Throughout his lengthy and consistently critically acclaimed career, Declan Patrick McManus, better known as Mr. Elvis Costello, has demonstrated his musical versatility time and time again by embracing pretty music every music genre there is.

Starting out in the late 1970's, Costello rode into town' peddling his refreshing style of music that was part pop, part new wave and with a trace element of punk mixed of punk mixed in for good measure. The concoction worked a treat and with his wonderful way with words, Costello very quickly established himself as one of Britain's brightest music talents. Since those early days, Costello has matured and grown in stature as an artist with each successive record, gaining the total respect of his contemporaries and has become a perennial favourite of discerning music fans the world over.

Aside from pop, new wave and flirtations with punk, Costello has, over the past twenty-six years, turned his hand to straight down the line rock, country, jazz, mellow crooning and even classical music, more often than not, with fine end results. The temptation to rest on his laurels when he has hit upon a particularly successful strand of music is not something that appears to have ever crossed Costello's mind. Like all great artists, he is always striving to push back his own musical boundaries and challenge himself which for him, is seemingly the juice'.

Costello is currently in the middle of, what seems to be, an almost annual tour, the primary purpose of this one being to promote his most recent album, the excellent The Delivery Man', on which he duets on a couple of tracks with the great Emmylou Harris and on another with the classy Lucinda Williams.

Wherever you happen to catch an Elvis Costello show, you know you are guaranteed a great return for your money with a top class performance from the man. But a Costello gig in Liverpool, the city where he grew up, always seems to have that extra special something. Playing in the city recently, Costello bounded on stage to tumultuous affectionate applause and proceeded to give his fans everything they would want from him and more. He played for over two and a half hours and during that time, he showcased, as expected, his latest album but also revisited all areas of his vast back catalogue much to the delight of all present, many of whom you sensed, have been with him, so to speak, right from his earliest days. The energy that Costello exudes on stage is something to behold and would shame many artists/bands half his age for this is a man who has clearly lost none of the love for his day job' over the years.

Costello was backed by the tightest of bands, the Imposters, featuring two of the singer's long-established musical collaborators, Steve Nieve on keyboards and Pete Thomas on drums, who he clearly feels at one with. Costello himself must have changed guitars a record number of times on the night - I lost count after nine and each time he strapped another one on, it was with all the same zest and enthusiasm as a kid with a brand new toy.

As for highlights, there were many but hearing classics like Oliver's Army', (I Don't Want To Go To) Chelsea', Watching The Detectives', Everyday I Write The Book', Pump It Up', High Fidelity', Shipbuilding' and What's So Funny Bout Peace, Love and Understanding' will never become tiresome. On this form and evidence, Elvis is very much alive and kicking and showing no signs of wanting to leave the building.

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