Who went to see Elvis Costello on his recent tour?

I am interested to know if anyone went to see Elvis Costello on his recent tour with the Confederates?

I have been a BIG Costello fan from the start,I recently saw him perform at the Bridgewater Hall in Manchester UK and to be honest I thought the gig was pretty PATHETIC.

At the start the sound was AWFUL, Costello gave me the impression that he couldn't really be bothered to perform, the guy on the bass guitar (I cant remember his name) looked BORED,the lighting was poor and it looked like they spent 50 pence on setting the stage up!

The whole gig was very rushed and under 2 hours..I have seen Costello perform 3hours plus many times in the past.

During this short show there was very little banter with the audience (something that Costello usually does quite a lot)

I left the Bridgewater Hall VERY unimpressed and wondering if I really wanted to see him live again (something I never thought I would contemplate)

At almost £60.00 for 2 tickets this was really bad value for the money.

OK so theres no denying Costello is a superb songwriter and usually a brilliant performer,so what was his problem on this particular night??

I have my own theory..Costello writes and performs his best lyrics and songs when his mind is full of malice and hatred...maybe with his new marriage he is too happy at the moment?

I think it is about time that he started to spice up his live appearances with some guest performers a little more often as I am getting bored with the same old stage set up..show format etc...

I am very interested to find out if you agree with my views or not?