Elvis Costello Finally Makes a Spectacle of Himself

I’ve been a fan of the musical chameleon otherwise known as Elvis Costello for a long time. Not that everything he’s ever released has appealed to me but for the most part I’ve been happy to be along for the musical ride for the last 30-plus years.

In his first season as TV host with the series “Spectacle: Elvis Costello With”, EC treated fans to a lively mix of interviews, conversation and musical performances with a wide-range of guests including (Spectacle co-producer) Elton John, The Police, Reneé Fleming, Lou Reed, Roseanne Cash and the other half of one hell of a talented musical couple, Diana Krall.

Anyone who’s watched the first season knows that this is a program for not just your average music fan, but for music enthusiasts. It’s obvious that EC is just as much a music die-hard as the rest of us, and he’s having a great time. Whether its watching him interview one of his guests or sharing the mike with them, performing not only the songs made famous by his guests, but tackling interesting and sometimes obscure songs by other artists for whom both guest and host share affection, the series is a treat. It’s made abundantly clear throughout Season 1 that EC is having the time of his life doing these shows.

Some big ticket names will be featured in Season 2, including Bruce Springsteen and U2 (airdates for Season 2 in both the U.S. and on Bravo! here at home are TBA). The U2 episode was filmed at the Concert Hall at the Masonic Temple in Toronto back in September. On November 2nd, Mrs. Sidetwo and I were among the lucky few to be in the audience as EC returned to Toronto to film what is apparently not only the Season 2 finale, but the series finale as well which is a shame. But the series will live on forever on DVD, so if you haven’t seen it, it’s worth picking up.

So who was the guest for the final show? Why, none other than the affable host, as it were. The original plan was to have Elton John, who was ECs guest on the first show, turn the tables on the host and play interviewer instead. Unfortunately, due to Elton’s current bout with the flu, he was unavailable. As a last-minute substituion they brought in actress and part-time music critic (and mega die-hard EC fan) Mary-Louise Parker (“Weeds”). She did a great job.

Interviewer and interviewee seemed to both enjoy thenselves. They talked at length about Elvis’ career, influences, songwriting process… a lot of ground was covered. And then there were the performances, what the crowd really came to see, and EC did not let them down. Backed by the incredible Imposters (Steve Nieve on keyboards, Pete Thomas on drums and Davey Faragher on bass) the evening kicked off with the one-two punch of Accidents Will Happen and (I Don’t Want to Go To) Chelsea, both of which were played twice (more on that in a sec).

Other highlights included a spirited (The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes, Bedlam and My Three Sons. But the absolute highlight of the evening was at the end. When it appeared the taping was complete, it was announced to the crowd that EC and band were going to perform two more songs for the crowd. Turns out they were Take 2 of Accidents and Chelsea, which of course everyone loved to hear again. But then he treated the crowd to one more song. Then another. And another. And it kept on going. EC was having a blast as was the small crowd, and he didn’t want it to end. So the crowd got treated to absolutely fantastic takes on I Hope You’re Happy Now, High Fidelity, Man Out of Time, In Another Room, I Want You…and about four more cuts. Remains to be seen what if any of these last few songs will make the final version to air.

The whole evening ran close to 3.5 hours. For those in attendance, it was an evening they’ll not likely soon forget, myself included.

Here’s a clip of early Elvis, just a kid at 23. Amazing how the music has held up: