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EAGLE ROCK

MOVIE INFO

Director:
Joss Crowley
Cast:
Elvis Costello
Writing Credits:
Various

Synopsis:
In a little over 100 minutes in front of his home crowd (and his mom), Elvis Costello, performer and songwriter extraordinaire, takes you on a musical journey through his vast songbook.

MPAA:
Rated NR

DISC DETAILS
Presentation:
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Audio:
English DTS-HD MA 5.1
English LPCM Stereo
Subtitles:
English
Spanish
French
Closed-captioned
Supplements Subtitles:
None

Runtime: 105 min.
Price: $19.98
Release Date: 2/12/2016

Bonus:
• Four Bonus Songs
• Booklet


PURCHASE @ AMAZON.COM

EQUIPMENT
Panasonic TC-P60VT60 60-Inch 1080p 600Hz 3D Smart Plasma HDTV; Sony STR-DG1200 7.1 Channel Receiver; Panasonic DMP-BD60K Blu-Ray Player using HDMI outputs; Michael Green Revolution Cinema 6i Speakers (all five); Kenwood 1050SW 150-watt Subwoofer.

RELATED REVIEWS


Elvis Costello: Detour Live [Blu-Ray] (2016)

Reviewed by Colin Jacobson (March 8, 2016)

Back before “going unplugged” was cool, Elvis Costello embarked on solo acoustic tours. While he spent most of his time with the Attractions and later iterations of various backing bands, Costello still liked to make time for these one-man shows, and that concept offers the backdrop for his “Detour” tour.

As seen on this Blu-ray, the enterprise takes us to Costello’s native Liverpool for a performance from June 2015. Across the 22 songs found on the disc, we get a mix of tracks from across Costello’s career. 1977’s debut My Aim Is True boasts “(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes”, “Watching the Detectives”, “Blame It On Cain” and “Alison”, while 1979’s Armed Forces provides “Accidents Will Happen” and “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace Love and Understanding”.

1980’s Get Happy!! brings us “I Can’t Stand Up For Falling Down”, and “Ghost Town” was a 1980 B-side that showed up on that year’s compilation Taking Liberties. We get one song apiece from Costello’s two 1981 albums: “Watch Your Step” (Trust) and “A Good Year for the Roses” (Almost Blue).

From 1983’s Punch the Clock, we find “Shipbuilding”, and 1989’s Spike gives us “Pads Paws and Claws”. Costello skips the 1990s and picks up with two tracks from 2002’s When I Was Cruel: “45” and “When I Was Cruel No. 2”. 2010’s National Ransom offers “Church Underground”, “That’s Not The Part of Him You’re Leaving” and “Jimmie Standing In the Rain”.

In 2014, Costello participated in Lost on the River, a project that added music to unused Bob Dylan lyrics. This gives us the Dylan/Costello-penned “Down on the Bottom” and “Golden Tom – Silver Judas”. Finally, Detour includes covers of “Walkin’ My Baby Back Home”, “If I Had a Hammer” and “Side By Side”; these are songs Costello never released as studio recordings.

I first saw Costello live in 1983 with the Attractions, but my second show took place the following spring and involved a solo performance. I believe this was Costello’s first acoustic one-man show, and it gave us a simpler format than what we’d get in years to come, as it really did focus solely on Elvis and his guitar or piano.

When I saw Costello solo again in 1989, he’d spiced matters up a bit. His 1986 mini-tour introduced a gimmick he’d milk for years to come, the “Spectacular Spinning Songbook”. This used a wheel on which song titles appeared; audience members would hop on stage to give it a whirl and Elvis would play the result.

Costello brought the Songbook along for that 1989 solo tour, and it added a terrific level of fun to the show. Not that I disliked the 1984 solo concert, but I admit that one-man acoustic performances are a tough sell for me, so the addition of the Songbook’s goofiness brought spark to the event.

Detour lacks the Songbook or any similar gimmicks, but that doesn’t make it a stark visual presentation. Costello resides on a set meant to simulate a 1960s living room – with a huge TV screen in the back – so matters open up more than one might expect.

I don’t think the set adds much to the performance, though. The TV offers the occasional interesting image, but it doesn’t get the attention it needs to do much for the show. The rest of the set seems semi-neglected and unimportant as well.

This leaves the focus firmly on Costello – well, except for a handful of songs that involve the duo Larkin Poe. The American Lovell sisters who make up that band play on “Pads Paws and Claws”, “That’s Not the Part of Him You’re Leaving”, “Down on the Bottom”, “Blame It On Cain”, “A Good Year for the Roses”, “Peace Love and Understanding” and “Golden Tom”.

I’m glad the Lovells appear, as Detour needs their injection of energy. At his best, Costello can be a very good live performer, but Detour seems less than stellar.

Musically, the concert works reasonably well. As noted, I’m not a big fan of solo acoustic shows, but Elvis handles himself more than adequately in that regard. He has plenty of experience with the format, and that gives him confidence.

I’d like more audience engagement, though. Sure, Costello tells a decent mix of stories, but these seem more sporadic than I remember in the past, and most aren’t all that interesting. Elvis can spin a good yarn, and much of the appeal from prior solo shows came from his anecdotes. The tales in Detour just don’t connect in an especially memorable way.

In terms of direction, Detour offers a capable reproduction of the concert. Virtually all the action concentrates on the stage, which is fine with me, as I can live without the usual gratuitous crowd shots. The nature of the performance makes this a subdued visual product, and again, that’s logical; God knows a slew of quick edits would be ridiculous for this kind of show.

I skipped the last Costello solo show when he hit town back in 2014, and Detour doesn’t make me regret that decision. As a fan of more than 30 years, I enjoyed Detour to a moderate degree but I don’t think it represents Elvis at his best.


The Blu-ray Grades: Picture A-/ Audio B/ Bonus D+

Elvis Costello: Detour appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.78:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. Shot on hi-def cameras, the image excelled.

Sharpness looked strong. Virtually no softness materialized, so the image remained tight and well-defined. No shimmering or jaggies occurred, and I saw no signs of edge haloes or source flaws.

In terms of colors, the low-key show went with subdued hues. These didn't dazzle but they represented the source well. Blacks were deep and tight, and shadows showed nice accuracy. I felt pleased with this fine visual presentation.

As for the Blu-ray’s DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack, it didn’t offer an especially broad soundscape. That didn’t become a problem, though, as the one-man show didn’t lend itself to a wide soundfield. Most of the material focused on the front, where the vocals and instrumentation remained fairly centered. The instruments opened up a little – especially when Costello brought on guest musicians – but the music came with an appropriate spread.

Surround and side usage mainly concentrated on crowd noise. That seems logical, and the soundscape offers good reinforcement for those elements.

Audio quality was good. Vocals were warm and rich, while instruments sounded natural and distinctive. The mix didn’t offer a ton of range, but again, this made sense given the simple nature of the music. The soundtrack worked fine for a solo acoustic show.

Four Bonus Songs run a total of 16 minutes, 15 seconds. We find “Love Field” (1984’s Goodbye Cruel World), “Either Side of the Same Town” (2004’s The Delivery Man), “Brilliant Mistake” (1986’s King of America) and “Ascension Day” (2006’s The River in Reverse). These look, sound and play the same as the tunes in the main show, so I don’t know why they weren’t included. They add a nice extra to the package.

Finally, a booklet fills out the set. It offers credits but lacks any additional text.

With Detour Live, Elvis Costello gives us a moderately engaging solo acoustic set. While the show never excels, it offers a reasonably enjoyable collection of songs. The Blu-ray delivers excellent visuals and pretty good audio but lacks many supplements. I like the show but think it’ll appeal most to Costello diehards.

Viewer Film Ratings: 3 Stars Number of Votes: 1
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