Detour Live At Liverpool Philharmonic Hall 

Elvis Costello

Studio: Eagle Rock Entertainment

Review Date: February 21, 2016

Elvis Costello embedded himself into the psyche of the world’s youth with his “My Aim Is True” album in 1977 and has pretty much been a permanent fixture on the soundtrack of our life.  

Last year, Costello’s “Detour” tour further ingrained him into our musical DNA with solo acoustic versions of many of his songs that we know and love. Fortunately for us, his performance at his stop at the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall was captured and is now available to us on DVD and Blu-ray.

This concert film includes classics like “Watching The Detectives,” “Accidents Will Happen,” “A Good Year For The Roses,” “Shipbuilding,” “Alison,” “I Can’t Stand Up For Falling Down,” “Peace Love And Understanding” and many more. 

His 2015 tour earned Costello the acclaim of “The most prodigious writer of fine songs in British history” from UK newspaper The Independent. Combining classic songs performed with guitar or at the piano with reminiscences of his family, life and career, the show is by turns touching, humorous, thoughtful and uplifting. The set also features recent songs such as “Church Underground,” and “Jimmie Standing In The Rain” alongside much loved tracks from across his career and cover versions all given a new twist in their solo renditions. Joining Costello on several tracks are Rebecca and Megan Lovell of Larkin Poe on several of the tracks.

As bonus tracks the DVD includes “Love Field,” “Either Side Of The Same Town,” “Brilliant Mistake,” and “Ascension Day.”

While Costello fans will obviously want this DVD for their personal collection, so will those rare souls who either are not yet aware of the icon or may be a tad slow to the party. It’s definitely a must-have video for music fans of all stripes.