Events

[ROCK] If you missed Elvis Costello when he came to Shea’s last fall, now’s your chance when the he plays at CMAC in nearby Canandaigua on Saturday, June 17. And while these summer shows haven’t been dubbed as recitals of 1982’s Imperial Bedroom quite like the fall concerts were, he and his Imposters are still sprinkling the lion’s share of that material – averaging 13 of the album’s 15 tracks – into a two-and-a-half hour set that focuses largely on his first decade of releases (up through 1986’s Blood and Chocolate). Costello had burst on the scene some five years earlier with My Aim is True and cemented his stance as a pub-rocking wordplay champion with both punk and new wave overtones. It’s an oeuvre that carried through the follow-up, This Year’s Model, and 1979’s Armed Forces, but much like Joe Jackson (the two are oft-compared), it didn’t take long for him to veer off into chameleonic style shifts. Imperial Bedroom came on the heels of Get Happy, a disc of soul-pop originals, Trust, for which he began composing on the piano, and Almost Blue, an unexpected collection of country covers that, ironically, did not include the song of the same name. That distinction was saved for Imperial Bedroom itself, and the oft-covered song’s torchy flavor has earned a spot amongst standards by Cole Porter and Irving Berlin. The Imposters are one of two bands Costello has played with during his 40 years recording history, now consisting of keyboardist Steve Nieve and drummer Pete Thomas from the Attractions (the other one), and bassist Davey Faragher who’s replaced Bruce Thomas. At a recent Greek Theatre gig, the ensemble also included a pair of backup singers, sweetening the vocal mix with a soulful, feminine touch; Hopefully they’re in for the long haul. L.A. based indie-folk quartet Dawes will open the show, and doors are at 6:30 p.m.