Amid a 15-show tour that started in the Northeast and concludes in the mid-west with three shows in Chicago, Elvis Costello and his long-time musical compatriot Steve Nieve brought their duo tour to Ithaca’s State theatre.
After a pre-show visit to the local record shop, Costello and Nieve took to the stage at 8:00 PM to an appreciative and musically informed audience that Costello positively responded to throughout the evening.
The Costello/Nieve shows exhibit a loose focus that dives with rock and roll aplomb into Costello’s expansive fifty-year songbook. There is a anything goes sensibility, as well an effortless freedom and willingness to experiment.
No songs are off limits, nor is how they are going to be played. Like his musical contemporary Bob Dylan, Costello rearranges well known catalog standards into sometimes unrecognizable forms. The songs, denuded, feature Costello’s penchant for melodic alterations and word wrangling while encouraging a listeners focus.
Sometimes the songs walk into discordance, other times they elevate into copacetic joy. No matter the result, the journey is what matters, as is Costello and Nieve creating music in the moment and for the moment.
On a stage that emitted a mystery theatre vibe, replete with a crimson glow; a plethora of instruments both stringed and with rows of levers, were placed strategically amongst an array of vintage microphones, hats, and varied performing platforms where Costello would perch over the course of the evening.
Backlit with an industrial palette, the lights morphed the mood of the stage softly. Costello, in red chapeau and red shoes played the narrator, deftly mixing storytelling and singing throughout. Atmospheric and dynamic, Costello moved from microphone-to-microphone station each one providing his vocals with a specialized sonic touch. Multidirectional mics, bullets, and studio standards on booms were placed wherever Costello would turn.
Nieve played every instrument with keys, including a Steinway baby grand, organ, keyboard, accordion, and a melodica. It was wonderful to behold a master of his craft, as well as the perfect foil for Costello.
The first two songs of the evening Costello sang from a pulpit stage right. Poetically relevant, “Bullets for the Newborn King,” was a brand-new opener for the tour, quickly followed by “Which Side are You On,” a song Costello first performed with Joan Baez in 2013. A wonderful commentary on the current state of existence in our world.
Nieve then joined the show, and he and Costello would remain the only musicians on the stage for the night. Sometimes they would be accompanied by programmed samples, loops, and grooves, to help flesh out the bones of narratives like the crushing version of “When I Was Cruel No 2,” which featured Costello thrashing his Jazzmaster to great effect. Or the added percussion on the pale rhythms of “Clubland.” We even got to hear Iggy Pop’s sampled vocals on a jagged and ornery version of “No Flag,” a collaboration between Pop and Costello from 2021.
Costello and Nieve left the setlist behind and let the mood of the room inform their performance. Costello’s satisfaction with the crowd was tangible and he was in great spirits throughout the show even humorously remarking that Timothee Chalamet was going to play him in an upcoming biopic.
Played were versions of the big early Costello and the Attraction’s cuts like the stripped down “Less Than Zero,” Costello’s debut single from 1977. “I Don’t Want to Go to Chelsea,” was disorienting, centered on Nieve’s rolling piano part swimming up current against Costello’s rhythmic chanting. Later, a refurbished reading of “Accidents Will Happen,” while retaining its original and recognizable lick, discovered a newly found dramaticism through its reengineered piano and vocal arrangement.
A stunning tour premier of “So Like Candy,” a co-write with Sir Paul McCartney, spotlighted Costello on acoustic and Nieve on the baby grand. This song and the following black powder reading of “Indoor Fireworks,” from 1986’s King of America was a two-fer that took the concert to new levels of harnessed emotion. Costello’s vocals lightly touched with deckled edges, strong, but laced with pathos. Nieve’s playing, seemed to be not of this world, but delicately attentive and beautifully authentic.
Costello remarked that this audience, “liked ballads” and soon after delivered a fantastic version “Brilliant Mistake,” accompanied by Nieve on accordion. Full of silences and spaces, Costello used both the microphones and the room for effect. He would pull away from the mic at the opportune moment and let the timber of his natural voice move around the room. He used this same busker’s approach on a poignant rendition of, “They’re Not Laughing at Me Now.”
Sometimes, Costello crooned like a song and dance man, leaning on a staged road case and pantomiming vocals like he was his father, who was also an amazing performer. Other times Costello held the mic and stood center stage singing with such investment that you wondered if his voice would hold up. (it did) Costello and Nieve were a matched pair on pianos for a blue reading of “I Still Have That Other Girl,” from The Songs of Bacharach and Costello album. Costello’s vocals showing considerable range while reaching for all the notes.
“Alison,” received a similar arrangement of piano and keyboard and was given a rapturous response. It was followed by a ragged but right reading of the always welcome, “What’s So Funny About Peace, Love and Understanding?” If that wasn’t enough, Costello sent us home with a wonderful performance of “I Can’t Stand Up for Falling Down,” at the microphone podium. Slowed down from the buoyant march found on the studio version, Costello was moved to leave the stage and take a lap around the lower level of the State Theatre, giving hi-fives and smiles, while bringing the evening to a proper conclusion.
In a concert that combined intimacy, showmanship, and legendary songwriting, Costello and Nieve successfully built every song from the bottom up in real time, while revealing the essences of each. Ever the changing artist, and forever in a process of reinvention, Costello and his bandmate continue to confound musical expectations through instrumental prowess, unconventional arrangements, and stellar performances.
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