Elvis & Steve, Barcelona (Spain), September 5, 2023

[sweetest punch]

https://www.lavanguardia.com/vida/20230 ... e.amp.html

Elvis Costello will perform at the Palau de la Música on September 5
AGENCIES
02/13/2023 11:40 AM
ACN Barcelona - Elvis Costello will perform at the Palau de la Música on September 5, together with pianist Steve Nieve. It will be one of the two parades that the artist will go to Spain, as he will also perform at the Teatre Lope de Vega in Madrid the day before. The tickets will be on sale this evening at 10:00 am on Tuesday and the day before the tickets will be available for pre-sale.

[sweetest punch]

https://www.google.be/amp/s/www.rockand ... embre/amp/

[Man out of Time]

I note that Juanes is playing a show tomorrow night (6 September) at the Palau de la Musica, in Barcelona where Elvis and Steve are playing tonight.

What chance he joins them on stage for a quick blast of "Pump It Up" with Steve on accordion?

Juanes.net.

MOOT

[Newspaper Pane]

Largely the same set list as Madrid, except take out the two Face in the Crowd Songs, Dio Come Ti Amo, and Cowards, and add The Whirlwind, The Birds Will Still Be Singing, and I Want You.

[Newspaper Pane]

And PLU was the 3rd-to-last song!

[sweetest punch]

https://elviscostello.info/wiki/index.p ... _Barcelona

Setlist

Elvis Costello & Steve Nieve:
01. When I Was Cruel No. 2- including Dancing Queen
02. Talking In The Dark
03. Shot With His Own Gun
04. Accidents Will Happen
05. Waiting For The End Of The World
06. Mistook Me For A Friend
07. Like Licorice On Your Tongue
08. Alison
09. Tart
10. Toledo
11. Almost Blue
12. Watching The Detectives
13. The Long Honeymoon
14. I Still Have That Other Girl
15. She
16. The Birds Will Still Be Singing
17. Shipbuilding
18. Cinco Minutos Con Vos
19. (What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love And Understanding? - Steve sang the 2nd verse
20. The Whirlwind
21. I Want You- including I Believe To My Soul

[sweetest punch]

https://www.ara.cat/cultura/musica/elvi ... 9.amp.html

Elvis Costello fa extraordinari un concert que havia començat trontollant
El cantant britànic i el pianista Steve Nieve recorren més de quaranta anys de trajectòria al Palau de la Música

Sensacions contradictòries i nit d'extrems amb els britànics Elvis Costello i Steve Nieve al Palau de la Música. Una vibrant interpretació de la cançó I want you va tancar el concert i el públic, dret, va ovacionar el duo, còmplices musicals des de fa 46 anys. Aleshores manava el record recent d'alguns moments realment extraordinaris que va fer oblidar un inici d'actuació que va fregar la catàstrofe. Costello no ha sigut mai el millor cantant de la seva generació, però sí que ha sabut posar la veu al servei de l'emoció i la ironia, ja fos en temps de l'electricitat New Wave o reinventat en crooner de Nova Orleans. Tanmateix, aquests dimarts va jugar-se l'afinació als daus i va perdre unes quantes tirades. Això va comprometre peces com Accidents will happen i en va malmetre d'altres com Talking in the dark. Mala peça al teler, quan estàs defensant un dels cançoners més interessants del pop-rock, i encara més quan has triat portar els temes a un format diferent, com de piano bar però amb llicència per a algun ritme preenregistrat.

Després de trontollar en un primer bloc dominat per piano i veu, Costello va semblar més còmode quan va agafar la guitarra acústica a Waiting for the end of the world i l'elèctrica al blues Like licorice on your tongue. De sobte, tot estava a lloc. Nieve continuava fent màgia al piano de cua, remenant el sintetitzador i bufant la melòdica, i Costello, xerraire i content de ser al Palau de la Música –"un palau de debò", va dir–, va oferir el millor de la nit. Va fer justícia a meravelles com Alison posant tota l'emoció a la tornada i va caminar amb fermesa per damunt del dub nocturn amb què Nieve va aixecar Watching the detectives. També va honorar la memòria de Burt Bacharach en les versions de Toledo i I still have that other girl, i va explicar que després de la mort del compositor nord-americà va estar un temps sense poder tocar les cançons que havien enregistrat junts.

'Shipbuilding' i el territori de les coses excepcionals

L'última mitja hora va ser la que va moure la balança cap al territori de les coses excepcionals. She, la peça de Charles Aznavour que Costello ha fet seva, va ser el preludi d'una seqüència memorable. Va triar The birds will still be singing per recordar el concert que havia fet el 1993 al Palau de la Música amb el Brodsky Quartet per presentar el disc The Juliet letters. Tot seguit, i amb Nieve tocant només les notes justes, va enlairar Shipbuilding, una de les millors cançons de la història, crònica profunda i sentida de la classe obrera britànica que a principis dels anys 80 va haver d'entomar les polítiques liberals de Margaret Thatcher alhora que era utilitzada com a carn de canó a la guerra de les Malvines. Costello, certament commovedor, la va cantar amb un sentiment semblant al de la interpretació de Robert Wyatt del 1982. Shipbuilding la va lligar amb Cinco minutos con vos, una de les peces del disc de Costello amb el grup de hip-hop The Roots, inspirada en Te recuerdo, Amanda, de Víctor Jara, i presentada com "el punt de vista" argentí d'aquella mateixa història, amb la dictadura militar intentant tapar la infàmia amb la bandera del patriotisme bèl·lic. (What's so funny 'bout) peace, love and understanding (de Nick Lowe), The whirlwind i I want you van culminar el millor d'una nit que havia començat a les palpentes i que va acabar amb la llum que només projecten les coses extraordinàries.

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Google translation:

Elvis Costello gave an extraordinary concert that had started trontollant
The British singer and pianist Steve Nieve have traveled more than forty years to the Palau de la Música

Contradictory sensations and extremes with the British Elvis Costello and Steve Nieve at the Palau de la Música. A vibrant interpretation of the song I want you will sing the concert and the public, dret, will applaud the duo, musical accomplices from fa 46 years. Aleshores held the recent record of some truly extraordinary moments that will oblige a start of performance that will end the catastrophe. Costello hasn't been the greatest singer of the sixth generation, but he has been able to pose it at the service of emotion and irony, either at the time of the New Wave electricity or reinvented as a New Orleans crooner. Tanmateix, these dimarts will play-if the daus is tuned and will lose some how many you throw. Això va comprometre peces com Accidents will happen i en va malmetre d'altres com Talking in the dark. It's a bad thing to watch TV, when you're defending one of the most interesting pop-rock songwriters, and face more when you've tried to port the songs to a different format, like piano bar but with a license for some pre-registered rhythm.

After trolling in a first block dominated by piano i veu, Costello will see more comfortable when he will play the acoustic guitar to Waiting for the end of the world i l'elèctrica al blues Like licorice on your tongue. From above, everything was located. Continuous snow felt magic at the cue piano, reminiscent of the synthesizer and snorting the melodica, and Costello, xerraire and content to be at the Palau de la Música – "a palau de debò", he will say –, will offer the millionth night. He is going to bring justice to maravelles with Alison who was totally moved by the tornada and is going to walk with the crowd for the dub nocturnal with which Nieve is going to drive Watching the detectives. He will also honor the memory of Burt Bacharach in the versions of Toledo and I still have that other girl, and he will explain that after the death of the North American composer he will be able to play the songs that have been recorded together for a while.

'Shipbuilding' and the territory of exceptional things

The last half hour will be the one that will moure the balance cap the territory of exceptional things. She, the piece by Charles Aznavour that Costello has seen of him, will be the prelude to a memorable sequence. He will try The birds will still be singing to remember the concert he had given in 1993 at the Palau de la Música with the Brodsky Quartet to present the album The Juliet letters. All the while, and with Snow touching just the right notes, Shipbuilding will shine, one of the greatest songs of history, a profound and heartfelt chronicle of the British working class that at the beginning of the 1980s will engage the liberal politicians of Margaret Thatcher when she was used as cannon fodder in the Malvines war. Costello, certainly moving, will sing it with a sentiment similar to Robert Wyatt's 1982 interpretation. Shipbuilding will join her with Five Minutes With You, one of the fish on Costello's disc with the hip-hop group The Roots, Inspired by I remember you, Amanda, by Víctor Jara, and presented with the silver "point of view" of that story, with the military dictatorship trying to cover up the infamy with the flag of patriotism bel·lic. (What's so funny 'bout) peace, love and understanding (by Nick Lowe), The whirlwind and I want you will culminate the thousandth night that had begun to palpate and that will end with the light that only projects the things extraordinary.

[sweetest punch]

https://www.eldiario.es/cultura/musica/ ... 5.amp.html

Elvis Costello: exprimir el oficio (y la voz) hasta el ultimísimo suspiro
El cantante londinense remontó en el Palau de la Música de Barcelona una actuación desigual que acabó por todo lo alto

Pasan los años y Elvis Costello mantiene inquebrantable su compromiso con el oficio de músico. A los 69, su agenda sigue tan apretada como siempre. Sesiones de estudio, encuentros con músicos a los que admira, mil planes en mente, giras por el mundo y una actitud escénica que ha dejado definitivamente atrás sus años más esquivos y erráticos con el público. Un concierto de Elvis Costello es un muestrario de esfuerzos por satisfacer a quienes pagan una entrada por verlo. Más aún, si se presenta solo con su pianista-escudero Steve Nieve.

Pero algo sí ha menguado con el paso del tiempo. Es algo que ni su manifiesta inquietud compositiva ni su profesionalidad como entertainer han podido mantener intacta: la voz. La voz se gasta, la garganta se cuartea y llega una edad en la que algunos cantantes pierden el control sobre su principal instrumento. Costello es de esos y anoche en el Palau de la Música fue evidente desde los primeros compases del concierto. Lo que se intuyó en el arranque con When I was cruel No. 2, donde las bases pregrabadas y el guiño de Nieve al Dancing Queen de Abba salvaron los trastos, quedó confirmado en la segunda canción. Aquella interpretación de Talking in the dark fue tirando a desastrosa.

Cuando la garganta ya no obedece

Hace muchos años, cuando J de Los Planetas estaba ya inmerso en su etapa de psicodelia flamenca, me dijo algo así: “Cuando era más joven, tenía voz pero no me interesaba cantar bien. Ahora que querría, ya no tengo”. Es exactamente eso. Llega un día en el que, si no tienes una garganta privilegiada, quieres pero ya no puedes. En tu cabeza, la voz va a salir decidida a dibujar unas melodías esbeltas e intrépidas, pero abres la boca y sale un alarido gallináceo. Las cuerdas vocales han perdido su elasticidad, la garganta se ha cuarteado. La voz de Costello aún suena inconfundible, sí, pero es menos expresiva que antaño porque no obedece las órdenes del cerebro. Y cuanto más la fuerza, porque él sigue obcecado en rozar esas notas ya inalcanzables, más estrepitosa puede ser la interpretación.

Así, a trompicones vocales, fue avanzando la tercera actuación de su gira española. Con modos de crooner desahuciado, con un cancionero infinito pero prácticamente calcado al de sus recitales en Granada y Madrid. Y también, con ese as en la manga que siempre son las intervenciones habladas en las que explica el origen de muchas de las historias que traslada al pentagrama. Shot with his own gun fue una de las primeras canciones que compuso allá por 1980 tras reunir suficiente dinero para comprarse un piano. Accidents will happen la completó en un hotel entre Texas y México después de un viaje en taxi. La letra de Tart, en cambio, surgió mucho más cerca: en Sevilla.

Días atrás, a su paso por Italia, Costello invitó a la cantante siciliana Carmen Consoli a interpretar con él Centro di gravità permanente, de Franco Battiatto. Lo dicho: este hombre sigue exprimiendo su oficio hasta la última gota, aprovechando cualquier casualidad para compartir escena o estudio con artistas a los que admira. En España no fue así, pero introdujo canciones con guiños locales como esa Waiting for the end of the world en la que aparece “un autostopista legendario” que quiere ir “a España o un sitio así”. Y también explicó porqué no habla una palabra de castellano ni catalán. Es por culpa de su padre, que generó en él una extraña aversión a aprender idiomas. “Mi padre sabía español, pero un día, en Almería, un hombre le preguntó dónde había aprendido a hablarlo tan bien. Y sin ningún tipo de rubor respondió: en la cama”.

Sus anécdotas de cuentacanciones salpimentaban la velada, pero las inflexiones vocales que prenden la canción grabada y la transforman en puro presente, esas que te recorren irremisiblemente el espinazo, aparecían solo de vez en cuando. Y sin esos pellizcos, el concierto avanzaba sin más. El penúltimo alarido de Alison sí proporcionó uno de esos pellizcos. O, no sé, eso creí percibir.

De la sastrería Burt Bacharach

Si acudieron 1.500 personas al Palau de la Música, habrá otras tantas formas de explicar el concierto de anoche. Habrá, de hecho, 1.500 conciertos distintos. El que yo vi cambio de aspecto en Toledo. Fue una de las dos canciones grabadas con Burt Bacharach que incluyó el concierto. Antes de interpretarla, Costello hizo un largo parlamento donde definió trabajar con el excelso compositor estadounidense como “aterrador” por su obsesión perfeccionista. Y antes de finalizarla improvisó varios versos en los que mencionó la ciudad de Barcelona. Pero lo importante es lo que ocurrió entre estos dos momentos. Por algún motivo, su voz brotó atemperada, segura, agraciada. Tal vez fue magia. O, más bien, que el sastre Bacharach compone trajes perfectos que siempre sientan estupendos; trajes diseñados para que la voz siempre luzca espléndida. Por primera vez en más de una hora, la interpretación del otro Elvis resultó convincente y emocionante.

Había llegado el momento de conquistar las cimas más altas de la noche. Serían Almost blue (especialmente nocturna), I still have that other girl (nuevamente soberbia en el apartado vocal y con Steve Nieve bordando su papel al piano) y She, la versión de Charles Aznavour. Al final de esta última, Costello se alejó del micrófono y cerró la faena a cappella con tal destreza que hasta se le escapó un gesto de sorpresa. Se encogió de hombros como quien pregunta: ¿esto lo he hecho yo? Y aun así, el momento más inolvidable de ese bloque de clara remontada fue la jamaicana Watching the detectives. Con Nieve soplando la melódica sobre una base rítmica pregrabada, el dúo armó un poderoso número de dub en el que Costello interactuó con su propia voz enlatada. Por escrito suena a disparate, sí, pero en vivo resultó palpitante y turbadora.

Hacía 30 años que Elvis no pisaba el Palau de la Música. Fue en marzo de 1993, con el disco que acababa de grabar con el Brodsky Quartet. Para rememorar aquella otra gesta compositiva recuperó la última canción de The Juliet letters. Sin arreglos de cuerda, obviamente, y adaptada al piano por Nieve, The birds will be singing fue el verdadero regalo a Barcelona. Solo la había interpretado tres noches en los últimos 20 años. La última, durante el colosal reto que asumió el pasado invierno en Nueva York y que consistió en tocar más de 200 canciones distintas durante diez noches. Sí, así entiende Costello su oficio.

Cinco bises sin dejar del escenario

El concierto tocaba a su fin, pero había que cumplir con el ritual de los bises. Costello preguntó con el dedo índice si alguien quería una más. Sonó Shipbuilding y los movimientos de su mano izquierda subrayaron mejor que su voz la intención antibelicista de la letra. Sonó Cinco minutos con vos, con versos en castellano y bases pregrabadas, pero en una toma medio desballestada al final de la cual más de uno se debió preguntar: ¿qué ha sido esto? Y sonó (What’s so funny ‘bout) Peace, love and understanding con un añadido sutil pero decisivo. Nieve cantó la segunda estrofa y se sumó al estribillo. Y, la verdad, ver y escuchar a estos dos tipos, que se conocen desde 1977, insistir juntos en preguntarse qué tiene de gracioso buscar el amor, la paz y la comprensión inyectó un plus de expresividad a una composición tan desgastada por el uso y el paso del tiempo.

Técnicamente, ninguna de esas tres canciones fueron bises porque ni Costello ni Nieve llegaron nunca a abandonar el escenario. Pero lo eran. El concierto estaba más que finiquitado, pero mientras recibían los aplausos de despedida, Costello susurró algo al oído de Nieve, le dio una palmada en la espalda y lo mandó al piano. Barcelona tendría una canción más. Fue The whirlwind, esa que habla de una mujer que quiere empezar una nueva vida en un pueblo donde nadie la conozca. “Esa mujer era yo”, añadió. Tal vez en 2047, en algún escenario, a sus ya 83 años, cuente algo más sobre esa historia. Mientras tanto, ayer le sirvió para poner la guinda a un recital en curva ascendente. Mientras el público ovacionaba la interpretación de un título tan poco central en su carrera, Elvis se quitó el sombrero y saludó como el torero que acaba de dar el pase definitivo.

Fueron unos segundos de palpable satisfacción. El triunfo final estaba llegando con el arma más insospechada. La excitación cosquilleaba las venas de Costello. Aquello sí era pre-sen-te. Entonces, sin mirar siquiera a Nieve en busca su complicidad, corrió a por la guitarra eléctrica y se lanzó a tocar I want you como quien necesita desesperadamente confesar algo. Ese I want you escogido en milésimas de segundo, inédito en esta gira, y con un Costello de ojos entornados, visiblemente sumergido en la canción, utilizando la guitarra eléctrica como el timón que conduciría su voz en la dirección adecuada, sorteando escollos y turbulencias de su cansada garganta, pudo haberse alargado una hora más. Con estrofas inventadas, en un registro cada vez más susurrante pero aún audible, con el auditorio totalmente absorto. I want you, I want you, I want you...

Y así es como un concierto que empezó de aquella manera acabó por todo lo alto. No todo es tener oficio. Hay que ejercerlo. Hay que exprimirlo.

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Google translation:

Elvis Costello: squeezing the trade (and the voice) until the last breath
The London singer traced back an uneven performance at the Palau de la Música in Barcelona that ended in style

Years go by and Elvis Costello maintains his unwavering commitment to the profession of musician. At 69, his schedule is as tight as ever. Study sessions, meetings with musicians he admires, a thousand plans in mind, tours around the world and a stage attitude that has definitely left behind his most elusive and erratic years with the public. An Elvis Costello concert is a sample of efforts to satisfy those who pay a ticket to see it. Even more so, if he shows up alone with his pianist-squire Steve Snow.

But something has diminished with the passage of time. It is something that neither his manifest concern for composition nor his professionalism as an entertainer have been able to keep intact: the voice. The voice wears out, the throat cracks, and there comes an age when some singers lose control over their main instrument. Costello is one of those and last night at the Palau de la Música it was evident from the first bars of the concert. What was intuited at the start with When I was cruel No. 2, where the pre-recorded bases and Nieve's nod to Abba's Dancing Queen saved the mess, was confirmed in the second song. That interpretation of Talking in the dark was pulling disastrous.

When the throat no longer obeys

Many years ago, when J from Los Planetas was already immersed in his stage of flamenco psychedelia, he told me something like this: “When I was younger, I had a voice but I wasn't interested in singing well. Now that I would like, I no longer have. It is exactly that. There comes a day when, if you don't have a privileged throat, you want to but you can't. In your head, the voice is going to come out determined to draw some slender and intrepid melodies, but you open your mouth and a chickenish howl comes out. The vocal cords have lost their elasticity, the throat has cracked. Costello's voice still sounds unmistakable, yes, but it's less expressive than before because it doesn't obey the commands of the brain. And the more he forces it, because he continues obsessed with touching those already unattainable notes, the more resounding the interpretation can be.

Thus, in vocal fits, the third performance of his Spanish tour was advancing. With the ways of a hopeless crooner, with an infinite songbook but practically traced to that of his recitals in Granada and Madrid. And also, with that ace up his sleeve that is always the spoken interventions in which he explains the origin of many of the stories that he transfers to the staff. Shot with his own gun was one of the first songs he composed back in 1980 after raising enough money to buy a piano. Accidents will happen he completed it in a hotel between Texas and Mexico after a taxi ride. Tart's lyrics, on the other hand, arose much closer: in Seville.

A few days ago, while in Italy, Costello invited the Sicilian singer Carmen Consoli to perform with him Centro di gravità permanente, by Franco Battiatto. What has been said: this man continues to squeeze the last drop of his craft, taking advantage of any chance to share the stage or studio with artists he admires. In Spain he was not like that, but he introduced songs with local nods like Waiting for the end of the world in which “a legendary hitchhiker” appears who wants to go “to Spain or somewhere like that”. And he also explained why he doesn't speak a word of Spanish or Catalan. It is because of his father, who generated in him a strange aversion to learning languages. “My father knew Spanish, but one day, in Almería, a man asked him where he had learned to speak it so well. And without any kind of blush he replied: in bed ”.

His song-telling anecdotes peppered the evening, but the vocal inflections that ignite the recorded song and transform it into a pure present, those that inevitably run down your spine, appeared only from time to time. And without those pinches, the concert progressed without further ado. Alison's penultimate scream did provide one of those pinches. Or, I don't know, that's what I thought I perceived.

From Burt Bacharach Tailoring

If 1,500 people attended the Palau de la Música, there will be as many ways to explain last night's concert. There will be, in fact, 1,500 different concerts. The one I saw changed in appearance in Toledo. It was one of two songs recorded with Burt Bacharach that included the concert. Before interpreting it, Costello made a long speech where he defined working with the exalted American composer as "terrifying" because of his perfectionist obsession. And before finishing it, he improvised several verses in which he mentioned the city of Barcelona. But what is important is what happened between these two moments. For some reason, his voice came out temperate, sure, graceful. Maybe it was magic. Or, rather, that Bacharach the tailor makes perfect suits that always look great; costumes designed so that the voice always looks splendid. For the first time in over an hour, the performance of the other Elvis was compelling and exciting.

The time had come to conquer the highest peaks of the night. They would be Almost blue (especially nocturnal), I still have that other girl (again superb in the vocal section and with Steve Nieve embroidering the role of him on piano) and She, the version of Charles Aznavour. At the end of the latter, Costello moved away from the microphone and closed the a cappella performance with such dexterity that he even made a surprised gesture. He shrugged as if asking: did I do this? And even so, the most unforgettable moment of that block of clear comeback was the Jamaican Watching the detectives. With Snow blowing the melodica over a pre-recorded rhythmic backing, the duo put together a powerful dub number in which Costello interplayed with his own canned voice. In writing it sounds nonsense, yes, but live it was throbbing and disturbing.

It had been 30 years since Elvis had set foot in the Palau de la Música. It was in March 1993, with the album that he had just recorded with the Brodsky Quartet. To commemorate that other compositional feat, he recovered the last song from The Juliet letters. Without string arrangements, obviously, and adapted to the piano by Nieve, The birds will be singing was the true gift to Barcelona. He had only performed it three nights in the last 20 years. The last one, during the colossal challenge that he took on last winter in New York and that consisted of playing more than 200 different songs during ten nights. Yes, that's how Costello understands his job.

Five encores without leaving the stage

The concert was coming to an end, but the ritual of the encores had to be complied with. Costello asked with his index finger if anyone wanted one more. He sounded Shipbuilding and the movements of his left hand underscored the anti-war intention of the lyrics better than his voice. He sounded Five minutes with you, with verses in Spanish and pre-recorded bases, but in a half shot shot at the end of which more than one must have asked: what has this been? And he sounded (What ’s so funny ‘bout) Peace, love and understanding with a subtle but decisive addition. Snow sang the second verse and joined the chorus. And, really, seeing and listening to these two guys, who have known each other since 1977, insisting together on wondering what's so funny about looking for love, peace and understanding injected a plus of expressiveness into a composition so worn by use and Over time.

Technically, none of those three songs were encores because neither Costello nor Nieve ever left the stage. But they were. The concert was more than over, but as they received the valedictory applause, Costello whispered something in Snow's ear, slapped him on the back, and sent him to the piano. Barcelona would have one more song. It was The whirlwind, the one that talks about a woman who wants to start a new life in a town where nobody knows her. “That woman was me,” he added. Perhaps in 2047, on some stage, at 83 years of age, she will tell something more about that story. Meanwhile, yesterday it served to put the icing on the cake for a recital on an upward curve. While the public applauded the interpretation of a title so little central to his career, Elvis took off his hat and saluted like the bullfighter who has just given the final pass.

There were a few seconds of palpable satisfaction. The final triumph was coming with the most unexpected weapon. Arousal tickled Costello's veins. That was present. Then, without even looking at Snow for her complicity, he ran for the electric guitar and launched into playing I want you like someone who desperately needs to confess something. That I want you chosen in thousandths of a second, unprecedented on this tour, and with a narrow-eyed Costello, visibly immersed in the song, using the electric guitar as the rudder that would steer his voice in the right direction, avoiding pitfalls and turbulence of his tired throat, could have gone on for another hour. With invented verses, in an increasingly whispering but still audible register, with the audience totally absorbed. I want you, I want you, I want you...

And that's how a concert that started that way ended in style. Not everything is having a job. You have to exercise it. You have to squeeze it.

[sweetest punch]

https://www.elnacional.cat/es/cultura/e ... 2_amp.html

Elvis Costello: de paseo en Barcelona por lugares emblemáticos
El músico londinense hace un repaso amplio y generoso a su cancionero en el Palau de la Música

No sé por qué quizás aún no me ha llegado el momento, pero a cierta edad y con según qué estatus, lo que apetece es estar en lugares en los que prima la belleza y la comodidad. Y para esta gira, Elvis Costello se ha ocupado de elegir los sitios en los que quiere tocar. Con todo el respeto para las salas de toda la vida, a él ahora le preocupa más el entorno. A estas alturas, el músico británico entiende que se ha ganado caprichos como ese. Costello nunca fue un derrochador, el dinero que ganó lo invirtió en su propia carrera; cuidar y darle a cada disco el tratamiento que merece sin reparar en gastos. Por tanto, en esta gira junto a su inseparable pianista Steve Nieve se ha permitido tocar en lugares singulares que son patrimonio de la humanidad como La Alhambra de Granada (aunque tuviese que interrumpir el concierto por culpa del temporal), plaza reservada para mitos como él o Bob Dylan.

Una noche a trompicones

En Barcelona el espacio por el que ha optado es un templo como el Palau de la Música. Un escenario desde el cual, a los músicos les brillan los ojos. En el caso de esta gira, ha ido confeccionando los repertorios en función de lo que le inspira cada recinto. Y ahí él tiene dónde elegir, con material para dar y para tomar, llevando el concierto por un cauce o por otro. Al contrario de, por ejemplo, un caso reciente que hemos visto por aquí, el de Chris Isaak, muy ceñido a un patrón determinado, el londinense puede hacer parada en muchos moteles y en cada uno de ellos muestra una cara. Luego están sus colaboraciones con otros músicos, un ejercicio más de aprendizaje que el de demostrar con quien se codea. Con Burt Barcharach hizo un curso acelerado con los arreglos, con Allen Toussiant aprendió a valorar qué cosas se cuecen en el sur y, como consejero y escribiente, a Diana Krall la moldeó para que no se quedase anclada en un papel concreto como intérprete de estándares de jazz. En cualquier caso, tiene innata esa capacidad para mutar, reciclarse o viajar cautelosamente hasta el pasado.

En su nueva cita con Barcelona, Costello ha salido con ganas de hablar. De primeras, una sorpresa, unos sonidos pregrabados en plan quebrantahuesos que le compraría el mismísimo Tom Waits. Una fórmula que funciona en When I Was Cruel nº 2, pero no en el resto de intentonas. Tras el experimento, Elvis Costello ha dejado el sombrero sobre el piano recordando como en 1977 creó una gran revolución con The Attractions. Lo hace con poca voz (la va recuperando durante el concierto), mientras hace parada con anécdota en su concierto de la noche anterior en Madrid. Con Accidents Will Happen recupera su vertiente eléctrica y se disculpa por no poder hablar catalán o castellano. Momento que aprovecha para explicar que su padre sí hablaba un castellano fluido y que hubo un día que un amigo de Almería le preguntó: "¿Dónde aprendiste a hablar tan bien español?". Y él contestó: "En la cama". Es la antesala a la ejecución de la espléndida Tart.

Con el formato que usa en esta gira, las canciones que mejor funcionan son las que lo conectan con Burt Bacharach, pero es con She (esta sí la clava), con un final en clave crooner o cantante de ópera, cuando Elvis Costello abre los brazos rogando cariño y comprensión. Justo tras ese pase, hay parte del público que desfila; al parecer algunos solo han ido a escuchar ese clásico. O puede que lo que ven no les satisfaga. Es un concierto irregular y confuso que va muy a trompicones, incluso al acometer I Want You (la alarga demasiado) no sabes con qué intención la toca: si como premio o como justificación al aparente desaguisado. En este instante, ya hay más de uno que ha tirado la toalla. La noche se ha hecho larga. Y en principio, ese no era el propósito. Para muchos era la vuelta al cole.

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Google translation

Elvis Costello: a walk in Barcelona through emblematic places
The London musician makes a comprehensive and generous review of his songbook at the Palau de la Música

I don't know why maybe the time hasn't come yet, but at a certain age and depending on what status, what I want is to be in places where beauty and comfort prevail. And for this tour, Elvis Costello has taken care of choosing the places where he wants to play. With all due respect to the halls of a lifetime, he is now more concerned with the environment. By now, the British musician understands that he has earned whims like that. Costello was never a spendthrift, the money he earned was invested in his own career; take care and give each record the treatment it deserves without sparing any expense. Therefore, on this tour with his inseparable pianist Steve Nieve, he has allowed himself to play in unique places that are world heritage sites such as The Alhambra in Granada (although he had to interrupt the concert due to the storm), a place reserved for myths like him or Bob Dylan.

One night in fits and starts

In Barcelona, the space he has chosen is a temple like the Palau de la Música. A stage from which the musicians' eyes shine. In the case of this tour, he has been preparing the repertoires based on what each venue inspires him. And there he has a choice, with material to give and to take, taking the concert one way or another. Contrary to, for example, a recent case that we have seen here, that of Chris Isaak, very close to a certain pattern, the Londoner can stop at many motels and in each one of them shows a face. Then there are his collaborations with other musicians, one more learning exercise than showing who he rubs shoulders with. With Burt Barcharach, she took a crash course in arranging, with Allen Toussiant she learned to appreciate what's going on in the South and, as counselor and scribe, she shaped Diana Krall so that she didn't get stuck in a specific role as a standards interpreter. of jazz. In any case, she has an innate ability to mutate, recycle, or travel cautiously into the past.

In his new appointment with Barcelona, Costello has come out wanting to talk. At first, a surprise, some pre-recorded sounds like a bearded vulture that Tom Waits himself would buy for him. A formula that works in When I Was Cruel nº 2, but not in the rest of attempts. After the experiment, Elvis Costello has left his hat on the piano remembering how in 1977 he created a great revolution with The Attractions. He does it with little voice (he recovers it during the concert), while he stops with an anecdote at his concert the night before in Madrid. With Accidents Will Happen he recovers his electric side and apologizes for not being able to speak Catalan or Spanish. A moment that he takes advantage of to explain that his father did speak fluent Spanish and that there was a day when a friend from Almería asked him: "Where did you learn to speak Spanish so well?" And he answered: "In bed." It is the prelude to the execution of the splendid Tart.

With the format he uses on this tour, the songs that work best are those that connect him with Burt Bacharach, but it's with She (this one really nails it), with a crooner or opera singer ending, when Elvis Costello opens the arms begging for love and understanding. Right after that pass, there is part of the public that parades; apparently some have only gone to listen to that classic. Or it may be that what they see does not satisfy them. It's an irregular and confusing concert that goes in fits and starts, even when attacking I Want You (it drags it out too long) you don't know with what intention he plays it: if as a reward or as a justification for the apparent mess. At this moment, there are already more than one who has thrown in the towel. The night has been long. And in principle, that was not the purpose. For many it was back to school.

[sweetest punch]

https://www.catalannews.com/culture/ite ... of-emotion

Elvis Costello captivates Barcelona with concert full of emotion

Rapt Palau de la Música audience enjoys highlights such as 'She' and 'I Still Have That Other Girl'

Elvis Costello captivated his Barcelona audience on Tuesday, performing at the Palau de la Música Catalana as part of his European tour.

The English singer and songwriter delivered a concert full of emotional highlights, including 'She', 'I Still Have That Other Girl', 'The Whirlwind' and '(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding'.

Accompanied by long-time collaborator Steve Nieve on piano, Costello sang songs from his early albums as well as more recent releases over the course of the two-hour concert.

Jumping from rock to pop to romantic ballads, Costello tried to make the occasion as intimate as possible, breaking down the barrier between stage and seating with anecdotes from his personal and professional life.

"I'm not sitting down because I'm tired, but because I want to look you in the eyes", he said at one point.

He also apologized for only addressing the audience in English. "I'm sorry, I don't speak Spanish or Catalan. My father spoke Spanish fluently. He learned it in many beds," he joked.

'She' proved to be the emotional climax of the evening, with the Barcelona audience getting to their feet and singing along to every word.

[sweetest punch]

https://time.news/elvis-costello-and-th ... tune-song/

Elvis Costello and the magical outburst of the hoarse and out of tune song

Black hat tilted to one side, smoked glasses, and a microphone like from another time, from when radio ruled the earth and his voice came in like a dazzling bolt of lightning, all static electricity and bad grapes of punk-rocker retold, over the airwaves. The mischievous smile sewn on his face and that throat that was once an anchor but, wow, now it fails, skids and, almost as if by magic, goes up. And she fails again. And yes, it’s coming back.

‘Accidents Will Happen’ is about to go off the rails, he chews the tragedy in ‘Shot With His Own Gun’, but then he grabs the guitar to attack ‘Waiting For The End of The World’ and, miracle, the world doesn’t end. On the contrary; he grows and multiplies in the hands of a Elvis Costello who has come to sing, yes, but also to tell. To undress songs, bend the arm to old acquaintances and remind us that art comes from crafts. To summarize with his buddy Steve Nieve, man for everything on the piano, the melodica and the synthesizer, five decades of career without abusing the emotional robbery card. Because one thing is nostalgia and another is memory.

As an example, that suit of cubist programming and rhythms that makes him just start ‘When I Was Cruel No.2’, or the fluttering dub, robust Jamaican smoke, of ‘Watching the Detectives’.

the british survived as well as he could in Granada, where the storm ruined its premiere in the Alhambra; she shared secrets and confidences at the Lope de Vega Theater in Madrid while Björk hypnotized almost all the musical chroniclers in the city; and tonight, before saying goodbye and heading to Sweden, Denmark or wherever she wants her to perform tomorrow, she had to top the Palace of Music And although the journey is irregular, with ups and downs and potholes from which it seems impossible to get out, the ending is one of those that makes the heart shrink: the tremulous and electric flesh of ‘I Want You’ and all the audience standing up cheering the most mischievous and playful of accidental ‘crooners’; to the last great artisan of the love song with detour and blur.

Elvis Costello remembers that a breath ago, thirty years of nothing, he played in the modernist venue next to the Brodsky Quartet, so a wild and huge raid is marked in ‘The Juliet Letters’. The voice is accurate, yes, but the emotion overflows. And the trade, plethoric, takes care of the rest. Before that, the Londoner had already brought the public to their feet with a shaky and acid rereading of ‘Alison’, had escaped to New Orleans aboard ‘Like Licorice in Your Mouth’ and had opened wide the book of the revelations to share juicy memorial details.

The sauce? hates music Pink Floyd, his father learned to speak Spanish in bed, he wrote ‘Tart’ in Seville as if it were an erotic poem, and the death of Burt Bacharach left him so touched that he was unable to play the songs they recorded together for a while. Two are dropping today, ‘I Still Have That Other Girl’ and ‘Toledo’, and they are the best of the night. The first is by Costello in love with ‘crooners’ and the seductive power of jazz; the second is the work of a curious and savvy singer-songwriter, the same one who has been defoliating the pop daisy for more than four decades and knows exactly how to mold ‘(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love And Understanding’ so that the public is satisfied and satisfied .

The idea, he explains on stage, is to clear up the songs and show them as when he started writing them in 1980, the year in which he had enough money to buy a piano, but there is more. Much more. There is, for example, the jumble of broken rhythms and nods to Robert Wyatt in ‘Shipbuilding’, the nerve of ‘Mistook Me For A Friend’ and the subtle melodic cushion that Snow slides under the songs and turns them into something new, different. Better? Depends. To the three or four who leave discreetly when there is still half an hour left to finish the concert, it must not seem that way. For the rest, however, it is enough to listen to ‘She’ again to kneel once more before a Costello with inexhaustible bellows.

[sweetest punch]

https://www.timeout.es/barcelona/es/not ... ica-090523

Google transltion: https://www-timeout-es.translate.goog/b ... r_pto=wapp

[sweetest punch]

https://www.abc.es/cultura/musica/elvis ... ogle.be%2F

Google translation: https://www-abc-es.translate.goog/cultu ... r_pto=wapp

[sweetest punch]

https://www.regio7.cat/cultures/2023/09 ... 56001.html

Google translation: https://www-regio7-cat.translate.goog/c ... r_pto=wapp

[sweetest punch]

https://www.timeout.cat/barcelona/ca/no ... ica-090523

Google translation: https://www-timeout-cat.translate.goog/ ... r_pto=wapp

[sweetest punch]

https://www.larepublica.cat/minut-a-min ... scografia/

Google translation: https://www-larepublica-cat.translate.g ... r_pto=wapp

[Man out of Time]

Review by Ramon Súrio published on September 7, 2023 in La Vanguardia.

"CRÍTICA DE POP
Elvis Costello: emotivo y desafinado
El británico brilló especialmente en los tonos más íntimos y baladistas, al ejercer de crooner de piano bar

Elvis Costello & Steve Nieve

★★★

Lugar y fecha: Palau de la Música (5/IX/2023)

El cantante, compositor y guitarrista británico Elvis Costello es un gran referente del pop, con una extensa carrera que vino a recorrer junto al teclista Steve Nieve, su socio desde los lejanos días del punk y la new wave. Era una noche ideal para dejarse llevar por un cancionero de campanillas, interpretado por un autor que a sus 69 años se mostró jovial y dicharachero, contando anécdotas y buscando la conexión con la talluda audiencia, que lo recibía con un caluroso aplauso del que hizo broma: “¡Pero si aún no hemos tocado!”.

Lástima que fuera el propio protagonista quien se boicoteara, desde la inicial When I was cruel no. 2 , con sonoras desafinadas, sobre todo en los tonos más altos, de los que hace gala a menudo. Sin embargo, estos desajustes no motivaron ninguna queja del respetable, embelesado con un repertorio que brilló especialmente en los tonos más íntimos y baladistas, al ejercer de crooner de piano bar, aferrado a un micro de pie de aspecto vintage .

Fueron especialmente emotivas las repescas de las añejas Shot with his own gun , la preciosa balada Almost blue que en su día versionó Chet Baker, un A face in the crowd pensada para un musical, la seminal Alison o un She que supuso un logrado tributo a Charles Aznavour. Por no hablar de la lacrimógena intensidad de The birds will still be singing , que cierra el álbum neoclásico The Juliet letters , o la memorable Shipbuilding, hecha célebre por Robert Wyatt.

La guerra de las Malvinas también sirvió para recordar Cinco minutos con vos , canción bilingüe grabada con The Roots que muestra un lado groove , con ritmos programados y sintetizador. En esta faceta eléctrica brillaría el tratamiento de Watching the detectives , entre el dub y el lounge. El tono rhythm & blues de la inédita Like licorice on your tongue les acercó a Nueva Orleans. Y en el apartado opuesto, Toledo fue una endeble revisitación de su glorioso trabajo con Burt Bacharach. Mientras que el himno pub rock de Nick Lowe (What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding perdió la tersura de la versión que aparece en Armed forces , en un irregular concierto culminado por arriba con el romance obsesivo de dramático lirismo I want you ."

Or in "English" via Google Translate:

POP REVIEW
Elvis Costello: emotional and out of tune
The Brit shone especially in the most intimate and ballad tones, when he served as piano bar crooner

Elvis Costello & Steve Nieve

★★★

Place and date: Palau de la Música (5/IX/2023)

The British singer, songwriter and guitarist Elvis Costello is a great pop icon, with an extensive career that he came to explore with keyboardist Steve Nieve, his partner since the distant days of punk and new wave. It was an ideal night to let yourself be carried away by a songbook of bells, performed by an author who at 69 years old was jovial and talkative, telling anecdotes and seeking connection with the tall audience, who received him with warm applause of which he made a joke. : “But we haven't played yet!”

It's a shame that it was the protagonist himself who boycotted himself, from the initial When I was cruel no. 2, with out-of-tune sounds, especially in the higher tones, which he often displays. However, these imbalances did not cause any complaints from the respectable person, enthralled with a repertoire that shone especially in the most intimate and ballad tones, as he acted as a piano bar crooner, clinging to a vintage-looking standing microphone.

Particularly emotional were the replays of the old Shot with His Own Gun, the beautiful ballad Almost Blue that Chet Baker covered in its day, A Face in the Crowd designed for a musical, the seminal Alison or She, which was an accomplished tribute to Charles Aznavour. Not to mention the tear-jerking intensity of The birds will still be singing, which closes the neoclassical album The Juliet letters, or the memorable Shipbuilding, made famous by Robert Wyatt.

The Falklands War also served to remind us of Cinco Minutes with You, a bilingual song recorded with The Roots that shows a groove side, with programmed rhythms and synthesizer. In this electric facet, the treatment of Watching the detectives would shine, between dub and lounge. The rhythm & blues tone of the unreleased Like licorice on your tongue brought them closer to New Orleans. And in the opposite section, Toledo was a weak revisitation of his glorious work with Burt Bacharach. While Nick Lowe's pub rock anthem (What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding lost the smoothness of the version that appears on Armed Forces, in an irregular concert culminated above with the obsessive romance of dramatic lyricism I want you."

The newspaper webpage (link above) also has some photos of the concert.

MOOT

[Man out of Time]

Review by Àlex Guimerà posted on September 6, 2023 at El Giradiscos blog.

Elvis Costello y Steve Nieve, camaradas en la intimidad

Palau de la Música Catalana, Barcelona. Miércoles, 5 de septiembre del 2023

Cinco años después de su actuación en el Festival Jardins de Pedralbes, el músico londinense volvía a una Barcelona que ya lo había visto en el Palau de la Música Catalana en 1993, durante la presentación de "The Juliet Letters", y también en el Teatro Tívoli en lo que se considera su mejor visita a la Ciudad Condal hasta la fecha, aunque su bolo en la Sala Razz en 2013 estuvo igualmente francamente bien. Para esta ocasión, la gira contaba con un formato íntimo en el que interpreta interesantes versiones pero sobre todo repasa su extensa trayectoria a través de algunos de sus éxitos, tanto en solitario como junto con los Attractions, Imposters (incluso también los Roots) o incluso con el recientemente fallecido Burt Bacharach.

Tras pasar por Madrid el día antes y tras su interrumpido (por la lluvia) concierto de Granada, Declan Patrick MacManus (así se llama realmente) se presentaba acompañado por el teclista de los Attractions y su socio en mil y una aventuras Steve Nieve, con el que humildemente ha querido compartir cartel en la gira. A lo largo de dos horas, arropados por teclados, guitarras y piano, la dupla fue desgranando en el emblemático escenario del Palau -según Costello ese sí era un auténtico Palacio y no los Hoteles llamados Palace - hasta 21 temas buscando un clima cercano y lleno de elegancia.

Si bien uno siempre preferirá la versión más eléctrica del bardo rodeado de una banda de rock and roll al estilo de sus primeros discos en plena era New Wave, hay que reconocer que a lo largo de su larga carrera ha sabido reinventarse y explotar como pocos esa cara más crooner y "jazzística", en donde se ha servido con maestría de la dulzura y de tempos sosegados. Aunque para ser honestos el concierto fue bastante irregular con momentos lúcidos pero otros para olvidar. En especial por el tono de su voz, que arrancó justa -con algún puntual desafine- y que fue despertando a medida que avanzaba el recital, o cuando piano y canto no iban a la par.

Pero seamos positivos ya que nos encontrábamos ante uno de los grandes del pop, y a decir verdad en otros instantes disfrutamos mucho con los aciertos de los arreglos e interpretaciones de otras canciones que, sí, se dejaron escuchar fabulosamente. Y, claro, en todo momento pudimos gozar con su entrega, carisma e historietas de viejo rockero. Para el comienzo, el músico mantuvo su sombrero ladeado y encendió la caja de ritmos mientras Nieve soplaba melódica en "When I was cruel No. 2". Le siguió una fallida "Talking In The Dark", en donde quedó patente que el cantante estaba demasiado desnudo y quizás necesitaba una banda para tapar sus carencias. Mejor estuvo en la naif "Shot With His Own Gun" del notable "Trust" (1981) con su voz más cálida y teatral. El primer pildorazo serio llegó con "Accidents Will Happen" que aún sonando algo lánguida y con poco punch nos retrotrajo a esos maravillosos años setenta en los que el músico junto a The Attractions fue capaz de encadenar cuatro elepés que son auténticas obras maestras - "My Aim Is True", "This Year' s Model", "Armed Forces" y "Get happy" - plagadas de píldoras pop rebosantes de melodía y luminosidad. Del mismo periodo directa a nuestros oídos también apareció la preciosa "Allison", muy aclamada por el público, y hacia el final una tenebrosa "Watching The Detectives" que navegó entre la psicodelia, los ritmos reggae y el dub.

Otras que aparecieron fueron "Toledo", manufacturada junto al gran Bucharach, de quien recordó su perfeccionismo y que sonó tierna y bucólica tras el piano de cola de Steve. O la sentida "Shipbuilding" (también versionada por el antiguo residente de Barcelona, Robert Wyatt), que compuso durante la guerra de las Malvinas y que abordó desde los ritmos electrónicos y la experimentación. Pero el momento cumbre, quizás, tuvo lugar con la ansiada cover de "She" de Charles Aznavour, que Costello popularizó en la banda nonora de "Notting Hill" allá a finales de los noventa. También estuvo presente el American Songbook con su versión de la taciturna "Almost Blue" que tan bien recordamos en manos de Chet Baker. Más dinámica sonó otro hit de sus primeros años, "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding", prestada de los Brinsley Schwarz de su gran colaborador Nick Lowe. Perfectamente instrumentada con guitarra eléctrica y piano, además del vozarrón de Nieve. Un momento que ya de por sí justificó todo el concierto.

En la recta final los bises aparecieron sin que la dupla abandonara el escenario y en el que abordó la reciente "The Whirlwind" y "I Want You", del lejano "Blood & Chocolate" (1986), recuperando ambos músicos sus sombreros sobre sus cabezas y bajo su mejor versión de la noche."

or in "English" via Google Translate:

Elvis Costello and Steve Nieve, intimate comrades

Palau de la Música Catalana, Barcelona. Wednesday, September 5, 2023

Five years after his performance at the Jardins de Pedralbes Festival, the London musician returned to a Barcelona that had already seen him at the Palau de la Música Catalana in 1993, during the presentation of "The Juliet Letters", and also at the Teatro Tivoli in what is considered his best visit to Barcelona to date, although his gig at the Sala Razz in 2013 was also really good. For this occasion, the tour had an intimate format in which he performed interesting covers but above all reviewed his extensive career through some of his hits, both alone and together with the Attractions, Imposters (even the Roots) or even with the recently deceased Burt Bacharach.

After passing through Madrid the day before and after his concert in Granada was interrupted (due to rain), Declan Patrick MacManus (that's his real name) appeared accompanied by the keyboardist of the Attractions and his partner in a thousand and one adventures Steve Nieve, with the one who humbly wanted to share the bill on the tour. Over the course of two hours, surrounded by keyboards, guitars and piano, the duo performed up to 21 songs on the emblematic stage of the Palau - according to Costello, it was an authentic Palace and not the Hotels called Palace - seeking a close and full atmosphere. of elegance.

Although one will always prefer the most electric version of the bard surrounded by a rock and roll band in the style of his first albums in the middle of the New Wave era, it must be recognized that throughout his long career he has known how to reinvent himself and exploit that more crooner and "jazz" side, where sweetness and calm tempos have been masterfully used. Although to be honest the concert was quite irregular with lucid moments but others to forget. Especially because of the tone of his voice, which he started just right - with some occasional out of tune - and which woke up as the recital progressed, or when piano and singing were not on par.

But let's be positive since we were facing one of the greats of pop, and to tell the truth at other times we really enjoyed the success of the arrangements and interpretations of other songs that, yes, could be heard fabulously. And, of course, at all times we were able to enjoy his dedication, charisma and old rocker comics. For the start, the musician kept his hat tilted and turned on the drum machine as Nieve blew melodically into "When I was cruel No. 2." It was followed by a failed "Talking In The Dark", where it became clear that the singer was too naked and perhaps needed a band to cover up his shortcomings. He was best in the naive "Shot With His Own Gun" from the notable "Trust" (1981) with his warmest and most theatrical voice. The first serious pill came with "Accidents Will Happen" which, although sounding somewhat languid and with little punch, took us back to those wonderful seventies in which the musician, together with The Attractions, was able to string together four LPs that are authentic masterpieces - "My Aim Is True", "This Year's Model", "Armed Forces" and "Get happy" - full of pop pills brimming with melody and luminosity. From the same period, direct to our ears, the beautiful "Allison" also appeared, highly acclaimed by the public, and towards the end a dark "Watching The Detectives" that navigated between psychedelia, reggae rhythms and dub.

Others that appeared were "Toledo", produced with the great Bucharach, of whom he recalled his perfectionism and which sounded tender and bucolic behind Steve's grand piano. Or the heartfelt "Shipbuilding" (also covered by former Barcelona resident Robert Wyatt), which he composed during the Falklands War and which he approached from electronic rhythms and experimentation. But the crowning moment, perhaps, took place with the long-awaited cover of Charles Aznavour's "She", which Costello popularized in the "Notting Hill" band Nonora back in the late '90s. The American Songbook was also present with its version of the moody "Almost Blue" that we remember so well in the hands of Chet Baker. Another hit from his early years sounded more dynamic, "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding", borrowed from the Brinsley Schwarz of his great collaborator Nick Lowe. Perfectly instrumented with electric guitar and piano, in addition to Nieve's loud voice. A moment that in itself justified the entire concert.

In the final stretch the encores appeared without the duo leaving the stage and in which they addressed the recent "The Whirlwind" and "I Want You", from the distant "Blood & Chocolate" (1986), both musicians recovering their hats on their heads and under his best version of the night."

MOOT