Elvis Costello

You could be forgiven for falling asleep during the last few years of Elvis Costello’s career. Don’t get us wrong, his collaborations with the classical Brodsky Quartet and pop-standards king Burt Bacharach were tasteful and sophisticated proof of his facility in more musical modes than mere rock. But for many of us who discovered him through the snarly vituperation of his early New Wave records, they had all the eat-it-it’s-good-for-you appeal of broccoli and dry toast. So it was with a guilty sense of pleasure that we heard him taking a big step back to the spirit of his younger days on his latest disc, When I Was Cruel , combining that familiar one-two punch of melodic guitar pop and acidly sharp lyrics. Not surprisingly, it’s also his biggest seller in years, putting him on top of the college charts for the first time since Punch the Clock in 1983. His touring band, the Imposters, features two-thirds of the Attractions, drummer Pete Thomas and keyboardist Steve Nieve. Orpheum Theatre, (612) 339-7007