Yesterday's destruction of Hastings Pier reminded me that we saw Elvis Costello in the pavilion at the end of Hastings Pier in 1980. It was an atmospheric place to see a band I didn't know very well and the sheer musicality of the band together with Elvis' quirky songwriting and his brilliant singing made it a great gig. I have seen Elvis several time since and every time he has delivered. This was Elvis and the Attractions (Bruce Thomas on bass, Pete Thomas on drums and Steve Naive on keyboards). The band was tight and the guitar, vocal, keyboards interplay was brilliant. The only specific tracks I recollect were the popular 'Oliver's Army' and 'Watching the Detectives' but these were probably the only ones I knew going into the gig so that is not surprising. Hastings Pier was pretty tumbledown even then but that just added to the atmosphere of the gig.
----------------------------------------
johnfoyle was kind enough to comment and point me to an article where Elvis recalls being drunk and forgetting words at this particular gig. Amazingly this stirred a deep memory and I subsequently remembered discussing with my wife on the way home this incident during 'Alison' and possibly one other track as well. Thanks for the reference.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Elvis had memories of Hastings in 1980-
ReplyDeletehttp://www.elviscostellofans.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=6792