Remember the day when I heard you say "we can make it if we try"?

I'm always wary of festival shows - not just for the suspect layout (not ideal for listening or watching a performance) but for the possible pandering of the setlist. The Costello/Toussaint show at Ravinia last night wasn't a festival per se, but the set up ($65 auditorium seats, $15 lawn seats) invites a more casual audience. For most it was a picnic with friends with a few recognizable tunes in the distance. I only caught a few other people in our area mouthing the words or getting visibly into the music, which was weird. It's Elvis Goddamned Costello - put your sangria down and pay attention.

For all that, it turned out to be a great evening, if a bit chilly (thanks for the two weeks of summer, Chicago). My fears of pandering were seemingly confirmed when the band, unannounced aside from a hip-hop/gospel intro track, launched into "Peace, Love and Understanding," which is normally saved for later in the set. But after that, it was a perfect mix of songs from River in Reverse (which is his most solid collab to date; listen to bits of it here) and older tunes from both men. Costello knocked me out by dusting off "Tears Before Bedtime," a favorite from Imperial Bedroom and a song I thought I'd never hear live. Toussaint played "A Certain Girl" early in the set, and later on did "Working in a Coal Mine" (no "Mother-in-Law," unfortunately).

One of my favorite aspects of EC is his never-ending scholarhip of all music; however the results turn out (and it's rarely great), his forays into jazz, classical, and ballet show that he never coasts. At his best, he introduces his audience to other artists whose work has been maligned as schmaltz (Bacharach) or ignored by many (Toussaint). I became more aware of Toussaint's work after living in New Orleans, but that was mostly his production work with The Meters and other NOLA funk bands. He wrote the lion's share of River in Reverse (many of them from his songbook, a few written recently with EC), and he's as great a lyricist as he is a producer and arranger.

As an arranger, he reworked a few of Costello's old tunes with new horn charts ("Clown Strike," the one-two punch of "I Can't Stand Up for Falling Down/High Fidelity,") and the horns never crowded the rest of the sound. The best example of this was "Bedlam," the best song of his from the past 10 (15?) years. Read the lyrics to get an idea; the mix of Biblical allusions and Israel/Palestine references collide into a travelogue into hell. Musically, its closest analogue is "Toyko Storm Warning," the horns' brazen punctuations and Steve Nieve's theremin explosions tore the roof off the sucker.

The show ended (after three encores, including the requisite "Alison," which Krissy said sounded like Disney number) with the newbie "The Sharpest Thorn," a sort of "Auld Lang Syne" for all year round. I'll throw a setlist up here if I can find one.