Elvis Costello Reviews

Tracy from San Francisco, California

DISAPPOINTED LONG TIME FAN

The sound was awful, really horrible, so bad tried moving about the theatre & couldn’t find anywhere that wasn’t cringe worthy. People complained & walked out. There was no energy even when he played his old time hits. It felt unrehearsed, his tone was awful, the bass was deafening & not necessarily because of volume. The rhythms were off. ….. no depth, his voice was mostly off, total lack of energy. What a sad performance. A waste of time & energy. I’m a long time fan & I’ve seen his live performances in the past ….. I walked out after an hour of what felt like an assault on my ears.

Mike C. from Washington, District of Columbia

GREAT MUSICIAN AND SONG WRITER/POOR PERFORMANCE

Let me start by saying I think Elvis C. is a great lyricist and musician. Hence, I gave two stars instead of one. I saw him last night at Wolf Trap in Vienna, VA. Not sure if he was having an off night (which I hope was the case) but he was out time (with the band) for most of the show and wasn't in key for most of the songs. It just sounded really bad. So bad, in fact, I left after about forty minutes. So, I suppose its possible that he got better and I missed it. I have only ever walked out of one other concert in my life (and that was more because of rainy weather than performance). I've been to hundreds of concerts over the last four decades. Last night was the worst live performance I have ever experienced. Still love him but will not pay to see him live again. On a positive note, his opening act, Nick Lowe, was fantastic. Mike C.

James Martin from Vancouver, British Columbia

AT LEAST I GOT HOME EARLY!

This is the 3rd time I've seen Elvis C and I have to say, I was very disappointed. I now read from other reviews that he was battling a cold, which explains some of the poor quality vocals and sound. We left after song 5 and cut our losses. I'm going to leave my memory of the last 2 concerts and try to erase this one. I appreciated the early night, so every cloud has a silver linning.

Jennifer from Vancouver, British Columbia

DISAPPOINTED

Muddy sound really ruined the show. Need to hire some decent sound men because an artist of this stature should sound so much better. Could not understand vocals at all. His guitar playing was excellent but overall a very amateur show

Donn B from Northern Ca.

HIT THE EXIT AFTER 3 SONGS

Long time fan however we couldn’t make out any of the words and were very disappointed. Three songs and we decided it most likely would not improve so we headed back to our room.

Connie from Louisville, Kentucky

EC CONCERT

Hated it! Sorry.

Symon from Providence, Rhode Island

MADE IT THROUGH TEN SONGS

This may be an unfair review because I did not see the entire performance. I was excited to see Elvis after about 20 years (I first saw him at Brown University in 1978). Charlie Sexton's inclusion in the band was also a huge plus. I have always loved his work. At about 7:40 the show started. The sound quality was terrible! (to the point where it took half a minute to figure out what song Elvis was singing ("Is that Green Shirt?")). The band was lost in a muddy mix with some sort of bass fog permeating it. This improved somewhat over the next few songs but I then was treated to a run of four songs that left me cold. Either Side of the Same Town, Hetty O'Hara Confidential, Hey Clockface / How Can You Face Me? &The Death of Magic Thinking. The crowd seemed to appreciate them which I found baffling. This was followed by (The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes. An excellent early song! Elvis was off key and his timing was off. This was followed by Stations of the Cross and my departure. Perhaps my feelings were exaggerated after seeing Midge Ure play a flawless solo acoustic set to about 75 people in Boston the night before. Perfect vocals, an excellent set list & great in between song insight into the songs. The contrast to that event and what took place at the PPAC last night was immense.

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