Elvis Costello Reviews

Daniel from Vancouver, British Columbia

SIMPLY AWFUL

I’m a big Elvis Costello fan & this was my first time seeing him live. I was so excited and seriously wanted to love it. Instead, we got consistently out-of-tune lead vocals, horrendous sound mix, a strange and often unrecognizable lists of songs done in very odd, often completely awkward remixes, and most unfortunately a very sad, lackluster Elvis Costello, who seemed to only be interested or at all animated when speaking briefly in between songs. His voice is shot. There’s no other way of putting it. It’s like he was either struggling to hit the right notes, or sometimes worse - just couldn’t be bothered. He really shouldn’t be touring at all if this is all he can do now. I feel ripped off. Paid good money for prime seats and the only reason I didn’t walk out midway was because I refused to believe it could keep being that bad. But it really was.

KCha from Vancouver, British Columbia

NOT READY TO TOUR. DISAPPOINTED

I was expecting “We’re All Going On A Summer Holiday” tour to be a fun concert especially with Los Straitjacket (& Nick Lowe) opening it. The sound crew seems to have been ones on holidays because the audio was awful. The vocals started too hot. Nick Lowe was good but when he left and let Los Straitjacket play a few songs on their own that ending up being the best music of the night. Their set was tight and energetic. Wish we heard more of them. After a long switch over, Elvis and crew came on. I say crew because we saw a lot of strange stage craft - roadies bringing out unwanted chairs mid song and lights not switching on time. Audio mix was awful again with feedback and vocals disappearing. Elvis was charming sharing stories of his life and collaborations. His band was amazing and some of the song (re)arrangements were interesting but the setlist was not inspiring and it just didn't feel ready. I think Elvis actually cut it short and ended it early to avoid blowing his voice.

Trevor from Vancouver, British Columbia

REALLY UPSETTING.

To be blunt… I play music and grew up around a recording studio. I LOVE MUSIC. I can honestly say I have only walked out on two shows in my whole life. Last night was one of them. I was upset because it was a gift I bough myself for my B-Day so my over worked wife and I could get out for what was supposed to be a wonderful night of music. The opening band was great. They were spot on tight and well practiced. Every note played with precision. EC came on after a long stage switch. The first song started well until the piano kicked in. My first words to my wife were “they need to dial back the keyboard section. I can’t hear EC. But then as the song continued it got worse. Their sound started to train wreck the timing was slightly off causing a garbled sound. EC’s voice wad hit and miss and I get that all shows are not going to be great but this was their kick off show for the tour and it felt like a practice session. Upset I can’t get my money back and for that I will not be recommending them to anyone else in the future. I tried to stay but as it went on I felt it got worse,at least the first 9-10 songs so I refused to stay and let my image of them go down. I just went home and put on an album and let the redeem the night.

Gary McKinney from Vancouver, British Columbia

SADLY DISAPPOINTING

This concert should have come with a warning sticker: "Will not be playing even his hits in any sort of recognizable form." I could have lived hearing a song or two done differently, but all of them? Not what I paid money for. The only recognizable song was "Working Man's Blues" by Merle Haggard. What? I understand that artists like Costello get bored with their own material. But unsuspecting ticket buyers should be forewarned when they decide to go off the rails.

KP from Vancouver, British Columbia

LOVED NICK LOWE BUT EC WAS DISAPPOINTING

His voice was off key alot. Most of the songs from his albums were performed in such a weird way they were unrecognizable. Did not hear many hits. Sound was bad. We left early too boring. The best part was Nick lowe loved him and his band. Witty great performance. Wished he had played more!

Travis from Vancouver, British Columbia

THESE TWO STARS ARE FOR NICK LOWE WHO WITH LOS STRAIGHTJACKETS WAS FANTASTIC

Elvis gets none.

from Vancouver, British Columbia

ELVIS WAS LIKELY GREAT BUT...

I'm sure that Elvis Costello sounded great, but the sound was so poorly mixed, the performance was audio purée. Very disappointing. We walked out early. I hope Mr Costello isn't using the same sound crew for the rest of his tour.

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