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Elvis Costello Report
updated: Oct 02, 2012, 11:07 AM
By Robert Bernstein
Elvis Costello gave an unbelievable two and a half hour non-stop solo concert on Sunday evening! The
event was held at the Granada Theater and was sponsored by UCSB Arts and Lectures.
The event was part of his amusingly titled "Centenary Tour 2054". The tour would happen on his 100th
birthday. But, in the event that we won't be around in 2054 for that concert he was being kind enough
to do the exact same concert here and now!
He played a full range of songs, including his popular hits and lesser known pieces. They spanned his
entire career, right up to the present, including at least one song not yet released.
He paused a number of times to reflect on his upbringing in a musical family. His own father was a
singer, too. He talked of his father playing in Blackpool, England. "Which is like Las Vegas without the
gambling or the hookers." What it had in common was lights (Blackpool Illumination) and performances.
His father was color blind and he had to be reminded not to wear the wrong colors in a place where
Orange and Green represented the Protestants and the Catholics, respectively.
He had just lost his father last year and he had many fond memories. He sang "Ghost Train" in memory
of his father.
He went on to say how much he misses his wife (Diana Krall) while on tour. He sang "Walking My Baby
Back Home" to honor her.
As much as the audience was enjoying his performance, he seemed to be enjoying it even more! The
show started a bit after 7PM, right on time. And at 8:40 he began a series of encores that ran until
9:30PM! He was having a lot of fun making local references to the Santa Barbara area in his patter and
even putting them into some songs.
If not for other constraints, it felt as if he would have been happy to keep on performing for us all
through the night! A most enjoyable experience!
Here are my photos and the songs he sang!
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