but before he did, man did he put on an amazing show.
i’m talking about the once-in-a-lifetime (okay, twice. there was an early and a late show) event that happened last thursday night here in san francisco. elvis costello played live with the now-defunct band, clover, for the first time ever. why is that significant? because clover was his backing band on what is arguably one of the finest debut albums ever made, “my aim is true.” i won’t clutter this post with the details of how that all came to be; it’s documented many places, including here.
for those of us lucky enough to have been in attendance (luck plus $100), the show was nothing short of revelatory. you didn’t even have to be an elvis fan (i am) to have appreciated what was going down that night. elvis was so clearly moved by both the opportunity to rekindle a magical musical relationship after 30 years (30 years!) and to help out a dear friend’s charitable organization (the richard delone special housing project), that he gave what must have been one of the most heartfelt performances of his long and illustrious career.
the first hour was a near-perfect recreation of MAIT by the folks that made it way back when at pathway studios in london (drummer mickey shine couldn’t make the gig, but was ably replaced by longtime attractions/imposters drummer, pete thomas). in between the songs—performed exactly in album order—elvis regaled the audience with hilarious tales of how the songs were written, recorded and not performed. you see, clover was a group of americans without visas in london; performing would have been a breach of local union laws and therefore “elvis and clover” shows never happened. until last thursday.
the second hour was another generous helping of solo elvis (performing songs that didn’t make the record and some even earlier and more obscure tunes), elvis with clover again, elvis with clover and bill kirchen (he of lost planet airmen fame), and everyone previously mentioned with austin delone on organ too. the crowd was justifiably ecstatic at every twist and turn. by the time a beautiful “love has no pride” was sung to a rapt bonnie raitt in the audience, the house was ready for the rousing finale of nick lowe’s “(what’s so funny ‘bout) peace, love and understanding?”
i was expecting something great. i had no idea it would be as wonderful and magical as it was. best of all, the entire event was done to benefit a good cause. austin delone’s 9-year-old son, richard, was born with prader-willi syndrome. austin and his wife leslie have created a foundation to help with housing for children and adults with the syndrome. the proceeds from the night will give this charity a great push in the right direction. you can help too by contacting the delones.
the night had even more relevance for me. i have a very good friend who has a 2-year-old with prader-willi. he flew up for the show from LA and it was a night neither of us will ever forget. to learn more about prader-willi and how to help research, you can visit the foundation for prader-willi research site.
here’s “less than zero” from the late show. enjoy. and please consider supporting one of the charities linked above.
