What a night at the Elvis Costello & the Imposters show at the Wiltern Theatre here in L.A. First off, the imposters aren’t really imposters – it’s 2 of the 3 Attractions (Steve and Pete), so they don’t miss a beat.
I arrived thinking we were up in the balcony, because our tickets were at will call and all I knew is that we had “seats” (the Wiltern is built nowadays without seats on the lower level). When I saw we had floor tickets, first thought was “oh my gosh I was on my feet all night at Madness last night, there is no way I can stand for 2 1/2 hours” But I quickly found out that not only did they put seats in the lower level for this show, but ours were in the first 15 rows. Perfect.
The spinning songbook gag is very cool. It adds spontaneity to the show and allows you to hear songs that otherwise would never be in the setlist. Whole stage set was built like a TV game show set and Elvis took on his Napoleon Dynamite persona.
And you never get cheated at an Elvis show. He is notorious for some of the longest live sets in rock n roll and this one was nearly 2 1/2 hours.
Songs in the set that I didn’t expect to hear were “King Horse”, “Riot Act” (the first stop of the wheel), “Lipstick Vogue”, “Talking in the Dark” (unbelievable version with just Elvis and Steve on piano), “So Like Candy” and “I Still Have that Other Girl”.
Biggest disappointments of the night were:
1) Not a single song from “Trust” in the set. None even listed on the wheel.
2) Wheel never stopped on “Oliver’s Army” or “I Want You”
The whole setlist is here. Songs chosen directly or indirectly by the wheel with an *
PUMP IT UP
HEART OF THE CITY
LIPSTICK VOGUE
WATCHING THE DETECTIVES
RIOT ACT *
NO PARTICULAR PLACE TO GO (CHUCK BERRY) *
CRY CRY CRY (JOHNNY CASH) *
I CAN’T STAND UP FOR FALLING DOWN *
HIGH FIDELITY *
KING HORSE *
FIVE GEARS IN REVERSE *
ACCIDENTS WILL HAPPEN*
SO LIKE CANDY/DON’T LET ME BE MISUNDERSTOOD *
I’VE BEEN WRONG BEFORE
EVERY DAY I WRITE THE BOOK *
PLEASE PLEASE ME (BEATLES) *
QUIET ABOUT IT – ACOUSTIC (JESSE WINCHESTER)
SLOW DRAG WITH JOSEPHINE - ACOUSTIC
ALISON
THIS WILL BE OUR YEAR (ZOMBIES) *
OUT OF TIME (STONES) *
I STILL HAVE THAT OTHER GIRL – PIANO ONLY
TALKING IN THE DARK – PIANO ONLY
CHELSEA * (girl who spun the wheel was named Chelsea and Elvis cheated)
RADIO RADIO
BEYOND BELIEF
YOU BELONG TO ME
TOKYO STORM WARNING
WHAT’S SO FUNNY BOUT… (W/ DIANA KRALL)
