Live Review - Elvis Costello and the Imposters, Southend Cliffs Pavilion (19th June 2013)

So I thought this would be good but...

What a night that was. The fact the gig was literally down my road always adds to my enjoyment, knowing you don't have to travel home a long way home after a late show is obviously a huge bonus, but I'd seen the tour last year, and seen Costello with different projects 2 times before that, so I felt I had pretty realistic expectations of what to expect, but there was some extra magic in the air tonight.

The current tour has a rather novel concept; a large game-show wheel stands prominently to one side of the stage with various song titles on (along with some "jokers" and themed sections), a pretty assistant ventures into the audience, brings a couple of punters up, they spin the wheel, Elvis and the band play the song chosen by the wheel, while the enlisted punters relax at the on-stage bar or dance in the cage on the other side of the stage.

The wheel doesn't dictate the entire set. If certain major hits aren't selected by the wheel, he plays them anyway. Generally, he was asking people what they most wanted to hear on the wheel, and then duly obliging their wish, in addition to the result of the wheel. There are also sections of the set where Elvis plays songs not listed on the wheel at all. The wheel serves to add a human element to the show, and adds a level of unpredictability to the set. In this way, it liberates the set rather than confines it.

The wheel, the audience participation, the unpredictable set, all serve a purpose and provide the makings of a really fun evening, but Elvis' performance takes it to a whole new level. He's almost like a performing encyclopedia of music; veering between genres with equal aplomb and skill. The wheel landed on "She" quite early in the set, and although my heart sank initially, by the end of the song I had to clap. He ingests enough energy into the earlier new-wave stuff to satisfy that type of fan, but it's in the quieter moments that the full scope of his talents becomes apparent. A particularly jaw-dropping moment occurred towards the end of the night, acoustic guitar in hand, playing a couple of ragtime, Americana-tinged tracks from his last studio album "National Ransom", he steps away from the mic and launches into a spurt of "Brother, Can You Spare A Dime"; the authority and nuance in his voice, just reaches out and shakes you to your core.

Seeing and hearing him "wig-out" in some of the more epic moments of the set is particularly satisfying too. Elvis generally keeps his music lean, but extended moments like "I Want You" and "Stella Hurt" bring real scope and rock credentials to the set; another weapon in his arsenal of musical wonders.

You also realise the sheer amount of great songs he's amassed over the years; hearing "Lip Service", "Radio Radio", "Shipbuilding", "...Chelsea", "Alison" (need I go on?), all in the same evening, is just sheer joy. And there's a case for closing every gig everywhere with "Peace, Love, and Understanding" being a legal requirement.

Elvis, in a way, has a similar approach to Springsteen with his live shows; he wants to draw the audience in, he goes for length (Elvis is on for nearly 2 hours 40 minutes), getting through about 31 songs, allowing for big hits, current creative directions, and deep cuts for the hardcore. Where Springsteen opts for pulling signs out of the crowd to add spontaniety to the set, Elvis has opted for a giant wheel which allows for audience interaction. It's just so well-judged.

I left the venue giddy with joy. That was up there with the best gigs I've ever seen. I don't even think I would've minded a longer journey home.       

Live Review - The Who performing "Quadrophenia", London O2 Arena (16th June 2013)

It's hard to put your finger on exactly what was wrong with tonight's show. As with a lot of bands of a certain age, the appeal in going to see them is more in the fact that you CAN go and see them, a tick off of a mental bucket list as it were, rather than an expectation of a band at the top of their game. There are of course exceptions, actually quite a few of them; Springsteen, Neil Young, McCartney all spring to mind, but The Who were sadly not one of them. I guess an instant problem is how diluted the line-up seems, and when you look at the previous three names I mentioned, you immediately see an issue. Although of course, the E Street Band are vital to Springsteen's live reputation, they're a much larger unit, and the rejuvenation of the line-up that has taken place in recent years has been incredibly successful, enhancing the power of the band, rather than bringing the sanitising effect that "session" musicians often bring when added to a legendary band, and this certainly is a problem tonight.

Performing Quadrophenia live over the years has evidently been a problem for the band, who seem keen to go on the record with the fact that they haven't been happy with previous performances of the record. It's with that in mind that they appear to have put this show together to be flawless. This is both a good thing and a bad thing. There's no denying it's a tight well thought-out show; the footage of a post-war Britain in the early part of the show particularly, is quite affecting. The rather large band are tight, and with all the brass and synths on-stage, the album is recreated in great detail. I'm sure the original tour for the album was messy, but you had Keith Moon behind the drum kit, and John Entwistle on bass; they would have been loud, energetic, and slightly chaotic, and isn't that what you really want from a Who show?

It makes me think back to seeing Roger Waters with 'The Wall' a couple of years ago, at the same venue in fact. That show, in theory, faced a lot of the same issues; missing vital members from the original record (Waters being the man-behind-the-concept a la Townsend, in this analogy I guess), loads of session musicians, performing a sprawling double-album with only a few key songs. 'The Wall' however, had spectacle; spectacle to burn, and it really served the show well. I've never seen anything quite like it, and I found the whole thing really moving. Maybe I just don't have the same emotional attachment to the source material (indeed, I find Doctor Jimmy in particular, horribly distasteful), but I came away underwhelmed from this. Sure, it was great to see Pete Townsend windmill; a tick for the bucket-list in my mind then, but I could have left my heart at home.