Hot as a Pistol, Keen as a Blade (2006)

Strong Depiction

Nice video capture of the Elvis/Allen shows that highlighted the "River In Reverse" tour. I am a huge Costello fan, and the shows were good, not always as great as most other Elvis shows. Still, to see Allen and onstage together is fun and worth it if you were not able to experience the tour. February 19, 2008

just great

I think I have all of the available commercial videos of Elvis Costello. This one is a great record of a historical tour with Elvis and Mr. Toussant. If you are an Elvis fan, you will not be dissatisfied by this one. May 20, 2007

Great concert - where's the rest of it?

As Elvis alludes to in the liner notes for this disc, they apparently had to cut some of the songs from the concert. I assume it was due to lack of disc space, but I've seen some great looking 3+ hour long DVDs that don't show noticable video compression. Worst case, they could have made it a 2-DVD set. Discs are cheap.

I was at the Niagara Falls show a few nights after this one, and I was disappointed that so many of the songs I heard didn't make it onto this DVD. While the Montreal set list was somewhat different than Niagara Falls, the overall concert length was similar.

There are a few shots throughout this DVD where you can freeze the image and clearly read the entire set list for this show. I compared the set list to the DVD, and exactly ONE THIRD of the songs have been cut from the DVD! A full THIRD of the concert is missing.

That's a real shame. It's still a great live document, but hopefully one day the rest of it will see the light of day. March 31, 2007

A perfect show.

A wonderful moment in the careers of two fine singer-songwriters. The 9 new arrangements of Elvis's tunes by Allen are nothing less than a revelation. Both performers play within their respective comfort zones and obviously have a love and mutual respect for each other and their music. The Imposters and the New Orleans horn section augment each other impressively. This must have been one of the highlights of last years Montreal Jazz Festival and is a must own for any true fan of Costello or the remarkable Mr. Toussaint! Highly recommended!! March 22, 2007

All modesty aside, apparently....

I dunno about ECs alarmingly-frequent celebrity turns; whether it's Burt or Soffie or even, now, Allen -- what's the point of all this? Just diggin' middle age, are we? NOTE: Van Morrison called -- he needs his overly-studied, Elder Statesman of LitRock persona back.... February 20, 2007

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