more rock chick style, wearing a lace top and a slash of red lipstick. The music is rockier than you’d expect too, with Kami looking cool, beautiful and full of attitude behind her electric guitar. Playing songs from her first release, an EP called The Bad Marriage, she is definitely one to watch and a fine opening act for Costello. I'll be interested to see what she does next.
Standing and playing a beat up vintage guitar, he breaks out a song he wrote with Paul McCartney, Veronica, a classic sounding pop song if ever there was one, which he tells us was written about his paternal grandmother and played for his father, in attendance tonight, rather appropriate for Father’s Day, which the gig falls upon. Whether it was because his old dad was there (now 83 years old apparently) or he was feeling the love from the crowd glad to finally see him back in town, he played a belter of a show that surely has to be one of the best night’s of the Meltdown festival (this year organised by Richard Thompson) of which it was part of.
Having never seen him live before (he’s been on my wishlist for quite a while) I wondered whether Costello would forgo his older material for his newest songs but it was a nice mixture of both, in particular I was thrilled to hear his version of the George Jones’ classic A Good Year For The Roses. As it was Father's Day it was particularly poignant for me because, not only was Jones was my dad’s favourite singer, but before he died my dad briefly met Costello at a George Jones show, calling him by his real name Declan, Costello turned out to be a real gentleman off stage.
On stage he seems just as friendly and completely at home, good naturedly responding to shouts from the audience and telling stories in between the songs. “Years ago a guy at the BBC told me that I’d have more hits if I used less minors and sevenths,” he tells an amused crowd but the truth is there’s plenty of hits on offer, a beautifully stripped down Alison for one seemingly played at the request of an audience member and a fuzzed up Watching The Detectives, which Costello grabs his electric Gretsch guitar for, using the delay pedal to build up the song, to awesome effect. He also played poignant version of My Three Sons (continuing the Father's Day theme) and a reworked version of Every Day I Write The Book, the new version courtesy of friend, Canadian singer-songwriter Ron Sexsmith, who apparently taught him how to play his own song in a new way.
There was also a nice surprise at the end of the show when Richard Thompson arrived on stage to accompany Costello on several songs including a rather rocking version of his classic track Shipbuilding. But the best moment for me was when he abandoned his microphone and sat on the edge of the stage to sing a completely acoustic, unamplified version of a new tune called Slow Drag With Josephine, his version of how rock n’ roll used to sound “back in 1921", with a real ragtime feel, his voice managing to reach the balcony and up to the rafters it seems. There’s no doubt Costello is a real showman and tonight he gave it all he had to give. I can’t wait to see him now with his band.
Support act Kami Thompson turns out to be the daughter of Richard and Linda Thompson (and sister of Teddy). You can’t blame Richard for showing a little nepotism by including his talented children in his Meltdown events (Teddy had appeared at one of shows too), and there’s no doubt Kami is talented. She looks remarkably like her mother and sounds a lot like her too, but with blonde hair and a more rock chick style, wearing a lace top and a slash of red lipstick. The music is rockier than you’d expect too, with Kami looking cool, beautiful and full of attitude behind her electric guitar. Playing songs from her first release, an EP called The Bad Marriage, she is definitely one to watch and a fine opening act for Costello. I'll be interested to see what she does next.
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