Elvis Costello & the Imposters - Live in Memphis DVD Review
by Zane Ewton

While on tour supporting his new album, The Delivery Man, Elvis Costello made a one night stop at the Hi Tone Café in Memphis for the benefit of 200 fans who paid merely $20 for the once in a lifetime chance to be up close and personal with Elvis in a tiny club. 

For posterity purposes the show has been filmed in High Definition and recorded in surround sound. The quality of the DVD is clearer than what you would have seen and heard if you were actually there. The audio/visual quality is so good that nothing is able to distract from the most important things, the songs and the performance. 

The set list for the show featured several of Costello's best known songs and some highlights from his new album. Kick-started by "Waiting for the End of the World", the Imposters lay a steady groundwork for Costello to ride the rollercoaster of emotions with his voice and guitar. The new songs from The Delivery Man are strong and complement Costello's older material, demonstrating the range he has grown into as a songwriter. 

Songs like "Radio Radio" and "High Fidelity" flow together with new songs "Bedlam" and "Monkey to Man" to create an emotional atmosphere for the band and audience to get wrapped up in. Recording in Memphis seems to have given Costello and The Imposters a different feel, laid back and assured. This is most evident when Emmylou Harris joins the band for several songs including "I Still Miss Someone" and "Heart Shaped Bruise". Harris and Costello's voices have a strange but appealing quality together and if the songs they perform during the show aren't enough there are a few "bonus" songs to be found elsewhere. 

The show really hits its peak near the end when the band glides into a gentle "Alison" that draws quotes from the other Elvis with "Suspicious Minds". "Peace Love and Understanding" and "Pump it up" close out the show with a bang. 

A few special features are added in the way of a mini-documentary that follows Costello and his drummer around the Memphis area. They see well known land marks like recording studios and juke joist that played a crucial role in Memphis music. There are also a few lesser known landmarks like the fields that Muddy Waters worked in for years before his recording career and the three forks restaurant in a hidden tribute to Robert Johnson's deal with the devil. 

Costello also revisits the parts and people of Memphis were he recorded most of The Delivery Man. Music history buffs will find the documentary interesting if not completely insightful. 

The essential element to the DVD is the Costello's songs that are performed with the skill and love that music deserves. 

Elvis Costello & the Imposters - Live in Memphis

Label:RED Distribution

Track Listing:
1. Waiting For The End Of The World
2. Radio Radio
3. Mystery Dance
4. Blue Chair
5. Bedlam
6. Country Darkness
7. Blame It On Cain
8. Either Side Of The Same Town
9. High Fidelity
10. The Judgement
11. Monkey To Man
12. The Monkey
13. I Still Miss Someone
14. Heart Shaped Bruise
15. Wheels
16. The Delivery Man
17. Hidden Charms
18. Alison/ Suspicious Minds
19. Peace Love And Understanding
20. Pump It Up 
21. My Baby's Gone
22. There's A Story In Your Voice
23. Button My Lip
24. Sleepless Nights

 Region (Unknown)
Keep Case
Audio:
Dolby Digital 5.1 - English 
DTS Surround - English
Additional Release Material:
Featurettes -
1. OFF THE BEATEN PATH: A ROAD TRIP WITH ELVIS AND PETE
2. RADIO AND THE FAN

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