by Dave Noble, City News Editor
ELMHURST – The local bagpiper who has been performing near the Prairie Path every night during the COVID-19 pandemic has depleted his catalogue of traditional songs and is now playing 1990’s Hip-Hop for Elmhurst residents.
Believed to be the only person in Elmhurst who owns bagpipes, Brian Costello is the man who emerges from the backyard of his Eggleston Ave. home just before sunset, places a tip jar on the ground near the path, and begins playing music to “lift the spirits” of his neighbors. Following through on his promise to perform a different set of music each night, Costello is now playing songs from what many consider to be the “golden era” of Hip-Hop music.
“I pledged to play a fresh list of music each night, and frankly I’m having trouble following through on that,” said Costello, who performed songs like “Nuthin’ But A ‘G’ Thang” by Dr. Dre, “Gin & Juice” by Snoop Dog, and “911 Is A Joke” by Public Enemy on Saturday night for dozens of residents who stood somewhat safely from each other on the Prairie Path or listened from their parked cars. “This seems to be the genre of music that the audience likes to hear, so I’m going to roll with it for a while.”
Following an unsuccessful attempt to recreate The Who’s 1973 rock opera Quadrophenia with bagpipes earlier in the week, Costello began playing Hip-Hop and discovered that militant and gansta rap styles in particular resonated with Elmhurst residents. Saturday’s performance included an encore after Costello retreated to his home and then came back outside minutes later to perform Naughty by Nature’s “Hip Hop Hooray”.
The Elmhurst Police Department has been monitoring the crowd size each night, and has requested that Costello change into his piper outfit inside of his home instead of in his backyard.
The Elmhurst Funion 