Elvis Costello - Live at Shoreline

Elvis Costello & The Imposters are the opening act for The Police on the final leg of their reunion tour through North America and I had the pleasure of seeing the band last week at Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountainview, California. 

This was my seventh time seeing Elvis over the years, and I must say, every gig is different. As I mentioned in the write up of The Police, this was the grungiest Costello set I've ever heard --right out of 1983.  While some were critical of the show, I thought it was great.  High energy, balls out distortion and loud.  There were a few cuts from Costello's most recent album Momofuku, including American Gangster, which is a great song and could have easily been on his second album "This Year's Model."  But most of it was material culled from the late 70's and early 80's.  He started with "Pump it Up,"  and then immediately launched into "Mystery Dance" as well as other classics including "Radio, Radio," "Clubland," "Uncomplicated," "Watching the Detectives" and "Everyday I Write the Book" which was a bit of a disappointment to me in the current grungy arrangement.  Costello brought out Sting to join in on vocals on Alison, which was a nice touch and then finished with "What's So Funny 'Bout Peace, Love and Understanding?"

We were near the back of the 202 section at Shoreline, and even though I moved up to the front to get photos, it was still pretty far from the stage.  So the photos aren't the best.  I may need to start buying better seats or get a bigger zoom lens!  I also managed to shoot some video, but it came out pretty crappy. I'll see if I can post that next week.

• Amazon: Momofuku, First 10 Years, Rock & Roll Music, Box Set
• Elvis Costello: Official Site, Unofficial Wiki, Tour