Elvis Costello (solo) - 2013-11-27 - Morristown, NJ

Elvis Costello (solo)
November 27, 2013
Mayo Performing Arts Center
Morristown, NJ
Final night of 2013 Solo Tour
Master audience recording (larryrulz), very good quality
Available in both Lossless (FLAC) and mp3 (320 kbps) versions

Elvis Costello's recently completed 2013 Solo Tour was a spectacular event for all those fortunate enough to experience it. This limited run series of solo shows consisted of only 19 shows up and down the East Coast of the US during the month of November, but each and every show was totally unique and amazing, as Elvis thrilled all his true fans with the musical depth and breadth of his repertoire that he managed to cover during these shows. This was no 'greatest hits' exercise, as Elvis outdid himself with the range of music and songs he played (and played so very well) night after night. Each show had an almost totally different setlist from any other, with Elvis only repeating from show to show about a half dozen of the 28-30 songs played per night ('Alison', 'Tripwire', 'Peace Love and Understanding', 'Walkin' My Baby Back Home', 'A Slow Drag With Josephine', and 'Jimmie Standing in the Rain' were the only songs played at nearly all the shows). Instead, each show contained a heady assortment of songs selected from all throughout his career, from his earliest days before being discovered to his latest compositions, including many obscure or otherwise not well-known songs, but all that have some importance or meaning to him (as he often explained during the show).  Each show seemed to contain several songs that were not played at any other show of the tour, as well as many that were only played at a few other shows, giving fans a chance to experience songs that they never thought they would see Elvis perform live. Over the course of these 19 solo shows, Elvis performed an astonishing total of nearly 200 different songs (and that doesn't even count the many little snippets of other songs he often incudes within songs). How can he keep them all straight (and all those lyrics) in his head? Listed below is a link to the Elvis Wiki site that includes the complete show by show setlist and song matrix of the tour to check out this amazing tour. 

As mentioned previously, I was able to attend one of the shows (11/19, Orono, ME), at the University of Maine Campus, and what a treat it was. Although I have seen Elvis multiple times before, this was the first solo show I saw, and getting the chance to see him play up close and personally, in a smaller venue like this, with this diverse, eclectic setlist, not to mention him playing here so close to my home, was just a sensational, precious, priceless experience. And at the show I saw, he did play some of the songs that I most wanted to hear him do (such as 'Poison Moon', 'Beyond Belief', and 'Man Out of Time'), and many other favorites (multiple songs from My Aim is True and Imperial Bedroom among others), as well as several songs of his I had never heard before. As another fan described the tour, "spectacular, full of seemingly once-in-a-lifetime things every single evening".  Audience recordings for some (but not very many) of the shows have begun to emerge. Here, I have a very good recording (from larryrulz), available from the Elvis Wiki site, for the very last show of the tour, and Elvis pulls out all the stops here, doing an even longer set than any other show (even he did not want the tour to end), for a sensational closing show. Here it is. 

Setlist:
01 This Year's Girl
02 Cinco Minutos Con Vos
03 High Fidelity
04 The Judgement
05 Harry Worth
06 Sugar Won't Work
07 Imagination (Is A Powerful Deceiver)
08 Come The Meantimes
09 Worthless Thing
10 King Of Confidence
11 Poor Napoleon
12 Indoor Fireworks
13 Veronica
14 Walkin' My Baby Back Home
15 Ascension Day
16 Wave A White Flag
17 White Knuckles
18 Watching The Detectives
19 My New Haunt
20 applause
Encore
21 If I Could Believe
22 Oliver's Army
23 Alison
24 It Tears Me Up
25 A Slow Drag With Josephine
26 Harpies Bizarre
27 Radio Soul
28 The Name Of This Thing Is Not Love
29 Riot Act
30 (What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love And Understanding?
31 Tripwire / (What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love And Understanding?
32 The Puppet Has Cut His Strings
33 Almost Blue
34 Couldn't Call It Unexpected No. 4
35 Man Out Of Time
36 All These Strangers

 
mp3 - Elvis Costello_2013-11-27_Morristown_mp3
New Link (Updated 12/9/21)

FLAC - Elvis Costello_2013-11-27_Morristown_FLAC.part1
           Elvis Costello_2013-11-27_Morristown_FLAC.part2

The entire show was also captured on video and can be watched on YouTube here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOWI0-NcpDw&list=PLx7OzIA-nsBtsEnRLNix7hyEk1SR3mmpg

The Elvis Costello Wiki site has a great song/show matrix with all the details regarding the 2013 Solo Tour:
http://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php/2013_US_Solo_Tour

Elvis Costello & Burt Bacharach - 1998-10-29 - London

Elvis Costello & Burt Bacharach
1998-10-29
Royal Festival Hall, London, UK
FM Broadcast recording, very good quality
mp3 @ 320 kbps

After the 1996 tour, and the break-up with The Attractions, in early 1997 Elvis worked with songwriting legend Burt Bacharach on a song for a film soundtrack ('God Give Me Strength' for the Film Grace of My Heart). The collaboration was so enjoyable and successful that they agreed to continue working together to produce an entire album of music, which became Painted By Memory, released in 1998. (Elvis's only album release in 1997 was a greatest hits package,  Extreme Honey, which completed his record deal with Warner Brothers). In early 1998, Elvis played several dates with Steve Nieve again, and then did many TV and radio promotional appearances with Bacharach, as well as a limited number of concert shows throughout the year, with Bacharch, Nieve, and in many cases a full orchestra accompaniment. The album received much critical acclaim, features Elvis in full crooner mode, and fits in well with both Bacharach's and Costello's body of work. Here is a sampling from the live shows, this taken from a full-length concert at Royal Festival Hall in London, portions of which (12 songs) were broadcast by the BBC. This version alson contains a few additional songs that were included in the German (WDR) broadcast of the show. So, here you get an expanded edition (although still short of the full concert, which included about 26 songs). But check out Elvis here crooning his Bacharach collaborations with Nieve and full Orchestra.
Elvis closed out the millennium primarily by continuing his duo tours with Steve Nieve (Elvis and Steve alone) throughout 1999, with an extensive world tour.

Tracklist:
From BBC Broadcast
01. Toledo
02. Tears At The Birthday Party
03. Make It Easy On Yourself
04. Painted From Memory
05. What's Her Name Today?
06. Accidents Will Happen / Twenty Four Hours From Tulsa
07. Just A Memory
08. Alison
09. In The Darkest Place
10. The Sweetest Punch
11. My Little Red Book
12. Anyone Who Had A Heart
Additional tracks from WDR (German) Broadcast
13. Such Unlikely Covers
14. I Still Have the Other Girl
15. God Give Me Strength

Elvis & Burt_1998-10-29_London.rar
Link updated 10/12/21

This wraps up my brief look at 'Elvis in the Nineties', but next I will jump forward to feature an Elvis show from his utterly fantastic and just-completed 2013 East Coast Solo Tour, which I had the great fortune to be able to attend.

Elvis Costello & The Attractions - 1996-09-12/13 - Tokyo

Elvis Costello & The Attractions
1996-09-12
Kosei Nenkin Hall, Tokyo, Japan
Audience recording, good quality
Download NOT AVAILABLE
(Sorry)
Post retained for informational purposes only

Continuing with Elvis in 1996, as indicated previously, after Elvis did several dates backed only by Steve Nieve in the Spring, he was joined by the Full Attractions for a major tour (in support of All This Useless Beauty) of europe and the US, and then ending in Japan, which was the last time Elvis would play with the Attractions ever again. Of course, Elvis did continue to work with SOME of the Attractions again, as he continued solo dates and tours with Steve Nieve through 1998 and 1999, and eventually Nieve and drummer Pete Thomas were joined by new bassist Davey Faragher to form Elvis's new backing band for 2001 and beyond, now dubbed The Imposters. But this was the end of any interaction with The Attractions as a band, and bassist Bruce Thomas, in particular. So, presented here are a couple of the last shows ever with the attractions. I have here the full show from 9/12 and (unfortunately) just a part of the show from 9/13 (mainly the songs that were different from the 9/12 show, sorry, but I don't have the full show). There was only one more show after this (9/15/96), but I do not have that show (although there apparently is an audience recording around somewhere). Anyway, this is an audience recording, with pretty good, but not great sound. As you can see, most of the setlist was different between the 2 dates, as was typical for Elvis and his shows, resulting in about 45 different songs for the 2 shows. So, here was nearly the last of The Attractions time with Elvis. 

Tracklist:
01. Man Out Of Time
02. Shabby Doll
03. Get Yourself Another Fool / Why Can't A Man Stand Alone?
04. Mystery Dance
05. Alison - (including Living A Little, Laughing A Little, No More Tearstained Make-Up and Clowntime Is Over)
06. Deep Dark Truthful Mirror
07. I'll Wear It Proudly - Costello & Nieve
08. The Long Honeymoon - Costello & Nieve
09. Veronica - Costello & Nieve
10. I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself - Costello & Nieve
11. The Other End Of The Telescope
12. 13 Steps Lead Down
13. Watching The Detectives
14. I'm Not Angry
15. Pump It Up - (including Leave My Kitten Alone and 96 Tears)
16. Beyond Belief
17. You Belong To Me
18. Lipstick Vogue
19. Less Than Zero
20. Oliver's Army
21. (What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love And Understanding?
Encore 1
22. All This Useless Beauty
23. Little Atoms
Encore 2
24. Distorted Angel
25. (I Don't Want To Go To) Chelsea
26. Accidents Will Happen
Encore 3
27. I Want To Vanish - Costello & Nieve

Download no longer available (copyright infringement claim made)

Elvis Costello and The Attractions
1996-09-13
Kosei Nenkin Hall, Tokyo, Japan
 (Partial show only)

Setlist:
01. Temptation - Elvis & Steve
02. Opportunity
03. Possession
04. Clown Strike
05. All These Things
06. Why Can't A Man Stand Alone?
07. You Bowed Down
08. (The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes
09. Hand In Hand
10. Kid About It - Elvis & Steve
11. Passionate Fight - Elvis & Steve
12. Almost Blue - Elvis & Steve
13. God Give Me Strength - Elvis & Steve
14. Veronica - Elvis & Steve
15. Distorted Angel
16. (I Don't Want To Go To) Chelsea/Backstabbers
17. 13 Steps Lead Down
18. Green Shirt
19. Watching The Detectives
20. I'm Not Angry
21. Pump It Up 
22. Just About Glad
23. Riot Act
Encore 1
24. Alison
25. Rocking Horse Road
26. Little Atoms
27. All This Useless Beauty
28. Daddy Can I Turn This?

Download no longer available (copyright infringement claim made)

Elvis Costello and Steve Nieve - 1996-05-22 - New York, NY

Elvis Costello and Steve Nieve
1996-05-22 early show
Supper Club, New York NY
'Between Wisdom And Murder'
FM Broadcast recording (WNEW-FM), very good quaity
Available in both lossless (FLAC) and mp3 (320 kbps) versions

Continuing with Elvis in the nineties: After the triumphant Brutal Youth Tour (1994), 1995 was a relatively quiet year. Elvis did some shows with the Brodsky Quartet early in the year, as well as opening (solo) sets for Bob Dylan at some UK dates. And then with no new album to release, Elvis decided to finally release his covers collection, Kojak Variety (which was recorded in 1991) in May 1995. Elvis did some limited promotional TV, radio, and concert
appearances throughout the year with the Attractions, but released with minimal promotion (as well as that it was all covers, no original songs), the album sold poorly. By late 1995, Elvis had begun incorporating more new songs into the sets, and was ready to go back to the recording studio. The next album
was originally envisioned to feature songs that Elvis had written for other artists to record (or collaborate with), would feature various lineups of musicians, was to be called A Case for Song, and would possibly even be a double album, as Elvis had around 40 songs he was considering for inclusion. However, as the
sessions developed, it was decided to cut it down to a single album, and do most of the songs with the Attractions. Eventually, the released album was called All This Useless Beauty, released in May 1996, and turned out to include primarily ballads and slow songs. At this time Elvis began doing a series of shows only backed by Attractions keyboard wizard Steve Nieve. These shows had the feel of Elvis's more personal solo shows, but with the added depth of the accompanying keyboards from virtuoso Nieve. Later in the year, the full Attractions band would play with Elvis for tours through Europe, the US, and several dates in Japan, for what would be the last time ever. And even at the full Attractions shows, there were many songs that were done with just Elvis and Steve. The primary conflicts were between Elvis and bassist Bruce Thomas, which seemed to escalate through the tour, and ended in Japan (last show, 9-15-96) with Elvis announcing the dissolution of the group (I will try to post one of these last shows w/ the Attractions, if I can find my files of them). But right now, here is one of the duo shows with Elvis and Steve Nieve, a very good FM recording from one of the New York shows in May 1996. 
 
Tracklist:
Disc 1 [63:05]
01. Just About Glad (3:22) - EC solo
02. Starting To Come To Me (3:56) - EC solo
03. (The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes (2:42) - EC solo
04. Little Atoms (5:43) - EC solo
05. Temptation (new arr.) (4:42)
06. You Bowed Down (5:59)
07. Why Can't A Man Stand Alone? (3:55)
08. The Long Honeymoon (4:28)
09. Poor Fractured Atlas (5:07)
10. Just A Memory (4:18)
11. God Give Me Strength (5:32)
12. God's Comic (11:09)
13. Complicated Shadows (3:11)

Disc 2 [55:40]
14. The Other End (Of The Telescope) (5:18)
15. Oliver's Army / Kid / Unchained Melody / If You Could Read My Mind (4:16)
16. Black Sails In The Sunset (3:07)
17. All This Useless Beauty (4:50)
18. It's Time (5:19)
19. Passionate Fight (5:30)
20. My Funny Valentine (2:38)
21. Distorted Angel (5:54)
22. You'll Never Be A Man (3:17)
23. Alison / Living A Little, Laughing A Little / Tracks Of My Tears / Tears Of A Clown / No More Tearstained Make-Up / Clowntime Is Over (6:22)
24. Shallow Grave (2:02)
25. Watching The Detectives (5:35)
26. I Want To Vanish (3:41)

mp3 - Elvis & Steve_1996-05-22_NY_BWAM_mp3.rar

FLAC - Elvis & Steve_1996-05-22_NY_BWAM_FLAC.part1.rar
    Elvis & Steve_1996-05-22_NY_BWAM_FLAC.part2.rar

Hotfile.com filesharing site shut down

All Hotfile download links are gone

Well, it was only a matter of time, I guess, but now Hotfile.com has been completely shutdown for 'violation of copyright laws', and thus all the files stored there went with it. Actually, I've been somewhat expecting this for awhile, it is surprising that it has lasted this long, but I had kept my files there just because I did not have a good alternative. What this means for the blog is that, for the most part, all the mp3 file download links are dead and gone (around 300 or so files). So, for the third time in the blog's history (first-megaupload, second-mediafire, now-hotfile), most of the file links have gone dead again. And probably not surprisingly, it seemed to happen (once again) after I had finally fully restored all the links from previous shutdowns. However, this time, it is not ALL of the links, as virtually all of the FLAC links (which are mostly on Mega and some on Depositfiles) are still active and working, as well as some mp3 files that are on Depositfiles. So, fortunately, it is not everything that is gone. Now, however, comes the burdensome task of re-uploading, or deciding what will or won't be re-upped to a new filesharing site. Compounding this is the problem that there are no really desirable (or stable) alternatives for filesharing any more. But, I do plan on continuing the blog, adding new posts, and probably restoring as much as possible of the old links, if possible, but it will be a slow process, a little at a time. As I said, I'm actually surprised things have lasted this long. It has been almost 2 years since the first big megaupload shutdown, and about a year and half since the mediafire suspension. So, actually, we've had a pretty good run since then with no real problems. So, I will carry on as best I can from here. I will try to get some of the most recent posts back up very soon (probably on depositfiles or mega), and then will slowly update older posts as I can.

Biggest problem now is that I am not happy with any of the (free) hosting services. Mega has worked fine so far, but I cannot get any data regarding # of downloads, which I need to see just what is being downloaded or not (a measure of whether people are getting anything out of this blog). Depositfiles is a bit slow and has waiting periods between downloads. I have been impressed so far with zippyshare from other sites that use it, but it has a 200 MB size limit (and I would need to divide-up most of my already prepared rar files). But I will probably start using zippyshare for smaller shows and files. I refuse to even consider rapidshare or filefactory, as they have been notoriously awful to their users. Most of the others I have experienced (rapidgator, turbobit, uploaded, etc.) all have some serious problems, ranging from outrageous ad gauntlets, download limits, or speed or connection problems. So, any suggestions for or good experiences with filesharing services would be appreciated as I move forward.

UPDATED UPDATE (12/10/2013): I have now just about completed fixing the hotfile links for all of the 2013 posts (updated/replaced with new working links using Depositfiles and Zippyshare), as well as the Christmas-related posts, and some of the most popular posts from earlier. I will continue to update others as I have time. Thanks for your patience, consideration, and continued support of the blog.

UPDATING THE UPDATED UPDATE (12/24/2013): Have now gotten virtually all of the 2013, 2012, and 2011 posts updated and resurrected. From here on, I'll probably get to them them more on a band by band basis, rather than chronoliogiaclly, but we'll see how it goes. Overall, it has been much easier this time, because I now have all (well most) of the rar files prepared and ready to go on an archived external hard. So, the re-upping has gone much smoother so far (still a pain to go through this all over again, though). So, have patience and I just might get through this by 2014. Thanks.