Moody Mistress's Journal

Friday, May 19, 2006

Elvis is King

I wasn't incredibly excited about seeing Elvis Costello in Atlanta, but I ended up really enjoying it. I should have known-- I always love Elvis. I expected the suite from Il Sogno to drag on and on, but it was interesting enough and ended before I expected, so I imagine I got fairly involved in it.

The so-called "Fabulous Fox Theatre" was actually gorgeous. The balcony was decorated to look like an Elizabethan theatre with one of those old imitation-night sky ceilings...


















But it was worth going there just to hear Elvis say "The Fabulous Fox Theatre" in that amused/snide way he has... (much the same way he said "Charlotte" when he came to play in the worst part of that town).

I'd only seen him do rock 'n' roll shows up to this point, but the crooner/balladeer side of him is definitely worth experiencing. Seeing him and Steve Nieve backed by a symphony is fascinating, even if the audience didn't follow EC's suggestion of "take your clothes off and set your hair on fire". He'll make you swoon with "God Give Me Strength" and give you chills with "The Birds Will Still Be Singing".


































I have more pictures from after the show, since security wasn't as Nazi-like as in NY or other places (Maybe it's a Southern thing?) . Including one of Elvis and yours truly, which proved what an idiot I am-- he had his arm around me and I didn't know until I saw the photo.
I DIDN'T EVEN FEEL IT...

So if you ever get the chance to see Elvis Costello with an orchestra, I suggest you take it. He sounded amazing even after, according to him, three hours of sleep and only a few hours' rehearsal with the orchestra.