I first saw Elvis Costello in 1981, at the old
War Memorial Gym, UBC, Vancouver, B.C. He and the band played well enough, but there was zero interaction with the audience. I don't think he uttered one word between songs the whole night, let alone a 'Good Evening' & 'Good Night'. Raised as I had been on a diet of Rod the Mod & the Faces, it was by far and away the most joyless musical experience of my then 23 years and still sets for me the benchmark of joyless performances.
I think I may have seen him & the Attractions a second time, but if I have, I've blanked it. The (?)third time I saw him was in 1989, a solo show at London's Albert Hall (I think I must have been on a date, 'cos I don't think I'd have gone voluntarily. Don't get me wrong, I like his music, but he has the most miserable on-stage persona of any musician I've ever seen). That night, he did actually speak to his audience; once, about half-way through his set.
He was supported that night by Nick Lowe, who I'd first seen back in 1976, playing bass for Brinsley Schwarz, who also gave a solo performance, including a premiere of the number I've covered, accompanying himself on bass guitar alone (it wasn't released till 1990). It was the highlight of the evening. I'm sure someone else must have covered it by now, but no-one had as of two days ago, despite DP name-checking it in his introduction to his Season.
Since I saw you all last, I've been to a couple of uke-events: the Uke-East festival in Norwich, where I gave a workshop and fell flat on my face (no, I really did - I spent the first evening of the festival in the local ER getting stitches in my jaw!); and the Ukulele Society of GB's semi-annual get-together in Welwyn Garden City.
The more relevant news though is that in that time, my computer's graphics card has fried, and as I don't have a smartphone or tablet, the only access to the internet I have is when I can borrow my friend's laptop when she's out at work.
Which is all a long-winded way of saying that this is probably going to my sole contribution to the Season. Hope you enjoy it (or do I??
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The computer's really slow at rendering, so the video lags behind the audio most of the time.