Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Elvis, Wow!

Have  been dying to tell somebody about the awesome concert I saw last night. Then I remembered, "oh yeah, I have a blog!" Cool. I've been an Elvis Costello fan since high school. Last night, in front of a sold out crowd crowd at the Cal Poly SLO Performing Arts Center, he didn't disappoint! A delight to hear his creative spin on some of his older 80s hits like "Allison" and "Veronica." Old songs from the 20s, bluegrass, and ballads were also sprinkled in, demonstrating to us all just how versatile and musical Elvis really is! I loved his electric guitar/special effects take on "Watching the Detectives," (Cliffie's fave!) and the merging of his original songs with beloved classics, i.e. "New Amsterdam" with the Beatles' "You've Got to Hide your Love Away," and his first hit, "Radio Sweetheart" with Van Morrison's "In Heaven When You Smile." How could you not sing along? At one point he claimed his mic wasn't working and he made his way to the foot of the stage where he sat down w/guitar and belted out an old 30s ballad to which he played some killer finger picking style guitar — no amplification needed! My fave songs of the night were a very heartfelt "Other End of the Telescope" (such a powerful ballad) and the closer, "Man Out of Time," a fine acoustic version of the intense rock ballad. His voice soared, and every stunning word was heard and taken in. He was really funny, too. Not joke after joke, but wonderful, nonverbal stuff, like holding up one of the nine guitars on stage during the encore as if asking the audience, "want another one?" The best one-man show I've ever seen.


God wanted us to see this concert. A friend was talking about the upcoming show the day before the tix went on sale, and, although they were pricey, I bit the bullet and bought two — put them on credit, which I had no business doing. Good seats too. Well, if you've been following me on Facebook (and why wouldn't you?), you'll know that I just won a substantial amount of cash at the local high school fundraiser. Credit card bill paid off, thank you, and Cliffie and I enjoyed one of the best concerts of our lives.


Every now and then, after a super hard work day, an unexpected challenge involving one of the kids, or having dodged another financial crisis, I say to myself, "Life is just hard. When will I ever get rewarded for all of this?" Well, last night I received a big one. Just seeing the sheer delight on my son's face after being exposed to some of the finest music I've ever heard would have been enough. And I see many more rewards all around me — all I have to do is look. However, the messy kitchen isn't one of them. Better get to it. A clean kitchen and orderly house is more than enough to make me feel like I've accomplished something today.


Still singing Elvis tunes from the concert. Wow.

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