Last year’s model

Elvis Costello‘s show at the Uptown in KC last night was really good- not great, but really good. The Imposters were tight as hell (although it seemed like the bass player was really straining to hit some of those high back-up notes). Elvis had a tendency to go into some serious blues solo-ing, which got old after a while, impressive as it was. His little monologues to introduce some of the songs were really funny, tho’, and made it seem like he really connected with the audience, as did his walking to the edge of the stage and playing his guitar at people when the crowd seemed a bit too sedate.

There was a good selection of older tunes, like “Alison”, “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding?”, “Pump It Up”, and new stuff like “Delivery Man” and “33 1/3.” They even did Merle Haggard’s “Tonight The Bottle Let Me Down” off his country album, Alomst Blue.

Costello and the Imposters’ performance was officially one of the longest sets I’ve ever seen- the show was over two hours long… and that led to some serious problems. There were some drunk-ass motherfuckers.

Now, I am not above having a few drinks at a show. Or a LOT of drinks at a show. However, just because I am drunk does not mean that everyone should have to share in my drunkeness. The large quantity of permed-hair, khaki-pants-and-polo-shirt-wearin’, haven’t heard a new band since college folks… um… seem to have lost my train of thought.

Anyhow, these were folks who go to a show every two years or so, never go out, and seem to think that since they bought a ticket it’s okay to get hammered, dance in front of me, and scream “woo!” every thirty seconds. Yeah. And they say college kids have no sense of politeness when drunk. Seriously, when middle-aged people get drunk in public, they make your average fratboy bender look like a gathering at the Algonquin Round Table.

Towards the end of the show, Costello did two songs sitting on the edge of the stage, so he could see the audience, and then did “Alison” sitting in a front-row seat, so he could see the band (“I’ve never gotten to see them, and I’ve heard they’re quite good”). Unfortunately, the coolness factor was totally killed about halfway, as people wandered from the back to crane their necks and ogle.

The key point of drunken obnoxiousness was during the last song, “The Scarlet Tide”, a song Costello and T-Bone Burnett wrote for the Cold Mountain soundtrack. It’s a gorgeously spare acoustic number that towards the end, has just Elvis singing quietly as he lightly strummed his guitar. Perfect. The whole audience was so quiet, you could hear the hum of the amplifiers. Then, some drunk bitch pipes up with, “This is fucking DULL” and the moment was ruined.

Elvis Costello – “Beyond Belief