Review: Elvis Costello at Sunderland Empire - 'still agitating and not ready to join the establishment

Forty years after last playing Sunderland, and two since a gig in Newcastle showed he had come back too early from cancer treatment, Elvis Costello returned to the North East seemingly hellbent on proving he remains in rude musical health.

His show at the Sunderland Empire may well have included some of the same material played at Tiffany’s nightclub in 1980, drawing as it did largely on the early period of his career when the guitars were loud and the songs bursting with urgency.

But with a career that has racked up 24 albums and hundreds of songs, there were also some unexpected delights, not least 1986’s Tokyo Storm Warning, which manages to be both macabre and hilarious. It also has great drums.

From backing band The Imposters, long-term collaborator Steve Nieve hops between six or seven keyboards alongside drummer Pete Thomas and bass player Davey Farragher. But it is the relatively recent addition of backing singers Kitten Kuroi and Briana Lee that really lift the band. As the set unfurls, they play an increasingly prominent role, flanking Costello on songs like Everyday I Write the Book and adding strength when his vocals become a bit croaky.

Long-time favourite Alison morphs into the Motown hit I’m Gonna Make You Love Me while Pump It Up – written on a fire escape at the old Swallow Hotel in Newcastle, pop fans – gets the Empire jumping.

A now traditional race through Nick Lowe’s What’s So Funny ‘Bout Peace, Love and Understanding brings things to a close, backed by a slide show that outlines the role both of Costello’s grandfathers played in World War One.

Two weeks after receiving an OBE – which he accepted as a tribute to those forbears, and because his mam told him to – this was a gig that served as a reminder that Costello is still agitating and not ready to join the establishment quite yet.