Columbus, Ohio
June 9, 2002
By Rick Brown

The first time I saw Elvis Costello…with the Attractions…was on his first tour way back in the late 1970's. He played a furious, venomous 40 minute set…gave us the finger…and stormed off the stage never to return. This was the same night he got into the infamous argument with Bonnie Bramlett after she approached him at the bar in the Holiday Inn in downtown Columbus. She asked him what he thought of Ray Charles and he responded with a racial slur…later explaining he merely wanted to rid himself of Ms. Bramlett's company. As a testament to those heady punk days he's titled his new release "When I Was Cruel". Given his persona then he could have just as well called it "When I Was Obnoxious".

But the new CD shows the fire has most certainly returned to Mr. Costellos's belly and the music has the edginess of the early material without being overtly retrospective. The concert this evening was given by an ex-punk now comfortable in his own…comfortable…shoes. He smiled throughout the 2 hour plus concert yet attacked the songs with a reckless enthusiasm that gave the old tunes a fresh vitality and proved the new ones worthy of standing alongside them. After more than a decade of collaborations with the likes of Burt Bacharach, Elvis knows who he is and seems quite content with his stature in popular culture. As I stood witnessing this delightful environment…hearing "Watching the Detectives", "Radio, Radio", "(The Angels Want to Wear My) Red Shoes" as well as new gems like "45" and "Dust" from "When I Was Cruel" it dawned on me that this guy stands with the greatest songwriters of his generation…perhaps any.

It was a hot night in PromoWest's outdoor facility. This new building…which has an indoor venue and after opening the garage/like door behind the stage easily transforms into an OUTDOOR venue behind the place…is arguably the best concert facility in Columbus, Ohio…maybe ALL of Ohio. Sure you have to forget the back of the building looks like a giant backyard aluminum storage shed…and the fence surrounding the lawn seating is like an aluminum siding fence. But once the sun goes down it doesn't matter. I do have a word of caution however. If you buy seats down front…and you aren't in the very first row…make sure to get aisle seats. The temporary chairs are "twist tied" together in long rows and unless you are an anorexic double amputee (legs gone below the knees) you are going to be very…very…claustrophobic.

Having stated that, Elvis' crowd was as eclectic as I had imagined …. definitely leaning toward "geeky" eclectic. But then again…look at how Mr. Costello has presented himself through the years. (He wore the smallish suit WAY before Pee Wee Herman.) It was a delightful hodge-podge of fashion, my favorite being the burly guy in the babushka and Herman Munster t-shirt. By the end of the third encore I was up front boogying right next to this guy.

And boogie we did. Costello mixed a heavy dose of tunes from "My Aim is True" and "This Year's Model" (his first two releases) with critically acclaimed songs from a little later like "I Don't Want To Go To Chelsea" or "Uncomplicated". The Imposters sounded incredibly like the Attractions. That was…as I learned later…because outside of a new bass player they WERE the Attractions. No wonder Elvis seemed to be having such a good time! Yet it was how well received the new material was that impressed me most. No less than eight new songs were performed. At most rock shows a crowd will politely…and sometimes not so politely…sit through two…maybe three songs form a brand new release. This in and of itself is a tribute to Costello's songwriting ability. Elvis actually had the crowd SINGING ALONG with brand new songs!! How often does THAT happen?

So after a little over two hours and THREE encores later Elvis closed with the slow, powerful "I Want You"…a tune about a psychopath's obsessive love. Standing back from the microphone frantically pleading with us, "I want you…I WANT you…I want YOU" the ballad was poignant, urgent…and coupled with the silence of the crowd…terrifying. It was a dramatic, defining moment that I have not witnessed at many rock concerts…or anywhere for that matter. One can only hope younger musicians are able to transform their creativity from the vulgar anger of finishing a show with "the finger" to the plaintiff cries of an artist performing from the soul as Elvis Costello has so beautifully done. But I'm certainly not betting on it.

The Eagles landed in the Value City arena at the Scottenstein Center (how's THAT for a name/advertisement?) June 22nd in front of the largest crowd ever at this facility. (About 1/3 of whom were lemmings) Well…at least two of the original Eagles were on hand…Don Henley and Glenn Fry. Everyone else from the landmark country rock group has either quit…been fired…or were "ignored out of the band". And good God the two original members are smug.

I saw the Eagles in 1974. They rocked…well they COUNTRY rocked. This band is at best a pop group. No. Now they're a corporation headed by CEOs Henley and Fry.. The stage was jammed with hired guns. There was a percussion player, horn section, extra keyboardist, and a guitar player who was born well after their last genuine release "The Long Run". He had obviously memorized the licks ex-lead guitar player Don Felder laid down years ago. I looked at my ticket. It said the "Eagles"…but fortunately for those of us expecting a rock concert…this night belonged to Joe Walsh.

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Oh they played all the pretty songs like "Lyin' Eyes", "Tequila Sunrise" and "Peaceful Easy Feeling" but the tunes were much glossier here than on the recordings. And that is the exact OPPOSITE of the usual. Hey…I'm sorry but Don Henley singing "Wasted Time" (a truly boring tune) with such an enormous backing ensemble while holding the microphone like he's Tony Bennett was nothing short of goofy. The song has no soul and apparently neither does Mr. Henley. He would have fared better trying his hand at "Georgia on My Mind". I would have at least respected the effort.

About halfway through the show it dawned on me that the rock tunes on the Eagles earlier releases were sung…and many times written…by members long gone. What was left was the Hotel California and beyond Eagles. And that's sad. Sometimes I think I'm the only person alive who doesn't think Hotel California is the Eagles best recording. Outside of the title track and "Life in the Fast Lane" (a song more of Walsh's style than Eagles, Inc.) the album is pretty dull.

Sure they played "Already Gone" and it was okay. But when Joe Walsh did his solo stuff and especially the old James Gang tunes the crowd went nuts. I mean Joe didn't just rock out. He carried this band. He stole the show . Funk #49…Life's Been Good…Walk Away…In the City…Rocky Mountain Way…these were the songs that rocked the joint. Even Henley and Fry's solo work made most of the Eagles tunes pale in comparison. Joe cavorted around the stage like an actual lead guitar player in an actual rock band. And instead of standing there trying to look like a soulful CEO Walsh really appeared to be enjoying himself. His guitar jams were nothing short of brilliant…leaving "junior" far behind.

I'm sure rabid Eagles' fans thought the night was perfect. The band played all their favorites. But if the guy behind me who was yakking about how the Eagles tickets were much more reasonable than say…the Rolling Stones $300 top end prices…and they were just performing for the fun of it, is typical of loyal fans (and I have no reason to doubt otherwise) then the crowd was at least 1/3 lemmings. Apparently he was unaware of the $300 "Gold Circle" seats for THIS show. Maybe he forgot that it was The Eagles who first broke the $100 a seat charge on the Hell Freezes Over Tour and started this whole "Gold Circle" seating fiasco in 1994. And I'm very…very sure…fans like him do not know who Bernie Leadon, Don Felder or Randy Miesner are. Personally I think Joe Walsh should call those guys and start a new band called the Ex-Eagles. Now there's band that would ROCK!!