The Ramones, the Sex Pistols and The Clash were iconic punk rock bands. But from 1977 to 1986, there was no one angrier than Elvis Costello. And there was certainly no one else articulate and poetic enough to express that anger the way Costello did on his classic debut My Aim Is True album that blended punk, new wave and pop on the appropriately-named Stiff Records.
On Oct. 3 at the Charleston Gaillard Center, he’ll play a show full of songs from that classic period. The tour is called Radio Soul!: The Early Songs of Elvis Costello, and the set list doesn’t go past 1986.
Starting with his 1977 debut and running until 1986’s corrosive Blood & Chocolate, Costello (real name: Declan McManus) and his band, The Attractions, were brilliant punk rockers (check out the self-explanatory “Pump It Up,” from the classic album This Year’s Model), gentle-but-twisted love songs (the immortal “Alison”), blissful pop (“(Everyday) I Write The Book”) and even a bit of reggae (“Watching The Detectives”).
On this tour, which features former Attractions Steve Naïve on keyboards and Pete Thomas on drums alongside bassist Davey Faragher and second guitarist Charlie Sexton, Costello has pulled some deep cuts out of the trunk.
Take his July show at the Peace Center in Greenville, for example.
Opening with the fast and upbeat “Mystery Dance, “Costello and company worked rarities like the haunting ballad “Shabby Doll” and the sprightly “Fish N’ Chip Paper” into the set before surprising the audience with a soulful cover of Van Morrison’s “Domino.”
The finale was a 30-minute adrenaline rush that featured “Pump It Up,” “Radio, Radio,” “(What’s So Funny ’Bout) Peace, Love & Understanding,” and the tour debut of “I Want You,” one of the most menacing “love” songs ever written.
It’s one hell of a set.
Costello, who performed the Imperial Bedroom album in 2019 at Charleston Music Hall, hinted before the tour that this might be the last time he plays these songs.
If that’s true, Costello would seem to be saying goodbye to these songs with the same prickly fury that he had back in 1977.
IF YOU WANT TO GO: Doors open at 6:30 p.m., Oct. 3, Gaillard Center, 95 Calhoun St., Charleston. Tickets range from $80-$273: gaillardcenter.org
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