Elvis & Steve, Brussels (Belgium), September 27, 2023

Pretty self-explanatory
Post Reply
sweetest punch
Posts: 5962
Joined: Sat Apr 03, 2004 5:49 am
Location: Belgium

Elvis & Steve, Brussels (Belgium), September 27, 2023

Post by sweetest punch »

Since you put me down, it seems i've been very gloomy. You may laugh but pretty girls look right through me.
sweetest punch
Posts: 5962
Joined: Sat Apr 03, 2004 5:49 am
Location: Belgium

Re: Elvis & Steve, Brussels (Belgium), September 27, 2023

Post by sweetest punch »

Since you put me down, it seems i've been very gloomy. You may laugh but pretty girls look right through me.
sweetest punch
Posts: 5962
Joined: Sat Apr 03, 2004 5:49 am
Location: Belgium

Re: Elvis & Steve, Brussels (Belgium), September 27, 2023

Post by sweetest punch »

Since you put me down, it seems i've been very gloomy. You may laugh but pretty girls look right through me.
sweetest punch
Posts: 5962
Joined: Sat Apr 03, 2004 5:49 am
Location: Belgium

Re: Elvis & Steve, Brussels (Belgium), September 27, 2023

Post by sweetest punch »

Long show: 2,5 hours.
New song: “My Baby Just Squeals”.
Setlist:
When I Was Cruel #2
Waiting For The End Of The World
Lipstick Vogue
Shot With His Own Gun
My Baby Just Squeals
Pills And Soap
Veronica
What Is It That I Need
All Or Nothing At All
Toledo
The Comedians
I Do ( Zula’s Song)
WTD
Accidents Will Happen
Isabelle In Tears
She
I Still Have That Other Girl
The Whirlwind
PLU
Shipbuilding
I Want You
Couldn’t Call It Unexpected #4
Alison/ Somewhere Over The Rainbow
Since you put me down, it seems i've been very gloomy. You may laugh but pretty girls look right through me.
sweetest punch
Posts: 5962
Joined: Sat Apr 03, 2004 5:49 am
Location: Belgium

Re: Elvis & Steve, Brussels (Belgium), September 27, 2023

Post by sweetest punch »

Since you put me down, it seems i've been very gloomy. You may laugh but pretty girls look right through me.
sweetest punch
Posts: 5962
Joined: Sat Apr 03, 2004 5:49 am
Location: Belgium

Re: Elvis & Steve, Brussels (Belgium), September 27, 2023

Post by sweetest punch »

Since you put me down, it seems i've been very gloomy. You may laugh but pretty girls look right through me.
The Angry Young Fan
Posts: 1
Joined: Thu Mar 09, 2023 2:16 pm

Re: Elvis & Steve, Brussels (Belgium), September 27, 2023

Post by The Angry Young Fan »

What! A! Show!
Never missed a Costello concert in Belgium since 2002, but this evening was pure magic! Great setlist, voice was good, Steve was fantastic...
sweetest punch
Posts: 5962
Joined: Sat Apr 03, 2004 5:49 am
Location: Belgium

Re: Elvis & Steve, Brussels (Belgium), September 27, 2023

Post by sweetest punch »

I agree!!
The sequence Isabelle In Tears / She / I Still Have That Other Girl / The Whirlwind was simply brilliant!!
Since you put me down, it seems i've been very gloomy. You may laugh but pretty girls look right through me.
sweetest punch
Posts: 5962
Joined: Sat Apr 03, 2004 5:49 am
Location: Belgium

Re: Elvis & Steve, Brussels (Belgium), September 27, 2023

Post by sweetest punch »

Since you put me down, it seems i've been very gloomy. You may laugh but pretty girls look right through me.
bronxapostle
Posts: 4914
Joined: Wed Jul 12, 2006 2:27 pm

Re: Elvis & Steve, Brussels (Belgium), September 27, 2023

Post by bronxapostle »

Sounds like a legendary night
User avatar
krm
Posts: 1141
Joined: Sun Oct 21, 2007 6:10 am
Location: Sweden Skåne

Re: Elvis & Steve, Brussels (Belgium), September 27, 2023

Post by krm »

The Angry Young Fan wrote: Thu Sep 28, 2023 1:45 am What! A! Show!
Never missed a Costello concert in Belgium since 2002, but this evening was pure magic! Great setlist, voice was good, Steve was fantastic...
Great to hear!
User avatar
Man out of Time
Posts: 1827
Joined: Fri Jul 06, 2007 8:15 am
Location: just off the coast of Europe
Contact:

Re: Elvis & Steve, Brussels (Belgium), September 27, 2023

Post by Man out of Time »

Review by Philip Verhaege published online in Keys And Chords

Elvis Costello and Steve Nieve

woensdag 27 September, 2023, Bozar, Brussel

Elvis Costello was samen met zijn partner in crime Steve Nieve voor een intiem concert te gast in een uitverkochte Brusselse Bozar. Elvis Costello begon in het voorjaar van 1996 aan een kleine, intieme tour met zijn pianist Steve Nieve om de plaat ‘All This Useless Beauty’ te promoten. Alle shows van deze vijfdaagse tour werden, net als heel wat hoogtepunten van elke showcase, later uitgegeven op een reeks promotionele EP's, en dit onder de boxset ‘Costello & Nieve’. Jaren later zijn het duo Costello & Nieve nog steeds ‘on the route’. Elvis heeft als componist en tekstschrijver meer dan zeshonderd gepubliceerde titels, waaronder vijftien nummers geschreven in samenwerking met Paul McCartney en gerenommeerde samenwerkingen met Allen Toussaint, het Brodsky Quartet en T Bone Burnett. Vorig jaar promootte hij nog samen met zijn band The Imposters de langspeler ‘The Boy Named If’….

Declan Patrick Aloysius MacManus, werd geboren op 25 Augustus1954 in London. In deze muzikale wereldstad maakte hij gedurende de jaren ’70 deel uit van de pub-rockscene. In 1977 verscheen zijn eerste album ‘My Aim Is True’. Niet veel later formeerde Elvis zijn band The Attractions en veranderde enigszins zijn muziekstijl van punkrock naar new wave getinte muziek. De albums ‘This Year’s Model’ uit 1978 en het succesvolle ‘Armed Forces’ (79) zijn instant klassiekers.

De Engelse componist en piano-genie Steve ‘Stephen John Nason’ Nieve is inmiddels meer dan veertig jaar lang lid van Elvis Costello’s begeleidingsband The Attractions en The Imposters. Naast zijn werk met Costello heeft Nieve verschillende soloalbums, was ooit een tijdje bandlid bij het eveneens succesvolle Madness én was sessiemuzikant voor en bij The Neville Brothers, Hothouse Flowers, Graham Parker en David Bowie….

Costello en Nieve zijn muzikale soulmates, een oogwenk is voldoende om een volgde song in te zetten. Met Costello’s krachtig, maar al even vaak breekbare emotionele stem én het delicate pianospel van Steve Nieve putte het duo uit die ongelooflijke backcatalogus. Onsterflijke songs, in een eenvoudig concept.

Costello opende met het swingende jazz caput ‘When I Was Cruel No.2’, het duo accordeerde er meteen ook Abba’s ‘Dacing Queen’ doorheen, net zoals op de plaat trouwens. Costello’s stem heeft weinig tijd nodig om op te warmen, zingend in een vintage Stagg-microfoon uit de jaren ’40, dit terwijl Nieve klassieke vormen achter zich gooit. Met ‘Waiting For The End Of The World’ en vooral met het handgeklap begeleidde en akoestische ‘Lipstick Vogue’ divergeerde de setlist vrijwel meteen.

Ieder nummer krijgt ook haast een verhaal toebedeeld. Costello waande zich als een echte storyteller, verhaalt hoe Nieve bij The Imposters belandde en met songs als ‘Shot With His Own Gun’ steeg de affectie in de Bozar. Costello’s beatbox neemt even het voortouw in ‘Pils and Soap’ én speelt hij ook handig met zijn distortion-gitaarpedaal.

Normaal zou ik dit nummer zingen in een club zonder microfoon, dolt Costello voor een zoveelste keer én het folky en o’ zo breekbare ‘Veronica’, ooit bij elkaar gepend in samenwerking met Paul McCartney, kreeg hier een vocale herstart. Hij blijkt ook op wandel te zijn geweest in Brussel, bezocht wat platenwinkels en ontdekte albums van Jacques Brell. Leuke tussendoortjes die ons bij de les houden. Maar zijn muziek sprak vooral voor zichzelf. Net zoals in ‘What’s Is It That I Need That I Don’t Already Have?’, uit de release ‘Hey Clockface’ uit 2020 en ‘All Or Nothing At All’.

De dood van Burt Bacharach dit jaar heeft Elvis zwaar aangegrepen. Hij sleept zichzelf in de mood met de tristesse croonersong ‘Toledo’, en het tango en bolero begeesterde ‘I Do’ (Zula’s Song) is misschien wel een van de mooiste ballades die hij ooit bij elkaar pende. Het duo transformeerde de Bozar haast in een noir- filmset met gitaartunes en enkele synth-effecten in het experimentele ‘Watching The Detectives’, om naadloos ‘Accidents Will Happen’ uit de langspeler ‘Armed Forces’ uit 1979 én de wondermooie ballade ‘Accidents Will Happen’ de Bozar in te sturen.
Na een zoveelste staande ovatie ontpopte Costello als een ware hartenbreker in ‘Isabelle In Tears’ én Charles Aznavours ‘She’. De jazzy lovesong ‘I Still Have That Other Girl’ is gecrediteerd Burt Bacharach en in het intieme ‘The Whirlwind’ kroont Costello zich tot koning van de avond. Alleen Elvis blijft bestaan, maar dan vanavond dan toch enkel Costello..!

Hij schoudert graag nog eens zijn akoestische gitaar voor Nick Lowe's '(What's So Funny 'Bout) ‘Peace, Love, and Understanding’, een nummer dat Costello zich jaren geleden eigen maakte, en laat zelfs Nieve hier even meezingen. Met een rockende vertolking van ‘Shipbuilding’, een uitgesponnen ‘I Want You’ én een microfoonloos vertolkte ‘Couldn’t Call It Unexpected No.4’, waarbij Costello ook nog eens het publiek indook, eindigde het duo de reguliere set.

De bisronde met ‘Alison’ uit 1977 en het debuutalbum ‘My Aim Is True’ op het label Stiff Records klonk nog even fris als toen, het verassende ‘The Wind Cries Mary’ en Harold Arlen’s ‘Over The Rainbow’ sloten na meer dan 2u30 de gordijnen. Gestript tot hun basis, staan de nummers elegant naast heel wat Costello-klassiekers, evenals een aantal minder bekende juweeltjes uit zijn rijke muzikale backcatalogus. De uitvoeringen zijn haast allen ingetogen, gepassioneerd en behoren tot de beste die Costello ooit heeft uitgegeven. Geweldige showcase, geweldige songs, vertolkt in een minimalistische bezettingen. Songs die allen mateloos overeind blijven. Dat kan alleen Elvis Costello and Steve Nieve zijn! Een duo genieën van muzikale wereldklasse! "

Or in English via Google Translate:

"Elvis Costello and his partner in crime Steve Nieve were guests for an intimate concert at a sold-out Brussels Bozar. Elvis Costello embarked on a small, intimate tour with his pianist Steve Nieve in the spring of 1996 to promote the album 'All This Useless Beauty'. All shows from this five-day tour, as well as many highlights from each showcase, were later released on a series of promotional EPs, under the box set 'Costello & Nieve'. Years later, the duo Costello & Nieve are still 'on the route'. As a composer and lyricist, Elvis has more than six hundred published titles, including fifteen songs co-written with Paul McCartney and renowned collaborations with Allen Toussaint, the Brodsky Quartet and T Bone Burnett. Last year he promoted the long player 'The Boy Named If' together with his band The Imposters...

Declan Patrick Aloysius MacManus, was born on August 25, 1954 in London. In this musical metropolis he was part of the pub rock scene during the 1970s. His first album 'My Aim Is True' was released in 1977. Not much later, Elvis formed his band The Attractions and changed his music style somewhat from punk rock to new wave-tinged music. The albums 'This Year's Model' from 1978 and the successful 'Armed Forces' (79) are instant classics.

The English composer and piano genius Steve 'Stephen John Nason' Nieve has been a member of Elvis Costello's backing band The Attractions and The Imposters for more than forty years. In addition to his work with Costello, Nieve has several solo albums, was once a band member with the equally successful Madness and was a session musician for and with The Neville Brothers, Hothouse Flowers, Graham Parker and David Bowie….

Costello and Nieve are musical soulmates, a blink of an eye is enough to start the next song. With Costello's powerful, but often fragile emotional voice and the delicate piano playing of Steve Nieve, the duo drew from that incredible back catalogue. Immortal songs, in a simple concept.

Costello opened with the swinging jazz caput 'When I Was Cruel No.2', the duo also included Abba's 'Dancing Queen', just like on the record. Costello's voice takes little time to warm up, singing into a vintage Stagg microphone from the 1940s, while Nieve throws classical forms behind him. With 'Waiting For The End Of The World' and especially the acoustic 'Lipstick Vogue' accompanied by clapping, the set list diverged almost immediately.

Each song is almost assigned a story. Costello fancied himself a real storyteller, telling the story of how Nieve ended up with The Imposters and with songs like 'Shot With His Own Gun' the affection in the Bozar increased. Costello's beatbox briefly takes the lead in 'Pils and Soap' and he also plays cleverly with his distortion guitar pedal.

Normally I would sing this song in a club without a microphone, Costello raves for the umpteenth time, and the folky and oh-so-fragile 'Veronica', once composed in collaboration with Paul McCartney, was given a vocal restart here. It turns out he also went for a walk in Brussels, visited some record stores and discovered albums by Jacques Brell. Nice snacks that keep us on track. But his music mainly spoke for itself. Just like in 'What's Is It That I Need That I Don't Already Have?', from the 2020 release 'Hey Clockface' and 'All Or Nothing At All'.

The death of Burt Bacharach this year hit Elvis hard. He gets himself into the mood with the sad crooner song 'Toledo', and the tango and bolero inspired 'I Do' (Zula's Song) is perhaps one of the most beautiful ballads he ever wrote. The duo almost transformed the Bozar into a noir film set with guitar tunes and some synth effects in the experimental 'Watching The Detectives', to seamlessly perform 'Accidents Will Happen' from the long player 'Armed Forces' from 1979 and the beautiful ballad 'Accidents Will Happen' to send into the Bozar.
After yet another standing ovation, Costello emerged as a true heartbreaker in 'Isabelle In Tears' and Charles Aznavour's 'She'. The jazzy love song 'I Still Have That Other Girl' is credited to Burt Bacharach and in the intimate 'The Whirlwind' Costello crowns himself king of the evening. Only Elvis remains, but tonight only Costello...!

He happily puts his acoustic guitar to Nick Lowe's '(What's So Funny 'Bout) 'Peace, Love, and Understanding', a song that Costello made his own years ago, and even lets Nieve sing along here. The duo ended the regular set with a rocking rendition of 'Shipbuilding', a drawn-out 'I Want You' and a microphone-free rendition of 'Couldn't Call It Unexpected No.4', during which Costello also dived into the audience.

The encore with 'Alison' from 1977 and the debut album 'My Aim Is True' on the Stiff Records label still sounded as fresh as then, the surprising 'The Wind Cries Mary' and Harold Arlen's 'Over The Rainbow' closed the curtains after more than 2h30. Stripped to their basics, the songs sit elegantly alongside many Costello classics, as well as some lesser-known gems from his rich musical back catalogue. The performances are almost all subdued, passionate and are among the best Costello has ever released. Great showcase, great songs, performed in a minimalist line-up. Songs that all stand up immensely. That can only be Elvis Costello and Steve Nieve! A duo of geniuses of musical world class! "

The website also has a set of eight photos by the author.

MOOT
User avatar
Man out of Time
Posts: 1827
Joined: Fri Jul 06, 2007 8:15 am
Location: just off the coast of Europe
Contact:

Re: Elvis & Steve, Brussels (Belgium), September 27, 2023

Post by Man out of Time »

Another review, this one in Het Nieuwsblad, by Peter Mijlemans.

Why do none of the French-speaking media review Elvis in Belgium?

The review starts by saying "Driemaal verontschuldigde Elvis Costello zich woensdagavond in Brussel. Voor een optreden van 35 jaar geleden dat eindigde in rellen en de sloop van het interieur van de Ancienne Belgique. "

or in English -

"Elvis Costello apologised three times on Wednesday evening in Brussels. For a performance 35 years ago that ended in riots and the demolition of the interior of the Ancienne Belgique."

As the caption to the photo notes, the AB show was in June 1978, so actually 45 years ago. And as I heard it, Elvis was actually admonishing the audience for their behaviour on that night, rather than apologising. Perhaps something was lost in translation.

MOOT
sweetest punch
Posts: 5962
Joined: Sat Apr 03, 2004 5:49 am
Location: Belgium

Re: Elvis & Steve, Brussels (Belgium), September 27, 2023

Post by sweetest punch »

Man out of Time wrote: Fri Sep 29, 2023 9:31 am Another review, this one in Het Nieuwsblad, by Peter Mijlemans.

Why do none of the French-speaking media review Elvis in Belgium?

MOOT
Generally speaking: the French-speaking media and people follow more what’s happening in France; Flemish media and people follow more the English culture. And sadly, Elvis isn’t that popular in France.
Since you put me down, it seems i've been very gloomy. You may laugh but pretty girls look right through me.
Post Reply