Elvis Costello: Sugarcane is Sweet!

Elvis Costello, Wolf Trap's Filene Center, June 11

Recommended Beverage: Bring yer 'own. I think I paid $9 for my snobby Affligem.

I’d seen numerous incarnations of Elvis Costello live: solo, he and keyboardist, with the Impostors, with the Attractions, with Allen Toussaint and the Crescent City Horns. But I’d never seen him up close, and was proud to sit in the second row at Wolf Trap to experience Costello’s newest musical exploration—his foray into bluegrass.

Costello just released a 13-song bluegrass album, a spectacular effort produced by T-Bone Burnett, titled, Secret, Profane, & Sugarcane. And he is touring on it with his new band, the Sugarcanes, a six-piece band complete with mandolin, accordion, fiddle, and upright bass. Of note are bluegrass legends Jim Lauderdale, a singer-songwriter-guitarist from Nashville, and dobro player Jerry Douglas.

The 2 ½+ hour set featured most tracks from the new album and a few classics, all of which fit effortlessly into the new format: “Delivery Man,” “Alison,” “Red Shoes,” and “Peace, Love, & Understanding,” among them. For good measure, he also threw in a cover, a great rendition of the Grateful Dead’s “Friend of the Devil.”

Costello was in good spirits and sounded in top form, though at one point he apologized for his voice sounding scratchy, which be blamed on New York’s air quality. From my perspective, the view from the pit sure was sweet!