Elvis Costello is astonishing
Costello played with the SF Symphony last night. It was an astonishing performance that got better with each song. During his last encore he turned off his mic and sang directly to the audience, the orchestra a delicate tremor behind him. The song was Couldn’t Call it Unexpected No. 4, the final track from Mighty Like a Rose. It’s one of my favorite songs of his, exquisitely vulnerable. Costello only could have done this–sung to a large audience without a mic–in a hall made for natural amplification. The experience was one of the most moving musical performances I’ve seen. So intimate and haunting.