Elvis Costello and The Imposters with Charlie Sexton, Frauenthal Center for the Performing Arts, Muskegon, Michigan, September 18, 2026.

We’re doing the songs I wrote in the first 10 years in show business. We’re not going to play anything other than that, no matter how much you beg and plead.

Of course, Elvis Costello subverted that passive-aggressive promise almost immediately, following up a starting run of late-1970s bangers with his pandemic-vintage sourball “No Flag”. His sarcastic ringmaster persona (complete with labored pun about being “an Okie from Muskegon” for the night) didn’t always land with a bemused Frauenthal Center audience of Boomers. But regardless of whether his put-ons put us off or not, the last night of Costello’s “Radio Soul” tour pulled us in, as he and his Imposters freewheeled through familiar classics and obscure rarities, performed with cocksure confidence.

I knew the night would be wild when the blue-eyed reggae of Costello’s “Watching the Detectives” veered into Sonny Boy Williamson II’s “Help Me Blues” and Otis Rush’s “Three Times a Fool” before steering back to the final verse. The man’s taste in classic R&B, country and soul is impeccable, and his sense of what slots in with his repertoire is uncanny, whether bookending a semi-acoustic interlude with a weeper by Charlie Rich and a George Jones/Elvis Presley/Willie Nelson medley, starting Sam and Dave’s “I Can’t Stand Up for Falling Down” at their original tempo before seguing to his double-time cover version from Get Happy, or embellishing the playout of “Alison” with a bit of the late Motown smash “I’m Gonna Make You Love Me”. Even with the show’s structure clearly defined – a first half of rockers, the “unplugged” midsection with Elvis in his pomp at the grand piano, then a final surge of hits – where Costello would go next couldn’t be confidently predicted, and that was a big part of the fun.

Though, shades of Bob Dylan, there were moments where it took until the chorus of a song (especially “Home Is Anywhere You Hang Your Head” and “I’ll Wear It Proudly”) to figure out what it was! Sometimes the misdirection came from different arrangements; the hit Smokey Robinson tribute “Everyday I Write the Book” was one example, played semi-acoustic at a half-speed crawl. Sometimes the limitations of Elvis’ voice fifty years on – falling behind the beat, straining for the pitch when he hit the top of his midrange – were the culprit. But give Costello credit; he made both that willfulness and those limitations serve the song as often as not, and when he punched through to his high range, his vocal sound was full, sturdy and genuinely thrilling.

Of course, it helps that The Imposters (including two of Costello’s original Attractions) remain one of the best backing bands in the business, whether following Elvis’ lead or carrying him through the rough spots. Steve Nieve flitted around his horseshoe of pianos and organs — even wailing on melodica up front – with his unique blend of classical grandeur and cheesy punk energy; Pete Thomas could be subtle on the drums when needed, but clearly relished his main role as human pile-driver. Davey Faragher, reliable as ever on basses and backing vocals, kept the music’s heartbeat going, no matter what perversities of tempo and style Costello called up. And guitar wingman Charlie Sexton’s experience backing Dylan obviously came in handy for this tour; his tasty, genial lead guitar work supplemented Elvis’ rough-edged efforts, and made for both genuinely bluesy highlights (“Lovable”, “Honey Are You Straight or Are You Blind”) and energetic uptempo thrash on the closing sprint of “(I Don’t Want to Go to) Chelsea”, “Pump It Up” and “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding”, complete with big-time light show!

The four times I’ve seen Elvis Costello over the last five decades, his onstage mood has ranged from hearty and expansive (in 1982, then in 2008 opening for The Police – picture him duetting with Sting on “Alison”) to chippy and grudging (in 1984). For all his inherent prickliness as an artist and performer, it was fun to catch EC in the former mood at his Muskegon show. And for all his teasing a nostalgic audience about his eagerness to catch William Shatner’s heavy metal set at the upcoming weekend’s rock festival in Chicago, Costello gave everything he had Friday night, winding up a unmistakably personal yet remarkably crowd-pleasing tour.

— Rick Krueger

Setlist:

• You Belong to Me
• Mystery Dance
• Watching the Detectives (including Help Me Blues/Three Times a Fool – Sonny Boy Williamson II/Otis Rush cover medley)
• Less Than Zero
• No Flag
• Home Is Anywhere You Hang Your Head
• This Year’s Girl
• Party Girl
• Lovers Walk
• Who Will the Next Fool Be (Charlie Rich cover)
• A Face in the Crowd
• Everyday I Write the Book
• I’ll Wear It Proudly
• Lovable
• Honey, Are You Straight or Are You Blind?
• A Good Year for the Roses / Suspicious Minds /Always on My Mind (George Jones/Elvis Presley/Willie Nelson cover medley)
• I Can’t Stand Up for Falling Down (Sam & Dave cover)
• Radio Radio
• (The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes
• Alison (including I’m Gonna Make You Love Me – Supremes/Temptations cover)
• (I Don’t Want to Go to) Chelsea
• Pump It Up
• (What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding