Elvis Costello 15/5/2012

It has been a couple of years since I last saw Elvis and that was a solo gig. This time he was fronting a four piece which actually was only one person different to the first time I saw him in 1980. It goes without saying they were a tight band. The tour featured some audience participation as people were selected to go on stage and revolve a big wheel that selected a song or song theme by chance. In fact, given that Elvis started with four songs, nudged the wheel several times and finished with an encore of old favourites, the random element was not quite as strong as he was making it out to be. As ever with Elvis we got a quality gig. Two hours fifty minutes of pretty much non-stop music (apart from the wheel-spinning business that is). The absolute stand-out song for me was 'I want you' - great song, brilliant vocals, outstanding guitar playing - but it was all good. In the main set I particularly enjoyed 'Bedlam' and 'Rockinghorse Road' and 'Jimmy standing in the rain' but the long encore was full of Costello classics which were also great. 'Shipbuilding' is an immense song and it was sandwiched by 'Oliver's Army' and 'Watching the Detectives'. 'I don't want to go to Chelsea' and 'What's so funny 'bout peace love and understanding?' closed the gig. It's always worth making the effort for a Costello gig.